ft/ 

•    ' 

%t 


\ 


IP 


LIBRARY   OF   THE 


ty  of  California. 


C  /  R  C  ULA  TING    B  R  A  N C  //.. 


Eetuin  in  *w 


or  a  weak  before  the  end  of  the 


\ 


THE 


WORLD    DISPLAYED 


IN   ITS 


HISTORY  AND  GEOGRAPHY ; 


EMBRACING  A 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD, 


FROM   THE 


CREATION  TO  THE  PRESENT  DAY. 


WITH  GENERAL  VIEWS  OF  THE  POLITICS,  RELIGION,  MILITARY   AND  NAVAL- 

AFFAIRS,  ARTS,  LITERATURE,  MANNERS,  CUSTOMS,  AND  SOCIETY, 

OF  ANCIENT  AS  WELL  AS  MODERN  NATIONS. 


BY  REV.  ROYAL  ROBBINS. 

\  % 

TO  WHICH  IS  ADDED, 

AN  OUTLINE  OF  MODERN  GEOGRAPHY. 


TWO   VOLUMES  IN  ONE. 

VOL.   1. 


NEW  YORK. 
PUBLISHED     BY     H..    SAVAGE. 

1839. 


3*-) 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1835, 

By  EDWARD  HOPKINS, 
In  the  Clerk's  office  of  the  District  Court  of  Connecticut 


PUBLISHERS'   NOTICE. 


THE  Volume  here  offered  to  the  public,  had  its 
origin  in  the  belief,  that  a  Historical  and  Geo- 
graphical View  of  the  World,  united  in  one  work, 
and  constructed  on  the  plan  here  adopted,  would 
be  an  acceptable  addition  to  the  already  multi- 
plied stock  of  book§  for  general  reading.  The 
plan  of  the  work  is  original,  and  is  believed  to 
offer  many  advantages.  It  divides  Ancient  and 
Modern  History  into  twenty  distinct  periods,  and 
then  gives  a  detail  of  the  events  during  each  of 
them.  At  the  end  of  every  period  is  a  detailed 
biography  of  many  eminent  individuals  who  flou- 
rished during  the  same,  and  a  sketch  is  given  of 
the  progress  of  the  arts,  of  science,  and  of  litera- 
ture. Hence  a  clear  delineation  of  the  advance- 
ment of  human  society,  and  its  various  revolutions, 
is  exhibited  ;  and  the  reader  can  easily  trace  not 
only  the  particular  history  of  each  country  and 
people,  but  can  keep  in  view,  at  the  same  time, 
the  grand  movements  of  the  nations,  regarded  as 
one  common  family. 

In  order  to  perfect  the  plan  originally  contem- 
plated by  the  author,  the  volume  has  been  in- 


PUBLISHERS'  NOTICE. 

creased  far  beyond  what  was  at  first  anticipated-  • 
nearly  one  hundred  pages  have  been  added ;  an 
advance  which,  it  is  believed,  will  be  gratifying 
to  the  patrons  of  the  work,  and  sufficiently  attest 
the  wish  of  the  publishers  to  make  it  in  every 
way  satisfactory  to  them. 

The  System  of  Modern  Geography  is  of  course 
a  condensed  one — but  it  will  be  found  fully  ade 
quate  to  the  purposes  for  which  it  is  attached  to 
the  volume. 

On  the  whole,  as  no  expense  has  been  spared, 
and  as  the  Author,  whose  reputation  as  a  histori- 
cal writer  is  of  the  first  order,  has  bestowed  un- 
wearied pains  upon  the  work,  we  commit  the 
volume  to  the  public,  with  much  confidence  that 
it  will  be  received  with  favour. 


CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTION. 


Benefits  to  be  expected  from  history, 
Sources  of  history,         . 


Ten  periods,       .  . 

Antediluvian  World,      . 
Distinguished  Characters, 

Deluge,  •  • 

History  of  Assyria, 

China,  . 

Egypt, 
Distinguistad  Characters, 

History  of  the  Hebrews, 
Canaanites, 
Greece, 


GENERAL  DIVISION. 

•  •  •  * 

Period  L 

• 

•  •  •  • 

Period  II 


Period  III. 


Egypt,  continued, 
Chin 


hina,  continued, 
Distinguished  Character!,         . 

History  of  the  Israelites,  . 

Canaanites,  continued, 

Phoenicians, 

Greece,  continued, 

Egypt,  continued, 

Lydia, 

Italy, 

Distinguished  Characters, 

History  of  the  Israelites,  continued, 
Greece,  continued, 
Macedon, 

Assyria,  continued, 
Egypt,  continued, 
Phoinicians,  continued, 
Carthage, 
Italy,  continued, 

Distinguished  Characters, 

History  of  the  Romans, 

Greece,  continued, 

Israelites,  continued, 

Jews, 

Nineveh, 

Babylon, 

Medes, 

Persia, 

Lydians,  continued, 

Egypt,  continued, 
Distinguished  Characters) 


Period  IV. 


Period  F. 


Period  VL 


7 
8 


U 
17 


H 

it 

23 

24 

26 
23 
80 
82 
33 
JW 

*                 aej 

89 

•             59 

40 

42 

43 

43 

44 

4? 

49 

52 

62 

53 

63 

53 

64 

65 

. 

57 

d, 

64 

ued, 

66 

67 

68 

68 

69 

70 

led, 

72 

, 

72 

. 

i 

* 

>            ""3 

vf 


CONTENTS. 


History  of  Greece,  continued,    , 
Romans,  continued, 
Egypt,  continued, 
Persia,  continued, 
Macedon,  continued, 

Distinguished  Characters, 

History  of  Greece,  continued, 

Rome,  continued, 

Sicily, 

Syria, 

Jews,  continued, 

Egypt,  continued, 

Parthia, 

China,  continued, 
Distinguished  Character's, 

History  of  Rome,  continued, 
Syria,  continued, 
Jews,  continued, 
Egypt,  continued, 
Partnia,  continued, 

Distinguished  Characters, 

History  of  Rome,  continued, 
Judea,  continued, 
Egypt,  continued, 
Parthia,  continued, 

Distinguished  Characters, 


Period  VII. 


Period  VIH 


Period  IX. 


Period  X. 


GENERAL,  VIEWS. 


Antediluvian  World. — Surface  of  the  Earth,  Seasons,  Population  and  Longevity, 

Religion,  Arts  and  Sciences,  Government,  Commerce,          :  :  : 

Assyria,   (including  Bahylonia) — Government  and   Laws,   Religion,    Customs, 

Learning,  Arts,          :  :  :  :  :  :  :  : 

China. — Geography,  Government,  Religion,  Sciences  and  Arts,          :  : 

Egypt. — Situation,  Name  and  Division,  Cities,  Monuments  and  Works  of  Art, 
Government  and  Laws,  Mythology,  Education,  Domestic  Habits,  Manners  and 
Customs,  Literature  and  Arts,  Trade,  Language,  :  :  :  : 

Hebrews. — Remains  of  Ancient  Works,  Cities,  Religion,  Government,  Manners 

and  Customs,  Learning,  Arts,  Commerce,  :  :  :  : 

Canaanites. — Customs,  Manners,  Arts  and  Sciences.  Religion,  :  : 

Greece. — Appearance  and  Face  of  the  Country,  Situation,  Extent  and  Division, 
Names,  Interesting  Localities,  Cities,  Government,  Military  Affairs,  Naval 
Affairs,  Religion,  Literature,  Arts,  Private  and  Domestic  Life,  :  : 

Phoenicians. — Country,  Cities  and  Remains,  Navigation  and  Colonies,  Sciences, 

Aits  and  Manufactures,  Religion,  :  :  :  :  : 

Lydiana. — Country,  Cities,  Character,  Customs,          :  :  :  : 

Romans. — Country,  its  Name,   Situation   and  Division,   Interesting  Localities, 
Capital  of  Italy,  and  Sect  of  the  Roman  Empire,    Political   State,    Religion, 
Military   Affairs,    Fleets,    Agriculture,    Amusements   and    Public  Spectacles, 
Education,  Literature,  Arts,  Domestic  Life  and  Manners,  Foreign  Commerce, 
Syria. — Situation  and  Cities,  Character  of  the  Ancient  Syrians,  Language, 
Carthage.—  Extent,  Government  and  Character,          :  :  : 

Parthia. — Situation,  &c.  :::::. 

Persia. — Extent  and  Situation,  Education,  Punishments,  Military  Art, 
Mythology  of  Ancient  Nations,  :  :  :  :  : 

Discoveries.  Inventions,  and  Improvements  of  Early  Ages,  • 


K! 
89 
89 
90 
91 


94 

100 
109 
109 
111 
112 
113 
113 
114 


117 
124 
125 
126 
126 
127 


128 
147 
147 
149 
149 


154 

157 
160 


162 

167 
170 


171 

193 
194 


195 
216 
217 
217 
217 
219 
223 


INTRODUCTION. 


1.  The  term  History  comprehends  a  record  of  all  the  remarkable 
transactions  which  have  taken  place  among  the  human  family.  It 
is  the  collected  result  of  individual  experience  in  every  age  and  na- 
tion ;  and  is,  consequently,  a  source  of  practical  wisdom  to  legislators 
and  rulers,  and  of  profitable  reflection  to  private  persons. 

The  benefits  to  be  expected  from  history  deserve  a  few  remarks  in  detail. 
When  it  is  written  with  a  proper  spirit,  and  in  strict  agreement  with  facts,  there 
is  scarcely  any  branch  of  letters  so  well  calculated  to  furnish  an  agreeable  re- 
laxation to  the  student ;  to  improve  his  understanding-  and  enlarge  his  stores 
of  useful  knowledge  ;  or,  in  general,  to  subserve  the  cause  of  morality  and  re- 
ligion in  human  society. 

From  the  infinite  variety  of  aspects  in  which  history  presents  the  dealings 
of  Providence,  and  from  the  immense  number  of  characters  and  incidents 
which  it  brings  into  view,  it  becomes  a  source  of  perpetual  interest  and  enjoy 
mcnt.  The  novelist,  with  all  the  license  he  possesses  to  imagine  such  physi- 
cal and  moral  combinations  as  he  pleases,  cannot  clothe  his  subject  with  hall 
the  attractions  which  a  reflecting  mind  attaches  to  true  narrative. 

The  view  of  past  ages  fills  the  mind  with  a  sublime  and  pleasing  melancholy. 
We  dwell  with  deep  and  tender  emotion  on  the  actions,  sufferings,  and  changes 
of  those  who  were  "  bone  of  our  bones,  and  flesh  of  our  flesh" — we  regret  that 
some  of  them  should  ever  have  lived  to  disorder  the  world  with  their  crimes, 
and  that  others  should  have  died,  to  leave  it  without  the  benefit  of  their  con- 
tinued active  labours. 

History  improves  our  understanding,  and  enlarges  our  stores  of  useful 
knowledge,  by  bringing  to  our  assistance  the  experience  of  others — the  expe- 
i  ienoe  of  all  time  ;  by  making  us  acquainted  with  human  nature  ;  by  delivering 
the  mind  from  bigotry  and  prejudice — from  narrow  and  sectional  feelings  ;  by 
opening  to  us  the  springs  of  human  affairs,  and  the  causes  of  the  rise,  great- 
ness, decline,  and  fall  of  empires. 

There  is  something  in  the  picture  of  the  generations  before  us,  of  their 
achievements  and  projects  ;  of  their  manners,  pursuits,  and  attainments ;  of 
their  mode  of  thinking  and  acting;  of  their  religion,  government,  and  litera- 
ture ;  which,  going  beyond  the  gratification  of  curiosity,  or  storing  the  mind 
with  mere  ideas,  teaches  us  wisdom,  by  the  comparison  of  their  situation  with 
our  own,  and  by  a  great  variety  of  interesting  reflections  naturally  suggested 
to  our  thoughts. 

From  the  whole  that  history  presents  us,  we  deduce  conclusions  that  have 
an  important  bearing  on  human  happiness  and  virtue.  This  we  consider  as 
the  most  signal  benefit  derivable  from  the  record  of  past  ages.  It  gives  us, 
in  connexion  with  revelation,  which  furnishes  a  most  interesting  portion  of 
the  world's  history,  a  correct  estimate  of  life  and  of  human  nature  in  all  its  va- 
riety. It  shows  us  how  man  has  acted  according  to  his  own  pleasure,  whether 
uprightly  or  wickedly,  and,  at  the  same  time,  how  God  has  conducted  the 
train  of  events  to  bring  about  the  purposes  of  His  wisdom  and  grace. 

Speaking  in  the  way  of  aphorism,  history  is  a  record  of  what  God  has  done, 
and  of  what  he  has  cither  enabled  or  suffered  man  to  do,  on  the  stage  of  the 
world.  Even,  therefore,  without  the  direct  comments  of  the  writer,  which 
nevertheless  are  due,  we  can  derive  important  instruction  froirj  it ;  and  can 
hardly  help  being  impressed  with  the  grandeur  or  solemnity  of  the  movements 
{-f  Providence,  in  the  deatiny  of  nations. 


INTRODUCTION. 

In  short,  it  is  here  that  we  are  supplied  with  the  most  rational  entertainment, 
and  our  faculties  of  imagination,  memory,  reason,  and  judgment,  are  put  to  a 
most  agreeable  and  salutary  exercise.  It  is  here  we  learn  political  science  and 
philosophy;  we  ascertain  the  necessity  of  government,  the  blessings  of  civili- 
zation, the  progress  of  reason  and  society ;  and  especially  it  is  here  we  see 

"  a  God  employed 
In  all  the  good  and  ill  that  chequer  life," 

and  in  all  the  events  that  have  a  bearing  on  the  interests  of  true  religion. 

2.  History  is  derived  to  us  from  various  sources,  differing  in  de- 
grees of  authenticity,  but  in  general  illustrating  and  confirming  one 
another.  The  principal  sources  are  the  narratives  of  writers,  whose 
knowledge  of  the  events  they  describe  may  have  been  acquired  by 
personal  observation;  inspection  of  public  documents ;  poetic  le- 
gends; and  oral  tradition.  In  addition  to  these,  there  are  several 
other  sources  that  are  highly  valuable,  supplying  the  want  of  direct 
and  regular  narrative,  such  as  monuments,  ruins,  coins,  &c. 

Monuments  on  the  surface  of  the  ground,  such  as  pillars  and  heaps  of  slone 
or  earth,  since  they  are  intended  to  perpetuate  the  knowledge  of  important 
events,  throw  some  light  on  the  proper  subjects  of  history. 

Ruins  indicate  the  existence  of  arts  and  wisdom  in  ancient  times,  which  are 
Btill  astonishing  to  the  civilized  world.  They  afford  a  knowledge  of  antiquity, 
which  description,  in  many  cases,  could  never  supply.  Such  are  the  ruins  thai 
exi«tin  Egypt,  the  Holy  Land,  Greece,  and  Italy,  in  their  cities,  temples,  aque 
ducts,  columns,  &c. 

Coins  and  medals  offer  very  valuable  means  of  historical  information. 
They  have  often  been  examined  and  studied  for  that  purpose,  are  abundant, 
and  some  of  them  possess  considerable  antiquity.  The  oldest  known,  belong 
«o  the  5th  century  B.  C. 

Inscriptions  on  marble  may  be  mentioned  as  another  source  of  history. 
The  Arundelian  marbles,  so  called  from  the  earl  of  Arundel,  who  brought 
them  from  Greece  into  England,  are  the  most  celebrated  collection  of  marbles 
bearing  inscriptions,  and  thus  communicating  knowledge  of  antiquity.  The 
Chronicle  of  Paros  is  the  most  important  of  these  inscriptions,  as  it  contain?) 
the  chronology  of  Athens,  from  the  time  of  Cecrops  1582,  commonly  put 
B.  C,  to 264  B.  C. 


ANCIENT  HISTORY, 


GENERAL  DIVISION. 

HISTORY  may  be  divided  into  two  great  parts,  viz.  An 
cient  and  Modern.  Ancient  History  includes  a  period  of 
4004  years,  and  extends  from  the  Creation  of  the  World  to  the 
Nativity  of  Jesus  Christ.  Modern  History  includes  a  period 
of  1829  years,  and  extends  from  the  Nativity  of  Jesus  Christ, 
to  the  present  time. 

Observations.  Ancient  History,  which  is  the  subject  of  this  vo- 
lume, comprehending  an  account  of  the  Creation,  and  the  grand 
events  connected  with  it ;  of  the  fall  of  man ;  of  the  deluge ;  of  the 
origin  of  nations ;  and  of  the  principles,  achievements,  manners, 
habits,  religion,  learning,  &c.  of  the  early  race  of  mortals,  is  equally 
curious  and  instructive. 

PERIOD  I.  will  extend  from  the  Creation  of  the  World, 
4004  years,  B.  C.,  to  the  Deluge,  2348  years  B.  C.  This  is 
the  Antediluvian  Period. 

PERIOD  II.  will  extend  from  the  Deluge,  2348  years  B.  C., 
to  the  Calling  of  Abraham,  1921  years  B.  C.  This  is  the 
period  of  the  Confusion  of  Languages. 

PERIOD  III.  will  extend  from  the  Calling  of  Abraham, 
1921  years  B.  C.,  to  the  Departure  of  the  Israelites  from 
Egypt,  1491  years  B.  C.  This  is  the  period  of  Egyptian 
Bondage. 

PERIOD  IV.  will  extend  from  the  Departure  of  the  Israel- 
ites from  Egypt,  1491  years  B.  C.,  to  the  Dedication  of  Solo- 
mon's Temple,  1004  years  B.  C.  This  is  the  period  of  the 
Trojan  War. 

PERIOD  V.  will  extend  from  the  Dedication  of  Solomon's 
Temple,  4 004  years  B.  C.,  to  the  Founding  of  Rome,  752 
years  B.  C.  This  is  the  period  of  Homer. 

PERIOD  VI.  will  extend  from  the  Founding  of  Rome,  752 
years  B.  C.,  to  the  Battle  of  Marathon,  490  years  B.  C.  This 
is  the  period  of  Roman  Kings. 


10  GENERAL  DIVISION. 

0 

PERIOD  YIL  will  extend  from  the  Battle  cf  Marathon,  490 
years  B.  C.,  to  the  Birth  of  Alexander,  356  years  B.  C.  This 
is  the  period  of  Grecian  Glory. 

PERIOD  VIII.  will  extend  from  the  Birth  of  Alexander,  356 
years  B.  C.,  to  the  Destruction  of  Carthage,  146  years  B.  C. 
This  is  the  period  of  Roman  Military  Renown. 

PERIOD  IX.  will  extend  from  the  Destruction  of  Carthage, 
146  years  B.  C.,  to  the  First  Campaign  of  Julius  Caesar,  8C 
years  B.  C.  This  is  the  period  of  the  Civil  War  hetween 
Marius  and  Sylla. 

PERIOD  X.  will  extend  from  the  First  Campaign  of  Julius 
Osesar,  80  years  B.  C.,  to  the  Nativity  of  Jesus  Christ,  and 
the  Commencement  of  the  Christian  Era.  This  is  the  pe- 
riod of  Roman  Literature. 

Observations.  The  characteristic,  or  title  of  each  of  these  pe- 
riods, is  derived  from  some  prominent  event,  or  striking  peculiarity 
by  which  it  is  marked.  Thus,  for  instance,  during  the  last  period 
but  one,  Rome,  which  was  beginning  to  be  mistress  of  the  world, 
was  for  a  long  time  disturbed  by  the  contentions  of  rival  chiefs. 
The  period,  therefore,  is  denominated  that  of  the  Civil  War  be- 
tween Marius  and  Sylla,  as  marking  the  most  important  event  in 
the  history  of  the  world  during  that  time.  Thus,  also,  during  the 
last,  or  10th  period,  literature  greatly  flourished  among  the  Romans, 
under  the  auspices  of  Augustus.  It  is,  therefore,  designated  as  the 
period  of  Roman  literature,  as  being  the  most  striking  peculiarity 
of  that  era,  among  the  nations.  In  the  same  manner,  also,  the  cka 
racteristics  of  all  the  others  are  derived. 


PERIOD  1. 


The  Antediluvian  Period,  extending  from  the  Creation 
of  the  World)  4004  years  B.  C.  to  the  deluge,  2348 
years  B.  C. 

THE  Bible  affords  the  only  authentic  history  of  the  first  ages  of 
the  world.  The  events  which  it  relates  of  those  ages,  are  confirmed 
by  the  appearances  of  nature,  and  by  legendary  tradition. 

SECTION  1.  All  human  records  agree  that  men  and  em- 
pires first  appeared  in  the  East.  There,  those  demigods 
and  heroes,  who  are  the  subjects  of  heathen  fable,  are  repre- 
sented as  having  lived  and  acted.  When,  therefore,  the 
Bible  points  to  that  quarter  of  the  globe,  as  the  cradle  of  na- 
tion^ and  of  the  arts,  and  as  the  theatre  of  the  most  wonder 
ful  events,  it  only  coincides  with  the  general  belief  of  man- 
kind on  this  subject. 

The  account  contained  in  that  sacred  book  respecting  the 
creation  of  the  world,  or  the  beginning  of  time,  is  equally 
worthy  of  credit.  This,  of  course,  is  the  first  grand  event 
which  history  presents  to  us.  The  cosmogonies  of  nations, 
that  is,  the  schemes  they  have  adopted  respecting  the  forma- 
tion of  the  world,  vary  very  much  from  one  another,  and 
most  of  them  are  manifestly  absurd  and  incredible.  That 
of  the  Hebrews,  which  constitutes  the  scriptural  account,  is  the 
only  one  that  deserves  implicit  belief. 

2.  According  to  this  account,  it  appears  that  about  5829 
years  ago,  God  called  the  visible  universe  into  being,  by 
the  word  of  his  power ;  that  a  determinate  length  of  time 
was  occupied  in  the  work,  the  various  portions  of  the  world 
being  produced  on  six  successive  days ;  that  man  was  cre- 
ated on  the  last  day  of  those  six,  and  constituted  the  head  ol 
all  the  animal  tribes ;  that  his  happiness  and  increase  were 
provided  for  by  the  institution  of  marriage,  which  was  soon 
announced  ;  that  God  saw  that  all  his  work  was  good ;  and 
that  he  rested  on  the  seventh  day,  hallowing  it,  as  a  day  to 
be  devoted  to  religious  solemnities. 


12  ANCIENT  HISTOftV — PERIOD  / 

§  The  earth,  immediately  subsequent  to  it§>  creation,  was  a  fluid, 
'lark,  and  shapeless  mass  of  matter.    The  first  thing  done  to  bring 
it  into  a  perfect  state,  was  the  creation  of  light.    Then  the  firrna 
ment  expanded,  to  divide  the  upper  from  the  lower  waters. 

Succeeding  this,  the  assembled  waters^  retired  to  their  destined 
oed ;  and,  at  length,  the  dry  land  was  se'en,  crowned  with  a  rich 
profusion  of  herbage,  fruits,  and  flowers.  These  great  occurrences 
occupied  the  first  three  days. 

The  following  day  was  devoted  to  an  illumination  of  the  earth. 
The  heavens  were  accordingly  adorned  with  myriads  of  stars  ;  and 
the  greater  luminaries  were  so  disposed,  as  to  distinguish  between 
day  and  night,  and  to  divide  the  seasons  of  the  year. 

On  the  fifth  and  sixth  days,  the  waters  were  replenished  with  fish, 
the  air  was  filled  with  birds,  the  meadows  were  stocked  with  cattle, 
and  every  part  of  the  earth's  surface  was  inhabited  by  its  appropriate 
tribes. 

The  last  work  of  the  sixth  day  was  the  creation  of  man.  This 
was  the  crowning  work  of  the  whole.  God  formed  him  of  the  dust 
of  the  ground,  breathed  into  his  body  the  breath  of  life,  or  immor- 
tality, and  hence  man  became  a  living  soul.  Woman  was  also 
formed,  out  of  the  side  of  the  man,  who  was  cast  into  a  deep  sleep 
for  that  purpose. 

After  the  creation  of  this  helper  for  man,  she  was  given  to  the  lat 
ter,  and  the  sacred  institution  of  marriage  was  ordained  by  the  Creatoi 
himself.  From  this  pair  sprang  all  the  various  nations  of  mankind. 

As  a  matter  of  curiosity,  and  forming  a  perfect  contrast  to  the  ra- 
tional account  of  the  Scriptures,  we  will  mention  a  few  theories  oi 
philosophers  and  others,  on  the  formation  of  the  universe. 

It  was  the  opinion  of  Zenophanes,  Strabo,  and  others,  that  the 
earth,  and  the  whole  system  of  the  universe,  was  the  Deity  himself 
Pythagoras  inculcated  the  famous  numerical  system  of  the  monad 
dyad,  and  triad  ;  and,  by  means  of  his  sacred  quaternary,  eluci- 
dated the  formation  of  the  world,  and  the  secrets  of  nature. 

Other  philosophers  adhered  to  the  mathematical  system  of  squares 
and  triangles ;  the  cube,  the  pyramid,  and  the  sphere,  &c.  While 
others  maintained  the  great  elementary  theory,  which  refers  the 
construction  of  our  globe,  and  all  it  contains,  to  the  combinations  of 
the  four  material  elements,  air,  earth,  fire,  and  water,  with  the  as- 
sistance of  a  fifth,  an  immaterial  and  vivifying  principle. 

It  is  recorded  by  the  Brahmins,  in  the  pages  of  their  inspired 
Shastah,  that  the  angel  Bistnoo,  transforming  himself  into  a  great 
boar,  plunged  into  the  watery  abyss,  and  brought  up  the  earth  on 
his  tusks.  Then  issued  from  him  a  mighty  tortoise  and  snake;  and 
Bistnoo  placed  the  snake  erect  upon  the  back  of  the  tortoise,  and  he 
placed  the  earth  upon  the  head  of  the  .snake. 

The  negroes  of  Congo  affirm  that  the  world  was  made  by  the  hands 
of  angels,  excepting  their  own  country,  which  the  Supreme  Being 
constructed  himself;  that  he  took  great  pains  \vith  the  inhabitants, 
and  made  them  very  black  and  beautiful ;  and  when  he  had  finished 
th*>  first.  in:ui.  he  was  well  pleased  with  him.  and  smoothed  him  ove* 


4004—2348  u.  c.  IS 

the  face ;  and  hence  his  nose,  and  the  noses  of  all  his  descendants, 
Decame  flat. 

Buffon,  a  modern  infidel  philosopher,  conjectures  that  this  earth 
was  originally  a  globe  of  liquid  fire,  struck  from  the  body  of  the? 
sun,  by  means  of  a  comet,  as  a  spark  is  produced  by  the  collision 
of  flint  and  steel ;  that  at  first  it  was  surrounded  by  gross  vapory 
which,  cooling  and  condensing  in  process  of  time,  constituted,  ao 
cording  to  their  densities,  earth,  water,  and  air ;  which  gradually 
arranged  themselves  according  to  their  respective  gravities,  round 
the  burning  mass  that  formed  their  centre. 

Darwin,  an  infidel  also,  in  accounting  for  the  origin  of  the  world. 
supposes  that  the  mass  of  chaos  suddenly  exploded,  like  a  barrel  of 
gunpowder,  and  in  that  act  exploded  the  sun,  which,  in  its  flight,  by 
a  similar  convulsion,  exploded  the  earth,  which  in  like  manner  ex- 
ploded the  moon ;  and  thus,  by  a  chain  of  explosions,  the  whole  so- 
lar system  was  produced,  and  set  in  regular  motion. 

3.  Adam  and  Eve.  the  names  of  the  first  human  pair, 
were  placed  by  the  Deity,  immediately  subsequent  to  their 
creation,  in  the  garden  of  Eden,  with  instructions  to  keep  and 
dress  it.  They  were  allowed  the  free  use  of  all  the  fruit  of 
the  garden,  with  a  single  reservation,  which  wras  designed  as 
a  trial  of  their  obedience.  The  penalty  of  death  was  threat- 
ened if  they  should  transgress  the  command  of  their  Maker. 
Created  pure  and  innocent,  and  placed  in  a  state  of  unalloyed 
happiness,  they  had  every  inducement  to  do  well. 

§  Adam  and  Eve  seem  to  have  been  created  without  the  garden, 
and  immediately  afterwards  brought  into  it.  It  is  evident  that  Eden 
was  east  of  Canaan,  or  of  the  wilderness  where  Moses  wrote  the  sa- 
cred history.  But  the  precise  spot  cannot  now  be  ascertained. 

The  most  extravagant  opinions  have  been  entertained  on  this  sub- 
ject ;  and  not  only  the  four  quarters  of  the  globe,  but  even  the  air 
and  the  moon,  have  been  conjectured  to  include  this  delightful 
abode.  Following  the  Bible  as  nearly  as  we  are  able,  and  judg- 
ing from  the  well  known  names  of  the  Hiddekel,  or  Tigris,  and  the 
Euphrates,  we  may  determine,  with  some  probability,  that  the  Gar- 
den of  Eden  was  situated  in  or  near  Mesopotamia,  probably  Diarbec, 
a  part  of  that  country. 

It  is  clear  that  Moses  intended  to  give  an  intelligible  description 
of  the  situation  of  Eden  to  his  countrymen,  who  might  know  it  ex- 
actly, though  we  cannot ;  and  it  is  clear,  also,  that,  though  the  face 
of  the  country  may  have  been  greatly  changed  by  means  of  the  de- 
luge, the  Tigris  and  Euphrates  continued  nearly  the  same  course 
after  that  event  as  before. 

The  tree,  the  fruit  of  which  Adam  was  forbidden  to  eat,  is  called 
the  tree  of  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  which  intimates  thai, 
by  abstaining  from  this  fruit,  the  knowledge  of  good  would  be  en 
joyed,  but,  by  eating  it,  the  knowledge  of  evil  would  be  fatally  in- 
troduced. 


14  ANCIENT  HISTORY-  -PERIOD  J. 

4.  The  innocence  and  felicity  of  the  first  pair  were  of  very 
short  duration.     They  violated,  with  daring  impiety,  the  sole 
command  of  their  Maker.     The  precise  time  of  this  transac- 
tion cannot  be  determined ;  but  it  was  probably  only  a  few 
days  after  their  creation. 

The  woman,  being  deceive^  by  the  subtlety  of  Satan,  in 
the  form  of  a  serpent,  was  the  first  in  transgression  ;  and,  by 
her  means,  Adam  also  sinned.     A  sense  of  guilt  and  misery 
unknown  before,  then  pervaded  their  bosoms  ;  though  they 
were  preserved  from  despair  by  the  promise  of  a  Saviour. 

§  The  greatness  of  the  sin  of  our  first  parents  is  no  less  evident  than 
the  subtlety  of  the  Tempter.  In  their  sm  was  involved  almost  every 
crime — ingratitude,  sensuality,  ambition,  unbelief,  distrust,  malignity, 
pride,  insubordination. 

The  effect  was  decisive.  The  face  ot  creation  was  altered.  "  Na- 
ture   gave  signs  that  all  was  lost."  Death  was  introduced 

into  the  system,  and  our  first  parents,  from  that  moment,  became 
liable  to  dissolution,  with  all  their  posterity.  The  seeds  of  death 
were  then  planted  in  fneir  frame,  and  the  moral  qualities  of  their 
souls  became  wholly  corrupt  and  sinful. 

The  disclosure  of  their  crime  wras  in  the  highest  degree  distress- 
ing to  the  guilty  pair.  God  called  them  to  account,  and  his  awful 
frown  and  displeasure,  chilled  and  penetrated  their  souls.  The 
ground  was  cursed  for  their  sakes,  and  a  great  variety  of  evils  was 
entailed  upon  them. 

The  serpent,  who  was  the  instrument  of  the  crime,  received  his 
doom,  in  connexion  with  the  promise  of  a  deliverer  on  the  part  oi 
man,  who  had  been  so  fatally  beset  and  overcome.  The  seed  of  the 
woman  was  eventually  to  bruise  the  Serpent's  head — a  declaration 
referable,  in  its  full  extent,  only  to  Jesus  Christ,  the  Saviour  ol 
mankind.  The  immediate  expulsion  of  Adam  and  Eve  from  para- 
dise, was  the  natural  conclusion  of  this  dreadful  and  calamitous 
scene,  after  their  Maker  had  first  mercifully  provided  them  with 
coats  of  skin,  to  cover  their  nakedness.  Cherubims,  and  a  flaming 
sword,  which  turned  every  way,  placed  at  the  east  of  the  garden, 
prevented  all  access  to  the  once  happy  abode,  particularly  to  the 
tree  of  life. 

5.  In  the  first  year  of  the  world,  4004  years  B.  C.  was 
born  Cain,  the  first  begotten  of  the  human  family.     The  suc- 
ceeding year.  Abel  was  born.     These  brothers  not  only  fol- 
lowed different  occupations,  but  possessed  very  different  cha- 
racters.    The  bitter  fruits  of  the  apostacy  appeared  at  length 
ii>  *'  >3  murder  of  the  one  by  the  other. 

On  an  occasion  of  presenting  an  offering  unto  God,  Cain, 
who  was  a  husbandman,  brought  of  the  fruit  of  the  ground  ; 
Abel,  who  was  a  shepherd,  brought  of  the  firstlings  of  his 


4004—2348  B.  c.  15 

flock.  The  offerers,  being  dissimilar  in  character,  and  their 
offerings  having  a  dissimilar  significancy,  were  not  alike  ac- 
cepted of  Jehovah.  Cain  and  his  offering  were  rejected. 
This  circumstance  excited  the  indignation  of  Cain,  who, 
taking  his  opportunity  when  they  were  alone  in  the  field,  rose 
up  against  his  brother  and  slew  him. 

On  account  of  his  crime,  Cain  was  forthwith  punished  by 
Jehovah.  He  was  called  to  a  solemn  reckoning,  and,  hear 
ing  with  anguish  his  doom  pronounced,  "  a  fugitive  and  a 
vagabond  shall  thou  be  in  the  earth,"  he  went  out  from  the 
presence  of  the  Lord,  and  dwelt  in  the  land  of  Nod,  on  the 
east  of  Eden. 

He,  however,  built  a  city,  at  length,  and  his  family  and  de- 
scendants became  famous  as  inventors  of  useful  and  ingenious 
arts,  though  it  does  not  appear  that  any  of  them  were  pious, 
and  enjoyed  the  divine  favour. 

§  The  murder  of  Abel  occarred,  it  is  generally  supposed,  but  a 
short  time  before  the  birth  of  Seth,  or  about  130  years  after  the  cre- 
ation. As  Adam  and  Eve,  in  the  mean  time,  must  have  had  other 
children,  the  human  family  was  no  doubt  considerably  multiplied 
during  130  years.  Hence  the  events  that  are  recorded  by  Moses, 
in  connexion  with  the  murdproi  Abel,  are  easily  accounted  for,  with- 
out supposing  more  than  one  numan  pair,  from  whom  all  the  inha* 
bitants  then  on  the  earth  were  descended. 

After  the  death  of  Abel,  Adam  and  Eve  had  many  other  children , 
the  eldest  of  the  sons  was  named  Seth,  and  his  descendants,  from 
their  piety,  were  styled  "  the  children  of  God,"  in  opposition  to  the 
descendants  of  Cain,  who  were  styled  "the  children  of  men.1' 
These  at  length  mingled  together,  and  thus  prepared  the  way  for  the 
universal  wickedness  that  afterwards  prevailed. 

6.  After  a  short  account  of  Cain  and  his  family,  the  sa- 
cred historian  informs  us  respecting  "  the  generations  of 
Adam;"  and  recording  the  births  of  Enos,  Cainan,  Mahalaleel, 
and  Jared,  he  presents  us  with  a  brief  but  interesting  history 
of  Enoch.  Being  eminently  pious,  he  is  said  to  have  walked 
with  God,  for  the  space  of  300  years,  and  at  the  expiration 
of  that  time,  to  have  been  taken  up  to  heaven,  without  pass- 
ing through  the  scene  of  death. 

The  sacred  genealogy  is  carried  on  to  the  time  of  Noah 
and  his  sons,  and  the  date  of  the  life  of  each  one  of  the  pa- 
triarchs is  minutely  given. 

§  As  Adam  lived  930  years,  he  must  have  beheld  a  numerous  pos- 
terity, and  been  conversant  with  many  who  survived  till  near  the 
time  of  the  deluge.  Doubtless  he  must  have  been  greatly  affected, 


16  ANCIENT  HISTORY PERIOD  I. 

in  view  of  the  wickedness  which  so  soon  began  to  spread  over  the 
earth,  and  which  he  had  been  the  instrument  of  introducing. 

The  place  of  his  sepulchre  is  not  mentioned  in  scripture ;  yet  va- 
rious conjectures  (and  they  are  mere  conjectures)  have  been  formed 
on  the  subject.  St.  Jerome  stations  his  remains  in  the  cave  of  Mach- 
pelah ;  and  the  generality  of  the  primitive  fathers  suppose  him  to 
have  been  buried  on  Mount  Calvary,  in  the  very  spot  whereon  Christ, 
f  he  second  Adam,  shed  his  blood  for  mankind. 

The  descendants  of  Seth,  at  first  continuing  pure  and  uncorrupted, 
at  length,  by  intermarriages  with  the  family  of  Cain,  became,  witli 
the  rest  of  mankind,  exceedingly  degenerate.  From  these  inter- 
marriages sprang  the  giants  of  those  times,  men  of  extraordinary 
strength  and  stature,  and,  perhaps,  of  more  extraordinary  wick- 
edness. These  became  (;  men  of  renown,"  heroes,  conquerors,  and 
ohief  tains. 

7.  The  Deity,  justly  provoked  by  the  enormous  degeneracy 
of  his  creatures,  determined  to  destroy,  by  a  universal  deluge, 
the  race  of  man.  together  with  the  whole  animal  creation,  ex- 
cept a  very  small  remnant  who  were  to  restock  the  earth  af- 
ter that  catastrophe. 

One  hundred  and  twenty  years,  however,  did  he  merci 
fully  afford  to  the  children  of  men,  as  a  space  for  repentance;, 
during  which  time,  Noah,  "  a  preacher  of  righteousness," 
endeavoured  to  reclaim  them  from  their  wickedness,  and  warn- 
ed them  of  their  doom.  His  zeal  and  labours  seem  to  have 
produced  no  effect.  The  earth  became  at  length  filled  with 
violence. 

From  the  tremendous  sentence  which  God  had  pronounced 
Noah  and  his  family  were  excepted,  he  having  "found  grace 
la  the  eyes  of  the  Lord."     Connected  with  the  intimatior. 
which  Noah  had  received  concerning  the  approaching  deluge 
were  several  particular  instructions,  relative  to  his  deliver- 
ance. 

This  was  to  be  accomplished  by  means  of  a  large  vessel 
called  the  ark,  which  he  built  during  the  intervening  period, 
agreeably  to  the  divine  directions. 

§  The  ark  was  built  of  gopher  wood,  which  some  suppose  to  bft 
the  cypress  tree.  Its  form  was  that  of  an  oblong  square,  with  a 
flat  bottom  and  a  sloping  roof,  elevated  one  cubitf  in  the  middle, 
It  consisted  of  three  stories,  each  of  which,  excluding  the  thick- 
ness of  the  floors,  might  be  eighteen  feet  high,  and  was  divided 
into  separate  apartments.  It  was  pitched  within  and  without,  to 
Keep  it  tight,  and  lighted  from  the  upper  part.  It  was,  probably, 
well  supplied  with  air ;  and,  though  it  had  neither  sails  nor  rudder 
it  was  well  contrived  for  lying  steadily  on  the  surface  of  the  water 


4004—2348  B.  c  17 

With  this  means  of  safety,  Noah  awaited  the  destruction  which 
was  fast  coming  upon  the  world. 

Distinguished  characters  in  Period  I. 

1.  Adam,  the  first  of  the  human  race. 

2.  Eve,  the  first  woman. 

3.  Cain,  the  earliest  born  of  mankind,  and  first  murderer. 

4.  Jubal,  the  first  musician. 

5.  Tubal-cain,  the  earliest  instructer  in  the  mechanic  arts 

6.  Enoch,  translated  to  heaven  on  account  of  his  piety. 

7.  Methuselah,  the  oldest  man  that  has  ever  lived,  being 
969  years  old  when  he  died. 

§  1.  Adam  was  created  by  the  Almighty  from  the  dust  of  the  earth, 
on  the  6th  day  of  the  creation.  His  Maker,  it  is  said  in  Scripture, 
"  breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of  life  ;  and  man  became 
a  living  soul."  He  was  thus  endued  with  an  immortal  principle, 
and  being  placed  in  a  probationary  state,  not  only  his  own  cha- 
racter, but  the  character  of  his  posterity,  was  to  be  affected  by  his 
conduct. 

As  he  came  from  the  hands  of  his  Maker,  he  was  pure,  holy,  and 
happy ;  and  he  had  every  motive  to  persuade  him  to  continued  rec- 
titude of  conduct.  His  outward  circumstances  also  were  favourable 
for  this  end.  He  was  placed  in  a  delightful  garden,  the  easy  tillage 
of  which  constituted  his  employment.  God  imposed  upon  him  but 
one  test  of  obedience,  and  that  was  abstinence  in  regard  to  eating 
the  fruit  of  a  certain  tree  in  the  garden. 

Persuaded  by  Eve,  who,  having  been  tempted  by  Satan,  had  pre- 
viously transgressed,  he  partook  of  the  forbidden  food,  and  thus 
death  entered  into  the  world,  and  "  all  our  wo."  His  conduct  in- 
volved the  greatest  impiety,  and  the  consequences  have  been  dread- 
ful in  time,  and  will  be  so  throughout  eternity,  in  regard  to  multi- 
tudes of  his  offspring,  who  have  imitated  him  in  his  disobedience,  and 
repented  not. 

It  is  highly  probable  that  he,  together  with  the  woman,  embraced 
an  offered  Saviour,  immediately  made  known,  both  having  repented 
of  their  sin.  He  lived  many  years  afterwards,  having  begot  sons 
and  daughters,  and  died  at  the  advanced  age  of  930  years.  For  fur- 
ther particulars,  see  Genesis,  2d,  3d,  and  4th  chapters. 

2.  Eve  was  created  "  an  help  meet"  for  Adam,  having  been 
formed,  by  the  Creator,  from  one  of  the  ribs  of  Adam,  which  was 
taken  from  him  in  a  deep  sleep.  Thus  she  became  "  bone  of  his 
bones,  and  flesh  of  his  flesh,"  and  was  given  to  him  as  his  wife. 

She  proved  to  be  first  "  in  the  transgression."  Satan,  a  fallen  spi- 
rit, assuming  the  form  of  a  serpent,  and,  through  the  organs  of  that 
animal,  exerting  the  powers  of  speech,  accosted  her  when  alone,  and 
Interrogated  her  respecting  the  forbidden  tree.  Taking  her  by  sur- 
prise, and  securing  r^gr  attention  and  good  will,  he  at  length  persuaded 
her  to  disobey  the  express  command  of  God. 

132 


18  ANCIENT  HISTORY PERIOD  !. 

She  partook  of  the  fruit;  "and  gave  also  unto  her  husband  with 
her,  and  he  did  eat."  This  event,  in  regard  to  the  first  human  pair, 
is  supposed  to  have  taken  place  very  soon,  if  not  immediately  after 
they  were  placed  in  the  garden.  Eve,  as  a  particular  punishment  to 
be  inflicted  upon  her,  was  doomed  in  sorrow  to  bring  forth  children, 
and  to  be  subject  to  her  husband. 

3.  Cain  rendered  himself  famous  by  his  wickedness.     In  an  unpro- 
voked manner  he  murdered  his  brother  Abel,  and  thus  was  the  first 
who  committed  a  crime  which  has  ever  been  considered  as  the  most 
atrocious  that  man  commits. 

God  directly  punished  him  by  an  awful  malediction ;  and  b,y  causing 
him  to  become  a  fugitive  and  a  vagabond  in  the  earth.  Going  out 
"from  the  presence  of  t>e  Lord,"  he  dwelt  in  the  land  of  Nod,  on  the 
east  of  Eden.  He  at  length  built  a  city,  and  called  it  Enoch,  after 
the  name  of  his  son. 

Nothing  is  recorded  of  the  time  and  manner  of  his  death.  He  was 
most  probably  a  person  of  great  energy  and  enterprise,  as  has  often 
been  the  fact  with  the  wicked  ones  of  the  earth. 

4.  Jubal  is  spoken  of  in  Scripture  as  "  the  father  of  all  such  BH 
handle  the  harp  and  organ,"  as  his  brother  Jabal  is  mentioned  an 
*  the  father  of  such  as  dwell  in  tents."     From  all  accounts,  both  sa 
cred  and  profane,  music  must  have  been  early  known  among  man 
kind,  and  its  performers  must  have  been  among  the  earliest  civilizers 
of  the  world. 

5-^Tubal-Cain  is  called  "  an  instructor  of  every  artificer  in  brass 
and  iron."  Probably  he  was  so  called  from  his  having  discovered 
the  art  of  working  in  these  metals ;  the  most  useful  of  the  mechanic 
arts,  and  lying  at  the  foundation  of  all  of  them. 

6.  Enoch  lived  65  years  before  he  begat  Methuselah.     He  "  walk- 
ed with  God  after  he  begat  Methuselah  300  years,  and  begat  sons  and' 
daughters.     And  all  the  days  of  Enoch  were  365  years.     And  Enoch 
walked  with  God,  and  he  was  not,  for  God  took  him."     Such  is  the 
simple  and  sublime  record  of  scripture  respecting  a  good  man.     It 
is  an  infinitely  more  precious  memorial  than  the  splendid  marble 
monument,  or  the  ever-during  pyramid. 

7.  Methuselah  is  not  known  to  have  been  remarkable  for  any 
thing  except  his  age.     He  must  have  lived  to  the  very  year  of  the 
flood.  The  circumstance  of  the  longevity  of  the  antediluvians,  was  ex- 
tremely favourable  to  the  communication  of  knowledge,  by  tradition. 


PERIOD   II. 

TJie  Period  of  the  Confusion  of  Languages,  extending 
from  the  Deluge,  2348  years  B.  C.  to  the  calling  of 
Abraham,  1921  years  B.  C. 

§  IT  may  be  observed  here,  that  this  period,  in  profane  history,  and 
even  two  or  three  others  succeeding  it,  are  what  is  termed  fabulous. 
The  events  recorded  are  to  be  admitted  with  a  great  degree  of  cau- 


2348—1921  a.  c.  10 

tiou,  except  so  far  as  Scripture  incidentally  throws  its  light  upon 
them.  And  it  is  well  known,  also,  that  there  is  a  portion  of  the 
early  history  of  almost  every  nation,  which  is  but  little  entitled  to 
credit.  We  shall  adduce  the  common  accounts,  and  when  neces- 
sary, shall  endeavour  to  distinguish  between  the  probable  and  impro- 
bable events. 

SECTION  1.  At  the  appointed  time,  God  brought  the  wa- 
ters of  the  flood  upon  aU  the  earth.  For  this  purpose,  he 
oroke  up  the  fountains  of  the  great  deep,  and  opened  the  win- 
dows of  heaven.  During  forty  days  and  forty  nights,  with- 
out intermission,  the  waters  were  thus  poured  upon  the  surface 
of  the  globe. 

As  the  ark  was  completed,  Noah,  being  600  years  old,  went 
into  it,  together  with  his  wife,  his  three  sons,  and  their  wives, 
taking  with  him  all  kinds  of  beasts,  birds,  and  reptiles,  by  pairs, 
and  by  sevens,  agreeably  to  the  divine  direction. 

According  to  the  antediluvian  computation,  Noah  remained 
in  the  ark  one  year  and  ten  days ;  and  on  coming  out,  he 
built  an  altar,  and  offered  a  sacrifice  to  the  Lord,,  who  blessed 
Noah  and  his  sons.  They  settled  in  the  vicinity  of  mount 

Ararat,  in  Armenia. 

§  The  waters  increased  gradually  during  the  space  of  five  months, 
when  they  rose  to  the  elevation  of  27  feet  above  the  summits  of  the 
highest  mountains.  Men,  beasts,  birds,  and  reptiles,  thus  being  de- 
prived of  the  means  of  safety,  all  perished. 

The  purpose  of  God  being  effected,  he  caused  a  wind  to  pass  over 
the  earth,  in  consequence  of  which  the  waters  began  to  subside.  The 
ark  rested  on  the  mountains  of  Ararat,  on  the  17th  day  of  the  7th 
month,  or  the  6th  of  May. 

The  waters  continuing  several  months  afterwards,  it  was  not 
until  the  27th  of  the  2cl  month,  or  the  18th  of  December,  that  the 
inmates  of  the  ark  came  forth  in  pursuance  of  the  divine  com 
mand. 

2.  The  truth  of  the  Bible  respecting  the  deluge,  is  strikingly 
confirmed  by  the  general  voice  of  mankind,  and  by  the  phy- 
sical structure  and  appearance  of  the  earth's  surface. 

§  The  Chaldeans,  Egyptians,  Syrians,  Indians,  Chinese,  Greeks,  and 
other  nations,  all  had  some  traditions  respecting  the  deluge.  Not  to 
mention  any  that  have  been  yet  published,  the  author  of  this  outline 
would  state  a  fact  once  delivered  to  him  by  an  intelligent  adventurer, 
his  countryman. 

Residing  some  time  among  the  natives  of  the  North  West  Coast  of 
America,  he  fell  into  conversation  with  one  of  them  around  the  fire 
of  his  wigwam,  on  various  topics.  Among  other  things,  the  Indian 
inquired  of  him,  whether  his  people  knew  any  thing  concerning  a 
great  flood  that  had  once  taken  place. 


20  ANCIENT     HISTORY. PERIOD    II. 

The  stranger  resident  affecting  surprise,  with  a  view  to  learn  what 
notion  the  natives  had  on  the  subject,  asked  his  inquirer,  how  long 
ago  it  happened.  The  Indian  immediately  scooping  up  a  handful  of 
ashes  that  lay  before  him,  promptly  replied,  "as  many  moons  as 
there  are  ashes  here." 

In  agreement  with  the  universal  voice  of  tradition,  the  surface  of 
the  earth,  in  various  respects,  indicates  the  occurrence  of  such  a  ca- 
tastrophe. Its  broken  state,  the  disposition  of  its  strata,  and  the  re- 
mains of  marine  productions  on  the  tops  of  the  highest  mountains, 
are  no  doubtful  evidence  on  this  subject. 

3.  After  the  deliverance  of  Noah  and  his  family  from  the 
flood,  God  established  a  gracious  covenant  with  him,  which  is 
recorded  at  length  in  the  9th  chapter  of  Genesis.     Among 
other  things,  he  made  a  grant  of  flesh  as  food  for  mankind, 
and  he  engaged  no  more  to  destroy  the  earth  with  a  flood,  in 
confirmation  of  which  he  set  his  bow  in  the  cloud. 

4.  Not  long  after  this  period,  Noah,  who  had  engaged  in 
the  pursuits  of  husbandry,  having  been  intoxicated  by  the 
juice  of  the  grape,  was  discovered   in  this  disgraceful  situa- 
tion by  his  youngest  son  Ham,  who,  with  indecent  levity,  in- 
formed his  brethren  of  the  circumstance.  The  latter,  however, 
treated  their  father  with  the  highest  degree  of  filial  decorum. 

This  conduct  procured  for  them  the  blessing  of  Noah, 
while  that  of  Ham  subjected  him,  in  his  son  Canaan,  to  a 
dreadful  curse. 

§  Noah,  we  are  informed  by  the  sacred  historian,  lived  350  years  aftei 
the  deluge,  so  that  his  entire  age  was  950  years.  The  Orientals  have 
a  tradition  that  he  was  buried  in  Mesopotamia,  where  they  show  his 
sepulchre,  in  a  castle  near  Dair  Abunah,  or  the  "  monastery  of  our 
father." 

5.  The  three  sons  of  Noah  were,  of  course,  the  first  foun 
ders  of  nations.      They  peopled  the  several  quarters  of  the 
globe,  Shem,  the  east  and  south  of  Asia  ;  Ham,   Syria,  Ara- 
bia, and  Africa ;  Japheth,  the  north  and  west  of  Asia,  and 
also  Europe. 

§  From  the  immediate  descendants  of  Shem  were  derived  the  Ela- 
mites  or  Persians;  the  Assyrians,  and  the  Lydians.  By  Joktan,  the 
fourth  in  descent  from  Shem,  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  east  were 
peopled,  and  perhaps  America  also,  where,  it  is  said,  some  traces  of 
his  name  yet  remain. 

Joktan  had  13  sons,  and  scripture  says  that  the  dwelling  of  Jok- 
tan's  posterity  "  was  from  Mesha,  as  thou  goest  up  to  Sephar,  a  mount 
in  the  East." 

From  the  sons  of  Ham,  who  is  supposed  to  be  the  Chronos  of  the 
Greeks,  were  descended  the  Ethiopians,  the  Babylonians,  the  Egyp- 


2348—1921  B.  c.  21 

lians,  the  Coichians,  the  Philistines,  the  Lybians,  the  Canaanites, 
Sidonians,  and  the  Phoenicians. 

From  the  sons  of  Japheth  were  descended  the  Cimbri,  the  Gauls, 
the  Germans,  the  Scythians,  the  Tartars,  the  Medes,  the  lonians, 
the  Iberians,  the  Muscovites,  and  the  Thracians.  From  their  sons 
^'ere  derived  other  particular  tribes,  whose  names  need  not  here  be 
rehearsed. 

6.  During  101  years  after  the  flood,  i.  e.  till  the  year  2247 
B.  C.  all  the  descendants  of  Noah  spoke  but  one  language 
The  occasion  of  a  diversity  of  tongues  in  the  world,  and  of 
the  origin  of  distinct  communities,  was  the  following. 

At  the  time  above  referred  to,  the  human  family,  in  jour- 
neying from  the  vicinity  of  mount  Ararat,  arrived  at  length 
at  a  plain  in  the  land  of  Shinar.  On  this  spot  they  began  to 
erect  a  city  and  a  tower,  whose  top  might  aspire  to  heaven,  for 
the  purpose  of  avoiding  the  dispersion  of  their  households,  and 
of  acquiring  a  name. 

Such  a  purpose,  and  perhaps  others  still  Averse,  being  of- 
fensive to  the  Deity,  he  confounded  their  language,  and  thus 
the  workmen,  not  being  able  to  understand  one  another,  de- 
sisted from  their  undertaking.  The  consequence  was  the 
dispersion  of  mankind  into  different  nations. 

The  name  given  to  the  city  was  Babel,  which  signifies- 

confusion. 

§  In  erecting  the  tower  they  made  use  of  brick  instead  of  stone,  and 
the  want  of  mortar  was  supplied  by  slime,  or  bitumen,  of  which  the 
region  afforded  an  abundance.  The  identical  materials  of  this  fa- 
bric have  been  supposed,  at  different  times,  to  have  been  discovered ; 
but  this  is  uncertain. 

7.  Mankind  having  become  separated  into  different  com- 
munities or  nations,  their  history  must  thenceforth  be  given 
accordingly.     We  shall  commence  with  the  Assyrian  nation, 
and  briefly  trace  the  outline  of  its  history,  as  also  the  history 
of  other  sovereignties  that  existed  during  this  period. 

ASSYRIA. 

8.  ASSYRIA,  considered  as  afterwards  including  Babylonia, 
is  the  oldest  of  nations,  and  founded  on  the  spot  where  the 
tower  of  Babel  was  erected.     We  may  date  the  commence- 
ment of  this  empire  not  many  years  after  the  dispersion  took 
place,  or  about  2229  years  B.  C.     Its  founder  was  Ashur,  the 
son  of  Shem,  who  built  Nineveh,  its  capital.     It  continued 
alone  about  120  years,  and  then  being  united  to  Babylonia, 
became  a  mighty  empire. 


22  ANCIENT  HISTORY PERIOD  II. 

§  In  the  order  of  lime,  there  were  two  empires  of  the  Assyrians. 
The  first  is  here  spoken  of,  which  lasted  till  the  year  767  B.  C. 

It  is  supposed  by  some  that  Babylon,  which  was  built  by  Nimrod; 
the  grandson  of  Ham,  the  Belus  of  profane  history,  was,  from  the 
beginning,  the  capital  of  Assyria.  But  we  rather  follow  those  autho- 
rities that  suppose  Babylonia  and  Assyria  to  have  been  originally 
two  distinct  kingdoms,  both  founded  about  the  same  time,  the  former 
by  Nimrod,  the  latter  by  Ashur. 

The  Babylonians  became,  at  length,  tributary ;  and  Ninus,  king  of 
Assyria,  having  deposed  Nabonius,  united  the  two  states  into  one. 
\fter  his  death,  Semiramis,  his  widow,  transferred  the  seat  of govern- 
nent  from  Nineveh  to  Babylon. 

9.  Under  Semiramis  the  Assyrian  empire  was  greatly  en- 
larged.    She  assumed  the  government  during  the  nonage  of 
Ninias,  son  of  her  husband,  Ninus.     She  signalized  her  name 
by  enlarging  and  embellishing  Babylon,  and  by  her  nume- 
rous military  exploits. 

§  It  is  said,  that,  in  completing  Babylon,  she  employed  the  labours 
of  2,000,000  men.  This  woman,  after  having  enlarged  her  dominions, 
conquered  a  great  part  of  Ethiopia,  and  invaded  India,  though  with- 
out success,  was  murdered,  as  is  supposed,  at  the  instigation  of 
Ninias. 

10.  Ninias,  her  successor,  was  a  very  insignificant  sove 
reign  ;  and  the  history  of  his  successors,  for  more  than  30  ge  • 
herations,  is  unknown.     They  must  have  been  an  indolent 
and  effeminate  race. 

§  Ninias,  unlike  his  predecessors,  being  wholly  intent  on  his  plea 
sures,  kept  himself  secluded  in  his  palace,  and  seldom  appeared 
before  his  people.  But,  to  retain  them  in  their  duty,  he  kept  a  cer- 
tain number  of  regular  troops,  whom  he  renewed  every  year,  com- 
manded by  an  officer  on  whose  fidelity  he  could  depend.  This 
method  he  seems  to  have  adopted,  that  the  officers  might  have  no 
time  to  gain  the  affections  of  the  soldiers,  or  to  form  conspiracies 
ag.ainst  him. 

Not  only  are  his  successors  unknown,  as  to  their  conduct  or  ex- 
ploits, but  even  their  names,  till  the  time  of  Sardanapalus,  the  last  of 
them,  (who  will  be  noticed  in  the  proper  place,)  are  a  matter  of  con- 
troversy among  historians. 

During  this  unrecorded  period  of  the  Assyrian  history,  Sesostris, 
King  of  Egypt,  if  his  name  may  be  here  anticipated,  who  carried  on 
his  conquests  into  the  East,  must  have  overrun  Assyria ;  but,  as  his 
power  was  not  supported  by  his  successors,  the  Assyrians  must  have 
soon  regained  their  former  state. 

CHINA 

11.  CHINA,  it  is  not  to  be  doubted,  is  among  the  most 
ancient  empires  of  the  world.     Its  records  extend  10  more 
than  2200  years  B.  C.      According  to  the  most  current  op 


2348—1921  B.  c.  23 

nion,  it  was  founded  by  one  of  the  colonies  formed  at  the 
dispersion  of  Noah's  posterity,  under  the  conduct  of  Yao,  who 
took  for  his  colleague  Chun,  afterwards  his  successor. 

Other  accounts  state  Fo-hi  to  have  been  the  founder  of  this 
monarchy,  and  many  writers  consider  Fo-hi  to  have  been  Noah 
himself.  The  Chinese  pretend  a  much  higher  antiquity  than 
is  here  assigned  to  them,  but  their  pretensions  are  merely  the 
effect  of  national  vanity. 

§  The  sovereigns  of  China,  from  Chun  to  the  present  time,  are  di- 
vided into  22  dynasties,  the  first  of  which,  that  of  Hia,  began  2207 
years  B.  C.  Four,  and  a  part  of  the  fifth,  of  these  dynasties,  preceded 
the  Christian  era. 

The  first  dynasty  was  founded  by  Yu,  surnamed  Ta,  or  the  Great, 
whom  Chun  adopted  in  preference  to  his  own  children.  It  lasted 
441  years,  under  17  emperors. 

Yu-ta  was  a  great  proficient  in  agriculture,  astronomy,  and  the 
kindred  studies.  On  the  subject  of  the  first,  he  wrote  an  excellent 
treatise.  He  died  much  regretted,  after  a  reign  of  17  years. 

Kya,  the  last  monarch  of  this  dynasty,  was  greatly  detested  by  his 
subjects.  He  was  driven  from  the  throne,  and  died  after  an  igno- 
minious exile  of  three  years. 

EGYPT. 

1 2.  EGYPT  claims,  and  certainly  possesses,  a  high  anti- 
quity. Its  early  annals,  however,  are  so  obscure,  that  scarcely 
any  thing  can  be  ascertained  respecting  its  first  kings,  after 
Menes.* 

Menes  is  generally  acknowledged  as  the  founder  of  the 
Egyptian  empire,  and  is  supposed  to  be  the  same  as  Misraim, 
mentioned  in  scripture  among  Ham's  sons,  2188  years  B.  C. 
His  children  divided  the  land  ;  whence  arose  four  kingdoms, 
which  subsisted  separately  during  several  centuries,  and  were 
successively  united  under  one  yoke. 

These  four  kingdoms  are  known  by  the  names  of  Thebes, 
Thin,  Memphis,  and  Tanais.  The  people  had  attained  to 
considerable  civilization,  but  a  period  of  barbarism  soon  after- 

*  Some  late  writers,  adopting-  the  Samaritan  text  of  the  Bible,  which  places 
the  dclug-c  several  hundred  years  beyond  the  common  era,  compute  the  reig-n 
of  Menes  at  about  2800  years  B.  C.  With  this  they  cause  the  other  events  ol 
the  early  period  of  the  world  to  correspond.  We  mention  this  circumstance, 
because  the  computation  which  is  thus  made  may  possibly  be  correct,  and  it 
seems  to  derive  some  little  confirmation  from  the  history  of  the  Egyptians, 
both  as  touched  upon  in  the  Bible,  and  as  gathered  from  their  hieroglyphic 
records.  Still,  however,  we  incline  to  the  common  accounts. 


24  ANCIENT  HISTORY — -PERIOD  II. 

wards  succeeded,  supposed  about  2084  years  B.  C.,  under  the 
shepherd  kings,*  which  lasted  more  than  two  centuries. 

§  In  the  time  of  Menes,  the  greatest  part  of  the  country  was  a  rr>3- 
rass,  till  he  diverted  the  course  of  the  Nile,  and  founded  the  city  ot 
Memphis  within  the  ancient  bed  of  that  river.  He  instructed  the 
Egyptians  in  theology,  introduced  domestic  luxury,  and  instituted 
magnificent  feasts. 

It  was  under  Timaus,  one  of  his  successors,  that  the  government 
was  subverted,  and  the  country  subdued  by  a  multitude  of  ignoble 
persons,  who  came  from  the  East,  and  treated  in  the  most  inhuman 
manner  the  ancient  inhabitants. 

These  invaders  were  called  Hycsos,  or  shepherd  kings,  and,  ac- 
cording to  Manetho,  held  all  Lower  Egypt  259  years. 

In  the  kingdom  of  Thebes,  a  king  by  the  name  of  Athothes  I.  is 
said  to  have  reigned  at  a  very  early  period.  He  was  the  same  as  was 
worshipped  under  the  name  of  Mercury.  After  hrs  death  his  two 
sons  divided  the  kingdom ;  but  nothing  is  known  of  their  successors 
for  a  long  period.  In  the  kingdom  of  Thin,  Venephes  is  said  to  have 
built  some  pyramids,  and  to  have  had  his  reign  distinguished  by  a 
great  famine,  as  that  also  of  one  of  his  successors  was  distinguished 
by  a  dreadful  plague. 

In  the  kingdom  of  Memphis,  Tosorthros  reigned,  not  long  after 
Menes.  From  the  knowledge  he  had  of  physic,  lie  is  styled  Escula- 
pius.  He  is  said  to  have  invented  the  arts  of  building  and  writing. 

Of  the  last  kingdom  of  Egypt,  during  this  period,  there  seem  to 
be  no  records,  or  none  worth  naming.  Indeed,  in  regard  to  those 
of  the  others  that  have  come  down  to  us,  there  is  extreme  uncer- 
tainty, 

Distinguished  characters  in  Period  IT. 

1.  Noah,  from  whom  the  earth  was  a  second  time  peopled. 

2.  Asliur,  who  built  Nineveh. 

3.  Nimrod,  a  warrior,  and  supposed  to  be  the  first  king. 

4.  Menes,  first  king  of  Egypt,  and  civilizer  of  the  East. 

5.  Ninus,  an  Assyrian  monarch,  who  conquered  a  large 
portion  of  Asia. 

(5.  Semiramfe,  a  female  conqueror,  and  able  sovereign. 

§  1.  Noah  is  by  some  considered  the  Chronos  of  the  Greeks,  and  is 
properly  the  second  father  of  mankind.  Little  needs  to  be  said  of 
him,  besides  what  has  already  appeared.  His  eminent  piety  pro- 
cured for  him  and  his  family  an  honourable  exemption  from  the  aw- 
fully destructive  effects  of  the  deluge. 

*  These  kings,  who  were  detested  by  the  Egyptians,  held  the  government 
when  Abraham  visited  it ;  but  were  expelled  before  the  time  of  Joseph.  This 
circumstance  explains  the  remarkable  fact,  that  Abraham,  a  shepherd,  wag 
very  kindly  entertained  in  Egypt ;  while,  in  a  subsequent  age,  Joseph's  bre- 
thren, because  they  were  shepherds,  were  held  in  abhorrence  by  the  inhabi- 
tants. We  have  here  a  pleasing  confirmation  of  the  truth  of  the  scriptural 
uurrative. 


2348—1921  B.  c.  25 

Having  built  the  ark  agreeably  to  the  divine  direction,  he  entered  it 
at  the  age  of  600  years,  taking  with  him  seven  members  of  his  family, 
together  with  the  animals  that  were  intended  to  restock  the  earth. 
Under  the  special  care  of  God,  he,  and  the  various  inmates  of  the 
ark,  survived  the  desolations  of  a  world,  and  leaving  the  ark  in  safety, 
at  a  little  more  than  the  expiration  of  a  year,  he  built  an  altar,  and 
offered  sacrifice  unto  the  Lord. 

Noah  lived  350  years  after  the  flood,  was  engaged  in  the  tillage  of 
the  earth,  and  saw  his  descendants  increasing  around  him.  For  an 
important  incident  in  his  life,  which  has  already  been  mentioned,  we 
refer  to  Gen.  ix.  20—28. 

2.  Asliur  was  one  of  the  sons  of  Shem,  and  supposed  to  be  the 
founder  of  the  Assyrians.    Scarcely  any  thing  is  recorded  of  him. 
The  scripture  asserts  that  he  went  out  of  the  land  of  Shinar,  and 
builded  Nineveh,  and  the  city  of  Rehoboth,  and  Calah. 

3.  Nimrod  "  seems  at  first  to  have  exceedingly  distinguished  himself 
by  hunting,  which  was  then  not  so  much  a  diversion,  as  a  useful 
method  of  preventing  the  hurtful  increase  of  wild  beasts.     This  em- 
ployment required  great  courage  and  address,  and  thus  afforded  a 
field  for  ambition  to  aspire  after  pre-eminence,  and  gradually  attached 
a  number  of  valiant  men  to  one  leader." 

"  From  such  a  beginning,  Nimrod  began  to  claim  authority,  and 
enforce  subjection ;  and,  in  fact,  is  the  first  king  we  read  of  in  au- 
thentic history ;  and  afterwards  he  took  occasion  to  wage  war,  to 
extend  his  conquests,  and  to  enlarge  his  acquisitions  by  violence  and 
blood.  Thus,  casting  off  the  fear  of  God,  and  acting  in  defiance  of 
the  divine  prohibition  of  shedding  human  blood,  he  rendered  himself 
notorious,  and  his  name  became  a  proverb." 

"  The  beginning  of  his  kingdom,"  says  scripture,  "  was  Babel,  and 
Erech,  and  Accad,  and  Calneh,  in  the  land  of  Shinar." 

4.  Menes,  the  founder  of  the  Egyptian  monarchy,  was  worshipped 
as  a  god  after  death.     He  appears  to  have  been  deservedly  popular, 
by  his  abilities  and  wisdom.     He  built  the  town  of  Memphis,  as  is 
generally  supposed.     If  he  was  the  same  as  Misraim,  mentioned  in 
scriptuie,  as  some  assert,  he  was  one  of  the  sons  of  Ham.     He  is  said 
to  have  reigned  62  year*  over  Upper  Egypt,  and  35  over  Lower 
Egypt. 

5.  Ninus  was  a  son  of  Betas.     He  was  very  warlike,  and  extended 
his  conquests  from  Egypt  to  the  extremities  of  India  and   Bao 
triana.     He  became  enamoured  of  Semiramis,  the  wife  of  one  of  his 
officers,  and  married  her,  after  her  husband  had  destroyed  himself 
through  fear  of  his  powerful  rival,  or  from  jealousy.     He  reigned  52 
years,  and  at  his  death,  left  his  kingdom  to  the  care  of  his  wife,  Se- 
miramis. 

6.  Semiramis  possessed  exquisite  beauty,  and  an  heroic  soul.     It 
was  on  these  accounts  that  the  Assyrian  monarch  fell  in  love  with  her. 
In  her  infancy,  it  is  fabulously  said,  she  was  exposed  in  a  desert,  but 
her  life  was  preserved  by  cloves  one  whole  year.     She  was  at  length 
found  by  one  of  the  shepherds  of  Ninus,  and  brought  up  by  him  as 
one  of  his  own  children. 

c 


26  ANCIENT  HISTORY PERIOD  III. 

Slie  was  so  tenderly  beloved  by  her  husband,  Menones,  that  he 
could  not  survive  his  expected  loss  of  her,  and  the  knowledge  that 
she  was  demanded  by  his  sovereign.  After  the  death  of  Ninus,  whom 
she  had  married,  assuming  the  reins  of  government  in  her  hands,  she 
immortalized  her  name  by  enriching  Babylon  with  new  works  and 
embellishments. 

Of  these,  the  principal  were  the  walls  of  the  city,  the  quays  and 
the  bridge;  the  lake,  banks,  and  canals,  made  for  draining  the 
river ;  the  palace,  the  hanging  gardens,  and  the  temple  of  Beltis 
She  also  enlarged  her  dominions  by  the  conquest  of  a  large  part  ol 
Ethiopia. 

Her  greatest  and  last  expedition  was  directed  against  India. 
She  advanced  towards  the  river  Indus,  and  having  prepared  boats, 
attempted  to  pass  it  with  her  army.  The  passage  was  for  a  long 
time  disputed,  but,  after  a  bloody  battle,  she  put  her  enemies  to 
flight.  Upon  this  she  advanced  directly  into  the  country,  leaving 
60,000  men  to  guard  the  bridge  of  boats  built  over  the  river. 

As  soon  as  the  Indian  king  thought  her  far  enough  advanced,  he 
faced  about ;  a  second  engagement  ensued,  more  bloody  than  the 
first.  The  Assyrians  were  routed,  and  Semiramis,  after  being  twice 
wounded,  was  obliged  to  fly,  and  return  to  her  country  with  scarcely 
one  third  of  her  army. 

Some  time  after,  discovering  that  her  son  was  plotting  against  her, 
she  voluntarily  abdicated  the  throne,  put  the  government  into  his 
hands,  and  withdrew  from  public  life.  She  lived  62  years,  of  which 
she  reigned  42.  Her  character,  in  respect  to  those  qualities  that 
adorn  a  woman,  seems  not  to  have  been  highly  esteemed. 


PERIOD  III. 

The  Period  of  Egyptian  Bondage,  extending  from  the 
calling  of  Abraham,  1921  years  B.  C.  to  the  departure 
of  the  Israelites  from  Egypt,  1491  years  B.  C. 

HEBREWS. 

SECTION  1.  The  HEBREWS  or  ISRAELITES,  commonly 
called  the  People  of  God,  are  derived  from  Abraham,  the  ninth 
m  lineal  descent  from  Shem.     His  calling  of  God  is  a  re- 
markable event  in  history,  and  was  designed  for  purposes  al 
together  religious.     This  took  place  1921  years  B.  C. 

The  nation  of  Avhich  he  was  the  founder,  though  neithei 
powerful  nor  refined,  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  that  evei 
existed.  Their  history  instructs  us  in  a  way  different  from 
that  of  all  others,  because  it  brings  directly  into  view  the  Di- 
vine dealings  with  them. 


921—1491  B.  c.  27 

Abraham's  family  increased  very  slowly  at  first ;  but  Ja- 
cob, his  grandson,  left  a  numerous  offspring.  Twelve  sons 
became  the  heads  of  as  many  separate  tribes  in  the  nation. 

§  Abraham,  according  to  the  Lord's  command,  left  the  land  of 
the  Chaldees,  his  native  country,  and  dwelt  with  his  father  Terah, 
in  Haran.  By  the  same  command,  after  Terah's  death,  lie  wem 
into  the  land  of  Canaan,  which  God  promised  to  his  posterity. 
They  were  at  length  to  be  included  within  the  boundaries  of  that 
country. 

The  divine  design  in  thus  setting  apart  one  family  from  the  rest  01 
mankind,  was  to  preserve  the  true  religion  in  the  world,  and  to  pre- 
pare the  way  for  the  great  work  of  redemption  by  Jesus  Christ.  The 
earth  had  now  begun  to  be  overrun  with  idolatry. 

Abraham  having  acquired  a  name  by  his  wealth  and  piety,  and 
having  passed  through  various  trials,  died  at  an  advanced  age,  leaving 
behind  him  several  sons,  of  whom  only  Isaac  was  the  child  of  pro- 
mise. Ishmael,  by  the  maid  of  Abraham's  wife,  became  the  proge- 
nitor of  a  distinct  tribe  or  nation. 

Two  sons  were  the  progeny  of  Isaac,  viz.  Esau  and  Jacob,  the 
former  of  whom  sold  his  birthright  to  Jacob,  who  also  by  artifice 
obtained  his  father's  blessing.  In  the  line  of  Jacob,  whose  name  was 
afterwards  changed  to  Israel,  were  the  Israelites  descended.  His 
twelve  sons  gave  the  names  to  the  several  tribes  of  which  the  nation 
was  composed. 

Esau  was  the  father  of  the  Edomites,  or  Idumeans. 

2.  Jacob  closed  an  eventful  life,  1689  years  B.  C.,  in  mak> 
ing  a  prophetic  declaration  of  the  future  state  of  his  descend- 
ants, and  the  period  of  the  coming  of  the  Messiah.  He  had 
previously  been  brought  out  of  Canaan,  into  Egypt,  by  means 
of  his  son  Joseph,  whom  his  brethren,  through  envy  and  ma- 
lice, sold  into  that  country. 

The  different  occurrences  by  which  Joseph  became  minis- 
ter to  the  king  of  Egypt,  speak  the  immediate  interposition 
of  Divine  Providence,,  which  was  preparing  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  the  promises  made  to  the  patriarch  Abraham. 

The  history  of  Joseph,  as  recorded  in  Scripture,  is  unparalleled  in 
beauty  and  interest.  Some  of  the  principal  incidents  are  the  fol- 
lowing. 

Joseph,  who  was  much  loved  by  his  father  and  hated  by  his  bre- 
thren, upon  a  certain  occasion  which  was  presented,  fell  into  the 
power  of  the  latter,  who  sought  to  slay  him.  This  horrid  design, 
however,  being  providentially  prevented,  they  availed  themselves  ol 
the  opportunity  of  selling  him  to  some  Ishmaelite  slave  merchants, 
who  carried  him  into  Egypt,  where  he  was  bought  by  Potiphar,  an 
officer  of  the  court. 

Here,  at  length,  he  was  wrongfully  thrown  into  prison,  by  a  false 
accusation  of  Potiphar's  wife  •,  but,  being  proved  to  be  an  interpreter 


ANCIENT  HISTORY PERIOD  III. 

of  dreams,  he  was  introduced  to  the  notice  of  Pharaoh,  who,  on  a  cer 
tain  occasion,  wanted  his  services  in  this  capacity. 

His  success  in  interpreting  the  king's  dreams,  and  his  subsequent 
conduct,  procured  for  him  the  highest  distinction;  and  he  became 
the  administrator  of  the  government.  During  the  famine,  which  he 
predicted,  and  which  reached  the  land  of  Canaan,  all  his  brethren,  ex- 
cept Benjamin,  came  to  him  to  buy  corn. 

Joseph  knew  them,  although  they  did  not  know  him ;  and  by  an 
innocent  contrivance,  having  brought  them  into  Egypt  the  second 
time,  with  their  brother  Benjamin,  he  declared  to  them  that  he  was 
Joseph  whom  they  had  persecuted  and  sold. 

Their  surprise,  mortification,  and  terror,  were  at  first  overwhelming ; 
but  their  distressing  apprehensions  were  at  length  alleviated  by  his 
assurances  of  pardon  and  kindness ;  and  inviting  his  father  and  fa- 
mily into  Egypt,  he  allotted  them  a  .portion  of  the  territory.  Here 
they  grew  mxl  multiplied  exceedingly. 

3.  Joseph  continued  to  rule  over  Egypt,  after  the  death  of 
Jacob.  His  own  decease,  which  occurred  1635  years  B.  C. 
.left  the  Israelites  without  a  protector.  In  less  than  40  years 
from  this  event,  they  found  a  cruel  tyrant  and  oppressor  in 
another  king,  who  knew  not  Joseph. 

This  king,  whose  name  was  Pharaoh,*  seeing  the  He- 
brews to  be  too  numerous  and  mighty,  resolved  to  enfeeble 
them ;  and,  therefore,  condemned  them  to  slavery,  and  or- 
dered his  people  to  cast  every  new-bom  son  among  them  into 
the  river. 

The  object  in  view  was  defeated :  for  the  people  increased 
in  an  unexampled  manner.  God  was  with  them,  and,  in 
the  \vonderful  preservation  of  Moses,  and  his  education  in  the 
court  of  Pharaoh,  wras  preparing  for  them  a  deliverer  from 
their  cruel  bondage. 

§  For  the  particulars  of  this  persecution  of  God's  people,  we  refer  to 
the  beginning  of  the  book  of  Exodus. 

CANAANITES. 

SECTION  4.  The  CANAANITES  were  an  ancient  people. 
The  country  which  they  inhabited  was  called  the  land  of 
Canaan,  the  name  of  Ham's  youngest  son,  who  settled  it  im- 
mediately after  the  dispersion  at  Babel.  He  divided  it  among 
his  eleven  sons.  The  general  denomination  of  Canaanites 
included  seven  nations,  which  are  frequently  mentioned  in 
scripture. 

§  The  Canaanites  seem  to  have  laboured,  in  a  particular  manner, 
under  the  evil  influence  of  the  curse  denounced  against  their  proge- 

*  A  name  common  to  the  king's  of  Egypt, 


1921—1491  B.  c. 

rmoi';  being  doomed,  in  the  end,  to  subjection,  expulsion,  or  extirpa- 
tion, and  being  subdivided  into  so  many  little  kingdoms. 

The  beginning  of  their  history  is  extremely  dark.  They  are  sup- 
posed, however,  upon  the  increase  of  their  families,  to  have  possess- 
ed themselves  of  the  Arabian  side  of  Egypt,  and  there  to  have  erected 
a  kingdom  coeval  with  that  of  Misraim.  But  they  seem  at  length  to 
have  been  expelled  from  that  region.  . 

5.  The  first  authentic  account  of  this  people  applies  to  the 
inhabitants  of  the  vale  of  Siddim,  who.  1912  years  B.  C.,  were 
invaded  by  Chedorlaomer.  king  of  Elain,  and  obliged  to  pay 
an  annual  tribute.       When  they  afterwards  revolted,  they 
were  punished  with  great  severity. 

Fifteen  years  after  this,  a  most  terrific  judgment  was  in- 
flicted on  the  inhabitants  of  Siddim,  in  consequence  of  their 
gross  wickedness.  Four  cities  in  this  delightful  vale,  Sodom, 
Gomorrah,  Admah,  and  Zeboim,  were  at  once  destroyed  by 
fire  from  heaven.  The  whole  tract  of  country  in  their  vicinity 
became  a  sea,  called  the  Dead  Sea. 

§  The  18th  and  19th  chapters  of  Genesis  contain  an  account  of  this 
catastrophe,  and  of  its  causes  ;  to  these  we  refer  the  reader. 

At  the  present  time,  from  the  accounts  of  travellers,  it  appears  that 
the  sea  and  adjacent  region  are  marked  by  several  peculiarities  wor- 
thy of  notice. 

In  a  journal  of  one  of  our  American  missionaries  in  Palestine, 
of  recent  date,  we  find  the  following  account.  "  The  water  looks 
remarkably  clear  and  pure ;  but,  on  taking  it  into  my  mouth,  I 
found  it  nauseous  and  bitter,  I  think  beyond  any  thing  I  ever 
tasted. 

"  It  has  been  said,  that  these  waters  are  so  heavy,  that  the  most 
impetuous  winds  can  scarcely  ruffle  their  surface.  Nothing  could 
be  more  entirely  without  foundation.  The  waves  ran  so  high,  that 
I  found  difficulty  in  filling  some  bottles  with  water.  My  clothes 
were  wet  by  the  waves,  and,  as  they  dried,  I  found  them  covered 
with  salt." 

Quantities  of  bitumen  are  gathered  in  the  vicinity,  which,  in  ap- 
pearance, resembles  pitch,  but  may  be  distinguished  from  it  by  its 
sulphureous  smell  and  taste.  Pebbles  are  also  found  here  which  burn 
when  held  in  a  blaze,  producing  a  very  disagreeable  scent,  but  they 
lose  nothing  of  their  size. 

6.  During  this  period,  nothing  more  of  much  importance 
is  recorded  concerning  the  Canaanites.     The  compact  of  the 
Hittites  with  Abraham,  respecting  the  cave  of  Machpelah, 
the  selling  of  a  piece  of  ground  to  Jacob,  by  Hamor,  king  of 
Shechem,  and  the  massacre  of  his  subjects  by  some  of  the 
sons  of  Jacob,  on  account  of  an  insult  which  the  patriarch's 
family  had  received,  are  the  only  events  transmitted  to  us. 


30  ANCIENT  HISTORY PERIOD  III. 

GREECE. 

7.  The  GREEKS  are  an  ancient  people,  whose  origin  is» 
clouded  with  fable.     All  that  we  know,  during  the  present  or 
preceding  period,  of  the  descendants  of  Japhet,  who  peopled 
Europe,  is  comprised  in  the  history  of  this  nation. 

We  date  the  commencement  of  the  Greeks,  as  a  commu- 
nity, from  the  founding  of  Argos  by  Inachus,  who  arrived  in 
Greece,  from  Phoenicia,  1856  years  B.  C.  Sicyon  is  by  some 
thought  to  have  been  founded  before  ;  but  we  incline  to  the 
opinion  that  Egialtes,  a  son  of  Inachus,  was  the  founder  of 
Sicyon. 

§  As  much  has  been  written  concerning  the  fabulous  times  in  the 
history  of  Greece,  we  will  here  present  a  very  brief  account  of  that 
portion  of  its  history.  These  fables,  however,  are  supposed  to  be 
founded  on  facts,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  deities  worshipped  by 
the  Greeks,  were  princes  by  whom  their  progenitors  had  been  go- 
verned. 

Uranus,  afterwards  worshipped  as  the  heavens,  appears  to  have 
been  one  of  the  earliest  of  their  princes.  He  married  his  sister  Ti- 
thea,  and  migrated  from  Asia  into  Greece,  where  he  founded  a  king- 
dom. He  had  many  children,  called  Titans,  who  rebelled  against 
their  father  and  dethroned  him. 

Saturn,  or  Chronos,  succeeded  his  father  Uranus,  whom,  with  the 
help  of  his  brethren,  he  dethroned  ;  and  dreading  lest  he  should  be 
treated  in  the  same  manner  by  his  own  children,  he  ordered  them  to 
be  shut  up,  or  put  to  death,  immediately  after  their  birth  ;  but  Jupi- 
ter was  concealed  by  his  mother,  and  sent  to  Crete,  where  he  was 
educated. 

Jupiter  began  to  reign  in  Thessaly,  after  having  dethroned  Saturn. 
The  Titans,  jealous  of  him,  declared  war  against  him,  but  were  van- 
quished, and  expelled  Greece.  He  soon  divided  his  dominions  with 
his  two  brothers.  Pluto  and  Neptune. 

The  countries  which  he  reserved  to  himself,  he  governed  with  great 
wisdom  ;  he  had  his  palace,  and  held  his  court,  en  Mount  Olympus, 
whence  the  poets  gave  this  name  to  heaven,  when  Jupiter  was  wor- 
shipped as  a  god. 

8.  The  ancient  inhabitants  of  Greece  were  extremely 
rude  and  savage,  scarcely  one  degree  superior  to  brutes. 
They  lived  on  herbs  and  roots,  and  lay  either  in  the  open 
fields,  or,  at  best,  sheltered  themselves  in  dens,  clefts,  and  hol- 
IOAV  trees. 

An  improvement  of  their  condition  occasionally  took  place ; 
out  Greece,  for  some  ages,  was  in  a  continual  state  of  fluctu- 
ation. They  were  unacquainted  with  letters  till  the  time  of 
Cadmus,  who  is  hereafter  to  be  mentioned. 


1921—1491  B.  c.        •  31 

§  The  general  names  by  which  the  natives  of  Greece  were  known 
to  old  historians,  were  Graioi,  Hellenists,  Achaei,  Pelasgi.  But  the 
most  ancient  name  of  all  applied  to  this  country,  is  generally  admitted 
to  be  that  of  Ionia,  which  the  Greeks  derive  from  Ion;  but  Josephus 
derives  it  from  Javan,  soil  of  Japheth. 

9.  The  several  states,  except  Argos  and  Sicyon,  which  at 
length  constituted  Greece,  had,  at  this  time,  no  separate  ex- 
istence.    They  sprang  up  afterwards,  during  the  latter  part 
of  the  present  period,  as  there  will  now  be  occasion  to  men- 
tion. 

In  Argos,  the  descendants  of  Inachus,  having  retained  pos- 
session of  the  throne  for  more  than  300  years,  were  deposed, 
1511  years  B.  C.,  by  Danaus,  an  Egyptian  fugitive,  who  be- 
came the  founder  of  a  second  dynasty,  denominated  Belidae. 
from  his  father,  Belus. 

§  At  a  much  later  period,  Perseus,  a  sovereign  of  Argos,  having  built 
Mycenas,  transferred  the  kingdom  thither.     It  was  at  length  conquer 
ed  by  the  Heraclidae,  and  united  to  Lacedaemon. 

It  may  be  here  noticed,  that  only  two  of  the  Grecian  states,  viz. 
Lacedaemon  and  Messenia,  appear  to  have  been  founded  by  native 
Greeks ;  the  rest  were  established  by  the  various  branches  of  the 
Celtic  family  of  Uranus,  with  the  exception  of  Athens,  which  owed 
its  origin  to  an  Egyptian. 

Prior  to  these  establishments,  and  even  long  after  them,  almost 
every  village  had  its  petty  tyrant,  who  bore  the  title  of  king.  A  name 
has  occasionally  escaped  oblivion.  Laws  we  do  not  find  among 
them,  before  the  times  of  the  Athenian  archons. 

Until  that  period,  all  depended  on  the  will  of  the  sovereigns ;  only 
in  perplexed  cases,  they  consulted  some  oracle,  of  which  the  two 
most  celebrated,  were  that  of  Jupiter  at  Dodona,  and  that  of  Apollo 
at  Delphi. 

10.  Cecrops,  a  native  of  Egypt,  is  universally  allowed  to 
have  founded  Athens,  1556  years  B.  C.     At  this  time  he 
arrived  in  Attica,  with  a  colony  of  his  countrymen,   and 
built  twelve  small  villages  or  cities,  of  which  Athens  was  one. 

He  gave  laws  to  the  wild  inhabitants,  whom  he  divided 
into  twelve  tribes,  and  instituted  marriage  among  them.  The 
first  altar  in  Greece  was  raised  by  him  to  Jupiter. 

§  The  history  of  Greece  is  carried  on  for  a  time  in  this  event. 
Athens  became  the  most  illustrious  of  the  Grecian  states.  The 
province  of  Attica  having  been  destroyed  by  the  deluge  of  Ogyges, 
remained  desolate  for  more  than  two  centuries,  previous  to  the  time 
of  Cecrops. 

Athens,  from  its  founder,  first  received  the  name  of  Cecropia,  but 
afterwards  that  of  Athenae,  in  honour  of  Minerva,  its  tutelary  deity. 
The  Arundelian  marbles,  which  were  brought  from  Greece  by  the 


32  ANCIENT  HISTORY PERIOD  III. 

Earl  of  Arundel,  and  are  now  kept  in  England,  begin  their  chrono- 
logy with  the  founding  of  Athens,  but  place  that  event  26  years 
earlier,  viz.  1582  B.  C. 

11.  The  successor  of  Cecrops  was  Cranaus.     In  his  time 
happened  the  famous  deluge  of  Deucalion,  in  Thessaly.  The 
third  king  of  Athens  was  Amphictyon,  who  founded  the  cele- 
brated Amphictyonic  council.* 

§  The  deluge  of  Deucalion  owed  much  of  its  importance  to  the 
imaginations  of  the  poets.  It  was  probably  only  a  partial  inun- 
dation. 

In  the  reign  of  Amphictyon,  a  famine  occurred,  during  which 
Ericthonius,  said  to  be  the  son  of  Vulcan,  arrived  from  Egypt 
with  a  supply  of  corn,  and  taught  the  natives  the  art  of  Agri- 
culture, for  which  he  was  raised  to  the  throne  in  the  room  of  Am- 
phictyon. 

12.  Corinth,  another  of  the  Grecian  states,  was  founded 
1520  years  B.  C.,  but  did  not  receive  the  name  of  Corinth  till 
it  was  rebuilt,  1410  years  B.  C.     It  originally  formed  a  part 
of  the  kingdom  of  Sicyon,  and  was  afterwards  included  in 
that  of  Argos,  till  Sysyphus,  some  time  in  the  following  period, 
seized  it  for  his  possession. 

13.  Thebes,  a  state  of  Greece  also,  was  founded  by  Cad- 
mus.    The  city,  though  begun  b,y  him,  was  finished  by 
Amphion  and  Zethus.     He  introduced  letters  into  Greece, 
1519  years  B.  C.     Thebes  he  built  a  few  years  afterwards. 

§  Cadmus  is  supposed  to  have  been  of  Phoenician  extraction.  To 
him  are  ascribed  16  letters  of  the  Greek  alphabet.  He  thus  essen- 
tially contributed  to  the  literary  distinction  which  Greece  afterwards 
attained. 

14.  Lacedaemon,  or  Sparta,  another  distinguished  state  of 
Greece,  was  founded  by  Lelex,  1516  years  B.  C.,  but  received 
its  name  from  Lacedeemon,  its  fourth  king.     The  govern- 
ment continued  in  the  family  of  Lelex  till  the  return  of  the 
Heraclidae  to  the  Peloponnesus,  an  event  to  be  noticed  in 
the  coining  period. 

§  Sparta  was  called  after  the  name  of  the  wife  of  Lacedsemon,  the 
great  grand-daughter  of  Lelex.  Sparta  properly  belongs  to  the 
metropolis — Lacedsemon  to  the  kingdom  at  large.  The  Pelopon- 
nesus, in  which  Lacedamon  was  situated,  was  the  southern  part  of 
Greece. 

EGYPT. 

15.  The  events  in  EGYPTIAN  history,  during  the  present 
epoch,  refer  chiefly  to  Nitocris  and  Sesostris,  the  one  a  fe- 

*  See  General  Views. 


1921—1491  B.  c.  33 

male,  the  other  a  male  sovereign.  Nitocris  began  to  reign 
over  Egypt,  1678  years  B.  C.,  at  Memphis.  She  afterwards 
united  some  other  sovereignties  to  her  dominions. 

The  period  when  Sesostris  hegan  to  reign  cannot  be  easily 
fixed  ;  some  place  it  before  that  of  Nitocris,  but  others  place  it 
after  her  reign. 

The  names  of  a  few  other  kings  appear,  but  little  is  known 
concerning  their  reigns.  The  successor  of  Sesostris  is  said  to 
have  been  Pheron.  and  some  think  that  Rameses-Tubaete  wras 
the  king  whose  dreams  Joseph  interpreted. 

Nitocris  succeeded  her  brother,  an  Ethiopian,  who  was  murdered 
by  the  Egyptians,  and  meditating  revenge  for  his  untimely  fate, 
put  many  of  her  subjects  to  death  privately,  and  afterwards  con- 
trived a  building  under  ground  whither  she  deluded  the  chief  ob- 
jects of  her  vengeance  to  a  feast,  and,  in  the  midst  of  their  mirth, 
overwhelmed  them  with  destruction,  by  turning  a  river  upon  them 
through  a  secret  passage.  She  then  eluded  the  rage  of  the  popu- 
lace by  taking  refuge  in  a  place  well  fortified  with  ashes.  Her  person 
is  said  to  have  been  extremely  beautiful,  but  her  disposition  was  cruel. 

Sesostris  was  the  most  distinguished  of  all  the  Egyptian  kings, 
and  almost  the  only  conqueror  among  them.  Historians  relate  that 
his  father  was  warned  by  Vulcan,  in  a  dream,  concerning  the  future 
conquests  of  his  son,  and  that,  in  consequence  of  this  dream,  he  got 
together  all  the  males  born  in  Egypt  on  the  same  day  with  the  prince, 
and  had  them  nursed  and  brought  up  with  him,  upon  the  presumption 
that,  being  the  companions  of  his  youth,  they  would  prove  the  most 
devoted  warriors  and  faithful  counsellors. 

Sesostris  forming  the  design  of  conquering  the  world,  set  out  with 
an  army  of  600,000  foot,  24,000  horse,  and  27,000  armed  chariots. 
His  conquests  were  extensive,  and  he  returned  home  laden  with  the 
spoils  of  various  subjugated  nations,  and  followed  by  a  surprising 
number  of  captives.  He  rendered  his  power  highly  advantageous  to 
his  subjects,  by  enriching  their  country  with  useful  works,  and  mag- 
nificent edifices. 

His  behaviour,  however,  was  grossly  insolent  to  the  kings  and 
chiefs  of  the  conquered  nations,  v/ho  waited  upon  him  to  present 
their  tribute.  He  is  said  to  have  caused  those  princes,  four  abreast, 
to  be  harnessed  to  his  car,  instead  of  horses,  that  they  might  draw 
him  to  the  temple. 

In  his  old  age  he  lost  his  sight,  and  then  was  so  weak  and  wicked 
as  to  lay  violent  hands  on  himself. 

CHINA. 

16.  The  second  dynasty  of  the  CHINESE  emperors  com- 
menced during  this  period,  1766  years  B.  C.  It  lasted  656 
vears,  under  30  emperors.  Like  the  first  dynasty,  it  was  ter- 
minated by  the  vices  of  the  last  of  them. 


34  ANCIENT  HISTORY PERIOD  III. 

§  Ch  ing-tang  was  the  founder  of  this  dynasty.  He  is  said  to  have 
had  the  most  excellent  qualities.  His  modesty  was  almost  unparal- 
leled :  he  was  the  only  person  in  the  empire  who  thought  he  was 
unfit  for  so  important  a  trust.  He  was  often  on  the  point  of  resign- 
ing his  crown,  but  his  nobles  would  not  consent  to  it. 

Tayvre,  one  of  his  successors,  being  once  terrified  by  a  prodigy, 
which  made  him  apprehensive  of  a  revolution,  received  the  following 
impressive  lesson  from  his  minister.  "  Virtue  has  the  power  of  tri- 
umphing over  presages.  If  you  govern  your  subjects  with  equity, 
you  will  be  beyond  the  reach  of  misfortune." 

Vuthing,  another  prince  of  this  dynasty,  after  having  for  three  years 
implored  heaven  to  bless  him  with  such  virtues  as  were  suitable  to 
his  station,  is  said  to  have  seen,  in  a  dream,  a  man  represented  by 
heaven  to  be  his  prime  minister,  whose  features  he  well  recollected 
when  he  awoke. 

Causing  the  man  to  be  sought  for,  such  a  person  was  found  in  the 
condition  of  an  obscure  mason,  working  in  a  village,  whence  he  was 
brought  to  court.  Being  questioned  on  a  variety  of  points  concern- 
ing government,  he  returned  answers  marked  with  so  much  wisdom 
as  excited  the  highest  surprise. 

The  king,  addressing  him  in  a  very  proper  manner,  immedi- 
ately appointed  him  his  prime  minister,  and  received  the  great- 
est benefit  from  his  prudent  and  skilful  administration  of  govern- 
ment. 

Distinguished  characters  in  Period  III. 

1 .  Abraham,  the  immediate  progenitor  of  the  HebreAV  na- 
tion. 

2.  Melchisedec,  king  of  Salem,  and  "  priest  of  the  Most 
High  God." 

3.  Sesostris,  an  Egyptian  hero  and  conqueror. 

4.  Joseph,  the  chief  ruler  of  Egypf  under  Pharaoh. 

5.  Cecrops,  the  founder  of  Athens. 

6.  Cadmus,  a  Phoenician,  who  built  Thebes,  and  introduced 
letters  into  Greece. 

1.  Abraham  was  the  son  of  Terah,  and  born  in  Chaldea.  He 
was  75  years  of  age  when  his  father  died.  After  this  event  he  was 
commanded  by  God  to  enter  upon  the  land  of  Canaan,  which  God 
promised  to  give  unto  his  posterity.  In  the  year  following,  a  fa- 
mine in  the  land  of  Canaan  forced  Abraham  with  his  family  to  go 
into  Egypt. 

In  the  same  year,  Abraham,  with  his  nephew  Lot,  returned  unto 
Canaan.  They  however  parted  at  length,  because  the  land  was  in- 
sufficient for  both  of  their  flocks.  Lot  went  to  Sodom — Abraham 
removed  to  Hebron.  God  blessed  Abraham,  and  the  promise  of  a 
posterity  was  confirmed  to  him  again  and  again. 

In  the  100th  year  of  his  age,  Isaac,  his  son,  was  born  to  him,  after 
expectation  had  been  long  delayed.  Passing  through  various 


1921—1491  B.  c.  35 

scenes  of  life,  lie  was  at  length  called  to  the  severe  trial  of  offering 
up  his  son  Isaac  at  the  command  of  the  Deity.  All  his  lofty  hopes 
were  reposed  in  that  son,  yet  he  hesitated  not  to  execute  the  divine 
behest. 

Just  at  the  moment,  however,  in  which  he  stretched  forth  his  hand, 
to  take  the  life  of  his  son,  God  interposed,  and  satisfied  with  Abra- 
ham's intention,  accepted  that  in  room  of  the  deed,  rescuing  Isaac 
and  commending  the  faith  of  the  patriarch.  Abraham  died  at  the 
age  of  175  years. 

2.  Little  is  known  of  Melchisedec.    When  Abraham  was  return- 
ing from  the  destruction  of  Chedorlaomer  and  his  confederates, 
Melchisedec  met  and  blessed  him.     The  scriptural  account  is  the 
following:  "And  Melchisedec,  king  of  Salem,  brought  forth  bread 
and  wine ;  and  he  was  the  priest  of  the  Most  High  God.     And  he 
blessed  him,  and  said,  Blessed  be  Abram  of  the  Most  High  God,  pos- 
sessor of  heaven  and  earth.    And  he  (Abraham)  gave  him  tithes 
of  all." 

The  apostle  says,  in  his  epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  "  Now  consider 
how  great  this  man  was,  unto  whom  even  the  patriarch  Abraham 
gave  the  tenth  of  the  spoils." 

3.  Sesostris  was  a  king  of  Egypt.  His  age  is  so  remote  from  every 
authentic  record,  that  many  ha  /e  supposed  that  the  actions  and  con- 
quests ascribed  to  this  monarch  are  wholly  uncertain  and  fabulous, 
The  amount  of  what  has  come  down  respecting  him,  as  has  al- 
ready appeared  in  part,  is  the  following.     When  he  ascended  the 
throne,  he  became  ambitious  of  military  fame,  and  accordingly,  at 
the  head  of  a  numerous  army,  he  proceeded  to  make  the  conquest  of 
the  world. 

He  subdued  the  most  of  Asia,  and  even  invaded  Europe,  bringing 
the  Thracians  into  subjection ;  and,  that  the  fame  of  his  conquests 
might  long  survive  him,he  placed  columns  in  the  subjugated  provinces; 
and,  many  ages  after,  this  pompous  inscription  was  read  in  several 
parts  of  Asia:  "Sesostris,  the  king  of  kings,  has  conquered  this  terri- 
tory by  his  arms." 

At  his  return  home,  the  monarch  employed  his  time  in  encouraging 
the  fine  arts,  improving  the  revenues  of  his  kingdom,  erecting  tem- 
ples, building  cities,  and  digging  canals.  He  committed  suicide  when 
he  had  become  old  and  infirm,  after  reigning  44  years.  His  era  was 
1722  years  B.  C. 

4.  Joseph  is  celebrated  in  sacred  history,  and  no  one's  life  was 
more  eventful  in  itself,  or  has  been  described  with  greater  felicity 
than  his  has  been,  in  scripture.      It  is  unnecessary  to  say  over 
again  what  has  been  said  respecting  this  eminent  person,  espe- 
cially since  the  reference  to  scripture  is  so  easy,  and  the  reader  who 
once  begins  the  story  of  Joseph,  can  seldom  feel  disposed  to  leave 
it  until  it  be  finished.      The  triumph  of  innocence,  and  the  suc- 
cess of  piety,  in  this  instance,  show  the  care  of  God  over  good  men, 
and  may  well  lead  them  to  put  their  confidence  more  and  moie  in 
him. 

5.  Cecrops  was  a  native  of  Egypt.      He  led  a  colony  to  At- 


36  ANCIENT  HISTORY PERIOD  IV 

tica,  and  reigned  over  part  of  the  country.  He  married  the 
daughter  of  a  Grecian  prince,  and  was  deemed  the  first  founder  of 
Athens.  He  taught  his  subjects  to  cultivate  the  olive,  and  was  the 
first  who  raised  an  altar  to  Jupiter,  in  Greece,  and  offered  him  sa- 
crifices. 

After  a  reign  of  50  years,  spent  in  regulating  his  newly  formed 
ilingdom,  and  in  polishing  the  minds  of  his  subjects,  Cecrops  died,  and 
was  succeeded  by  Cranaus,  a  native  of  the  country. 

6.  Cadmus  was  a  Phoenician.  He  laid  the  foundation  of  Thebes. 
This  fact  is  very  much  invested  with  fable,  which  needs  not  to  be  de- 
tailed. If  Thebes,  according  to  some,  sprang  up  at  the  sound  of 
Amphion's  lyre,  i.  e.  by  encouraging  the  workmen,  still  Cadmus 
built  a  citadel  which  he  called  Cadmea,  and  thus  formed  the  com 
mencement  of  a  city. 

Cadmus  was  the  first  who  introduced  the  use  of  letters  into 
Greece,  though  some  maintain  that  the  same  alphabet  was  in  ex- 
istence among  the  native  inhabitants.  This  alphabet  consisted 
only  of  16  letters,  to  which  8  were  afterwards  added.  The  wor- 
ship of  several  of  the  Egyptian  and  Phoenician  deities  was  also 
introduced  by  Cadmus.  His  era  is  reckoned  to  be  1519  years  B.  C. 


PERIOD  IV. 

The  Period  of  the  Trojan  War,  extending  from  the  de 
parture  of  the  Israelites  from  Egypt,  1491  years  B.  C. 
to  the  dedication  of  Solomo?i>s  temple,  1004  years  B.  C. 

ISRAELITES. 

SECTION  1.  The  history  of  the  ISRAELITES  at  this  era 
assumes  a  very  marked  character.  Oppressed  by  the  Egyp- 
tian monarch,  they  cried  unto  God  for  deliverance,  and  a  di- 
vine deliverance  they  experienced. 

Moses,  selected  as  the  instrument  of  saving  his  countrymen, 
was  in  due  time  called  to  his  work  ;  and,  after  a  series  of  mi- 
racles, which  he  performed  by  the  divine  assistance,  he  led  the 
people  out  from  before  Pharaoh,  into  the  borders  of  the  pro- 
mised land. 

The  consequence  to  many  of  the  Egyptians  was  their  de- 
struction ;  for  Pharaoh  and  his  arrr.y  pursuing  the  Israelites 
through  the  Red  Sea,  were  overwhelmed  with  its  waters. 

After  wandering  in  the  wilderness  40  years,  and  frequently 
rebelling  against  God,  the  Israelites  were  conducted  by  the 
hand  of  Moses  in  sight  of  Canaan,  when  he  died,  without  en- 
tering it  himself,  1447  years  B.  C 


1491—1004  E.  c.  37 

§  The  story  of  Moses,  and  of  his  agency  in  delivering  the  Israelites, 
is  very  interesting  and  instructive ;  but  we  have  no  room  for  its  par- 
ticulars. We  will,  however,  mention  some  incidents,  subsequent  to 
the  retreat  of  the  Israelites  from  Egypt. 

The  Israelites  were  no  sooner  delivered  from  the  Egyptians,  than 
they  murmured  against  Moses,  on  account  of  the  want  of  food  j  to 
satisfy  them,  God  sent  first  a  great  quantity  of  quails,  and  the  next 
morning  manna,  which  fell  regularly  every  day,  except  on  sabbath ' 
days,  during  the  40  years  they  remained  in  the  wilderness. 

Again  the  people  murmured  for  water,  and  Moses,  by  the  Lord's 
command,  made  a  supply  to  issue  from  a  rock.  At  this  junc- 
ture, the  Amalekites  attacked  Israel,  and  were  defeated  by  Jo- 
shua. The  people  soon  after  arriving  at  Mount  Sinai,  God  gave 
them  his  law.  During,  however,  the  absence  of  Moses  in  the  mount, 
they  fell  into  idolatry,  in  consequence  of  which  3000  of  them  were 
put  to  death. 

In  the  course  of  the  second  year  after  the  retreat  from  Egypt, 
Moses  numbered  the  children  of  Israel  from  20  years  old  and  up- 
wards, and  there  were  found  603,550  men  able  to  go  to  war,  besides 
the  Levites. 

About  this  time,  12  men  were  sent  to  spy  the  land  of  Canaan, 
who,  with  the  exception  of  Joshua  and  Caleb,  reported  unfavourably 
which  caused  the  people  to  murmur.  Upon  this  offence,  God  con- 
demned all  those  who  were  twenty  years  old  and  upwards  when 
they  came  out  of  Egypt,  to  die  in  the  wilderness,  except  Joshua  and 
Caleb. 

As  a  punishment  for  their  murmurs,  the  Israelites  began  to  trave. 
in  the  wilderness  1489  years  B.  C.  At  this  time  Korah,  Dathan,  and 
Abiram,  revolting  against  Moses,  were  swallowed  by  the  earth,  with 
250  of  their  associates.  In  1452  years  B.  C.,  the  Israelites  began 
their  conquests,  by  the  defeat  of  the  kings  of  the  Amorites,  Bashan, 
Moab,  &c. 

At  the  age  of  120  years  Moses  died  on  Mount  Nebo,  in  the  land  of 
Moab,  having  first  taken  a  view  of  the  promised  land. 

2.  The  successor  of  Moses  was  Joshua,  who  conducted 
the  people  into  the  promised  land,  having,  by  the  divine' 
command,  mostly  destroyed  the  wicked  nations  that  inha- 
bited it. 

After  this  event,  the  Israelites,  with  some  intermission, 
were  directed  by  leaders,  called  Judges,  for  the  space  of  356 
years.  They  paid  a  high  respect  to  these  officers,  and  also 
to  the  priests,  but  they  acknowledged  no  other  king  than  God. 

As  the  people  at  length  became  weary  with  this  state  of 
things,  and  desired  a  king,  so  as  to  be  like  the  nations  around 
them,  a  king  was,  in  the  divine  displeasure,  granted  to  them. 

§  Joshua  having  led  the  Israelites  to  the  banks  of  the  Jordan,  whose 
waters  divided  to  afford  them  a  passage,  conducted  them  safely  over 

D 


38  ANCIENT   HISTORY — PERIOD  IV. 

it.  He  conquered  31  cities  in  the  course  of  six  years.  He  died  142C 
years  B.  C. 

The  people  were  perpetually  inclined  to  forsake  the  worship  of 
Jehovah,  and  to  pollute  themselves  with  the  abominations  of  the  hea- 
then. For  this  they  were  repeatedly  brought  into  bondage,  and  con- 
sequent distress.  Their  Judges  were  the  instruments  of  delivering 
them  on  these  occasions. 

One  occasion  was  as  follows.  The  Israelites,  being  brought  into 
the  power  of  the  Midianites,  after  seven  years  of  suffering,  they  cried 
unto  the  Lord,  who  sent  an  angel  to  Gideon  to  announce  to  him  that 
he  was  chosen  to  deliver  Israel  from  their  oppressors. 

By  divine  direction,  Gideon  retained  of  32.000  men  whom  he  had 
collected,  only  300  men,  and  with  them,  each  carrying  a  lamp  con- 
cealed in  an  earthen  vessel,  to  be  broken  at  a  proper  opportunity,  he 
so  terrified  the  Midianites,  that  they  fled  in  confusion,  and  turned 
their  swords  against  one  another. 

Samson  also,  on  another  occasion,  delivered  his  countrymen  by  a 
series  of  extraordinary  efforts  of  strength  and  courage  which  we 
cannot  particularly  recount.  It  may  be  only  mentioned,  that,  at  the 
conclusion  of  his  course,  having  been  betrayed  by  his  wife,  and 
deprived  of  his  strength — upon  its  return,  he  pulled  down,  by  a  sin- 
gle exertion  of  his  muscular  energy,  the  temple  of  Dagon  on  the 
heads  of  his  enemies,  the  Philistines,  with  whom  he  perished  in  the 
general  ruin. 

Samuel,  the  last  and  most  eminent  of  these  leaders,  and  a  prophet 
also,  rendered  signal  service  to  his  countrymen,  especially  by  the 
moral  influence  which  he  exercised  over  them.  When  old,  however, 
he  took  for  his  assistants  in  the  government,  his  two  sons,  whose 
mismanagement  occasioned  murmurs  among  the  people,  and  a  de- 
sire to  have  a  king. 

3.  Saul,  the  son  of  Kish,  was  the  first  king  of  Israel.  Hav- 
ing been  privately  anointed  by  Samuel,  he  was  afterwards 
publicly  proclaimed,  1079  years  B.  C.  His  reign  was  prospe- 
rous at  first,  but  at  length  was  characterized  by  crime  and  ill 
success.  He  perished  miserably. 

He  was  succeeded  by  David,  who,  though  he  erred  in  seve- 
ral instances,  was  a  man  of  distinguished  talents,  bravery,  and 
piety  ;  he  raised  his  people  to  the  highest  pitch  of  national 
prosperity  and  happiness.  The  wise  and  rich  Solomon  was 
his  son  and  successor.  He  laid  the  foundation  of  a  magnifi- 
cent temple,  1011  years  B.  C. 

§  Saul,  having  spent  an  unhappy  life,  and  being  at  war  with  the  Phi- 
listines, had  his  army  routed,  and  three  of  his  sons  slain,  and  he  him- 
self, having  received  a  wound,  and  fearing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of 
his  enemies,  took  a  sword  and  fell  upon  it. 

David  had  been  previously  anointed  king,  but  he  at  first  reigned 
only  over  the  tribe  of  Judah.  But  after  the  death  of  Ishbosheth,  a 


1491—1004  B.  c.  33 

son  of  Saul,  who  had  assumed  the  government  of  the  tribes,  he  reign 
ed  over  the  whole  of  Israel. 

He  spent  a  very  active  and  perilous  life,  and  among  the  conquests 
he  made  were  the  Philistines,  the  Moabites,  the  Ammonites,  and 
the  Syrians.  He  had  at  length  some  domestic  troubles,  and  was. 
in  danger  from  an  insurrection  of  his  subjects,  but  he  lived  to  see. 
his  enemies  destroyed,  and  he  left  a  rich  and  flourishing  realm  to  hi? 
son. 

CANAANITES. 

4.  The  history  of  the  CANAANITES,  and  some  of  the  neigh- 
bouring nations  or  tribes,  is  involved  in  that  of  the  Jews  dur- 
ing this  period.     They  were  mostly  subdued  by  Joshua,  but 
seemed  to  revive  at  different  times,  to  the  great  annoyance  of 
the  Israelites.     From  the  time  of  Solomon,  they  can  scarcely 
be  said  to  have  had  a  national  existence.     The  remnants  of 
them,  except  the  Canaanites,  properly  so  called,  who  after- 
wards went  under  the  appellation  of  Phoenicians,  were  swal- 
lowed up  in  the  great  monarchies  that  successively  existed  in 
Asia. 

PHOENICIANS. 

5.  The  PHOENICIANS  are  known  in  history  principally  as 
a  navigating  and  commercial  people,  among  whom  the  arts 
were  early  cultivated.     Their  country  was  divided  into  seve- 
ral small  kingdoms ;  but  the  most  considerable  of  their  sove 
reignties  were  the  cities  of  Sidon  and  Tyre.     We  know  no- 
thing of  the  kings  of  Sidon  till  the  present  and  succeeding  pe- 
riods.    Hiram  was  king  of  Tyre,  and  contemporaneous  with 
David  and  Solomon. 

§  Sidon,  according  to  Josephus,  was  built  by  Sidon,  the  eldest  son  of 
Canaan.  Tyre  was  founded  by  the  posterity  of  Sidon.  Herodotus 
gives  to  the  older  Tyre  a  great  antiquity.  The  new  city,  reared  op- 
posite to  the  ancient,  on  an  island,  is  said,  by  Josephus,  to  have  been 
built  in  the  year  B.  C.  1255. 

The  Phoenicians  are  regarded  as  the  earliest  navigators,  merchants, 
and  workmen,  of  the  world.  We  learn  from  ancient  records,  that 
they  carried  on  trade,  not  only  over  all  the  coasts  of  the  Medi- 
terranean, but  even  over  the  ocean,  as  far  as  England,  whence  they 
exported  tin. 

The  early  kings  are  not  known,  except  those  who  had  some  com- 
merce with  the  Jews.  To  Hiram,  king  of  Tyre,  both  David  and  So- 
lomon applied  when  proposing  to  build  a  temple  to  the  Lord.  He 
helped  them  by  furnishing,  not  only  precious  materials,  but  also  a 
great  number  of  workmen.  After  a  glorious  reign,  Baleazar,  his  son, 
succeeded  him. 


40  ANCIENT  HISTORY PERIOD  IV. 

GREECE. 

6.  The  history  of  GREECE  during  this  period  is  pursued 
first  in  a  few  details,  respecting  some  of  its  different  sovereign- 
ties. 

The  kings  already  named,  who  had  governed  Athens,  had 
raised  it  to  a  considerable  degree  of  civilization.  But  the  king 
who  laid  the  principal  foundation  of  Athenian  greatness,  was 
Theseus.  He  united  the  12  cities  of  Attica  into  one  confede- 
racy. 

§  Theseus  is  said  to  have  founded  a  more  perfect  equality  among 
the  citizens,  in  consequence  of  which,  the  state  rather  resembled 
a  republic  than  a  monarchy.  Owing  to  the  inconstancy  of  the 
people,  he  was  banished  from  the  country,  notwithstanding  his  many 
virtues. 

7.  Codrus,  the  last  Athenian  king,  devoted  himself  to  the 
good  of  his  subjects.     With  him  royalty  was  abolished,  since 
the  people  thought  no  man  worthy  of  succeeding  him.     This 
change  occurred  towards  the  close  of  the  present  period,  viz. 
1069  years  B.  C. 

§  Codrus  being  engaged  in  a  war  with  the  Heraclidse,  was  told  by 
;he  oracle  that  the  army  would  be  victorious  whose  chief  should 
perish.  He,  therefore,  with  a  chosen  band,  threw  himself  into  the 
hottest  of  the  battle,  and  turned  the  fortune  of  the  day  in  favour  of  his 
countrymen,  at  the  expense  of  his  own  life. 

A  dispute  for  the  succession  arose  between  two  of  his  sons,  and  be- 
fore they  could  accommodate  their  difference,  the  Athenians  abolish- 
ed royalty  altogether,  but  placed  Medon,  one  of  the  claimants,  at  the 
head  of  the  state,  with  the  title  of  Archon.  This  office  was  for  life 
luring  more  than  3  centuries;  afterwards  it  was  reduced  to  10  years, 
and  finally  to  one  year. 

8.  Corinth,  having  been  seized  by  Sysyphus,  was  governed 
in  his  family  250  years.     The  last  king  of  this  race  was  de- 
posed by  the  Heraclidee,  1099  years  B.  C. 

9.  The  first  great  enterprise  of  the  Greeks  was  the  Argo- 
nautic  expedition,  1263  years  B.  C.    It  was  led  by  Jason,  and 
is  supposed  to  have  been  both  a  military  and  a  mercantile  ad- 
venture.    Its  destination  was  to  Colchis,  the  modern  Mingre- 

lia,  in  Asia  Minor. 

§  According  to  some,  the  object  was  to  open  the  commerce  of  the 
Euxine  sea,  and  to  secure  some  establishment  on  its  coast.  Ac- 
cording to  others,  Jason  wished  to  avenge  the  death  of  his  luns-1 
man  Phryxus,  and  to  recover  his  treasures,  which  had  been  seized 
..y  the  king  of  Colchis.  Hence,  in  the  language  of  fiction  or 
figure,  it  was  the  "  Golden  Fleece"  that  was  the  object  to  be  re- 
covered. 


1491—1004  B.  c.  41 

This  expedition  was  thought  to  be  of  so  much  importance,  that  all 
the  heroes  of  the  age  were  anxious  to  engage  in  it.  Among  the  54 
renowned  captains  who  were  in  the  single  ship  of  Argo  alone,  in 
which  Jason  embarked,  were  Hercules,  Theseus,  Castor  and  Pollux, 
E'irithous,  Laertes,  Peleus,  Oileus,  &c. 

In  the  course  of  their  voyage,  they  attempted  to  land  for  refresh- 
ment in  a  part  of  Phrygia,  but  were  prevented  by  Laomedon,  king 
of  Troy,  for  which  they  took  ample  revenge  on  their  return,  by  pil- 
laging that  city. 

On  their  arrival  in  Colchis,  Medea,  the  daughter  of  the  king,  fell 
in  love  with  Jason,  and,  through  her  assistance,  the  Argonauts  ef- 
fected the  object  of  their  voyage.  On  their  arrival  in  Greece,  Her- 
cules celebrated  or  instituted  the  Olympic  Games. 

10.  A  dispute  for  the  divided  sovereignty  of  Thebes,  be- 
tween the  brothers  Eteocles  and  Polynices,  gave  rise  to  a  war 
that  was  terminated  by  single  combat,  in  which  both  were 
killed.     This  is  called  the  war  of  the  seven  captains,  and  oc- 
curred 1225  years  B.  C. 

The  sons  of  the  commanders  slain  in  this  war  renewed  the 
quarrel  of  their  fathers,  about  ten  years  afterwards.  This  is 
called  the  war  of  the  Epigonoi,  a  subject  celebrated  by  Homer 
in  a  poem  now  lost. 

11.  But  the  most  celebrated  event  of  this  period,  in  the  an- 
nals of  Greece,  is  the  Trojan  war.     It  commenced  1193 
years  B.  C.,  and  terminated  in  ten  years.     Troy  was  taken 
and  burnt  to  the  ground.     This  war  was  undertaken  by  the 
princes  of  Greece  to  avenge  the  wrongs  sustained  by  Mene- 
lausjking  of  Lacedsemon,  whose  wife,  Helen,  had  been  seduced 
away  by  Paris,  a  Trojan  prince.     The  details  of  this  war  are 
derived  from  Homer ;  but  he  is  reasonably  supposed  to  have 
related  facts,  for  the  most  part. 

§  Troy,  the  capital  of  Phrygia  Minor,  was  founded  1546  years  B.  C. 
by  Scamander,  who  led  thither  a  colony  from  Crete.  Troas,  the 
fifth  in  succession  from  Scamander,  either  built  a  new  city,  or  en- 
larged the  old  one,  and  named  it  after  himself,  Troy.  The  Trojans 
were  a  brave  and  warlike  people. 

The  number  of  the  Grecian  warriors  is  supposed  to  have  been 
about  100,000.  Nearly  all  Asia  Minor  was  leagued  with  Priam, 
king  of  Troy.  The  Greeks,  on  landing  at  Troas,  were  warmly  op- 
posed, and  they  spent  the  first  8  or  9  years  in  reducing  such  cities 
and  islands  as  favoured  the  cause  of  Troy.  At  length  the  siege  of 
that  capital  began,  and  the  most  heroic  deeds  were  performed  on  both 
sides.  At  this  juncture,  the  camp  of  the  Greeks  was  visited  by  a  pes- 
tilence, and  a  quarrel  ensued  between  Agamemnon  and  Achilles,  the 
Grecian  leaders. 

The  death  of  Patrocius,  slain  by  Hector,  impelled  Achilles  to 

D2 


42  ANCIENT  HISTORY — PERIOD  IV, 

return  into  the  Grecian  camp.  Hector  was  killed  by  Achilles, 
and  Achilles  fell  by  the  hand  of  Paris,  who  was  himself  slain  by 
an  arrow  At  last  the  Greeks  gained  possession  of  the  city  by 
stratagem,  and  utterly  destroyed  it.  No  vestige  of  its  ruins  now 
remains. 

Such  of  the  Trojans  as  survived  sought  new  settlements  in  distant 
regions.  Antenor  established  himself  in  Italy,  where  he  founded 
the  nation  of  the  Heneti.  ^Eneas  settled  also  in  Italy,  where  he 
founded  the  kingdom  of  Alba. 

12.  The  war  of  the  Heraclidse,  among  the  Greeks,  began 
about  80  years  after  the  destruction  of  Troy.     Hercules,  the 
son  of  Amphitryon,  sovereign  of  Mycenee,  was  banished  from 
his  country,  with  all  his  family,  while  the  crown  was  pos 
sessed  by  an  usurper.     After  a  period  of  a  century,  his  de- 
scendants, called  Heraclidse,  returned  to  Peloponnesus,  and 
subduing  all  their  enemies,  took  possession  of  the  states  of  My  • 
cense,  Argos,  and  Lacedeemon.     This  return  of  the  Heraclidse 
is  an  event  often  spoken  of  in  history. 

13.  A  long  period  of  civil  war  succeeded,  and  Greece,  di- 
vided among  a  number  of  petty  tyrants,  became  a  prey  to  op- 
pression or  anarchy.  The  difficulties  of  the  times  drove  many 
of  the  Greeks  from  home,  who  founded  important  colonies,  as 
we  .shall  hereafter  learn. 

EGYPT. 

14.  Concerning  the  EGYPTIANS,  during  this  period,  very 
little  is  known  with  certainty.     Apophis  is  thought  to  have 
been  the  Pharaoh  who,  together  with  his  army,  was  drowned 
in  the  Red  Sea.     Amosis,  Amenophis  II.,  and  one  or  two 
others,  were  warriors  and  conquerors. 

§  A  few  things  may  be  subjoined  respecting  some  of  the  Egyptian 
kings  during  this  period.  Mceris  caused  the  celebrated  lake,  called 
by  his  name,  to  be  dug,  to  receive  the  waters  of  the  Nile,  when  the 
inundation  was  too  abundant,  and  to  water  the  country  when  it 
proved  deficient. 

Hermes  Trismegistes  is  celebrated  for  his  philosophical  writings 
He  added  5  days  to  the  year,  which  before  consisted  only  of  360. 
Amosis  abolished  the  practice  of  human  sacrifices,  and  conquered 
Heliopolis,  the  ancient  capital  of  Lower  Egypt. 

Actisanes,  king  of  Ethiopia,  united  Egypt  and  Ethiopia  under 
his  government.  He  bore  his  prosperity  with  great  prudence, 
and  behaved  himself  in  a  most  affectionate  uflmner  towards  his  new 
subjects. 

Having  caused  a  general  search  to  be  made  after  the  Egyptian 
robbers  who  infested  the  country,  he  commanded  their  noses  to  be 
eut  off,  and  then  banished  them  to  the  remotest  part  of  the  desert, 


1491— 1004  B   c  43 

between  Syria  and  Egypt,  where  he  built  them  a  town,  which,  from 
the  mutilation  of  its  inhabitants,  was  called  Rhinocolura. 

A  Memphite  of  ignoble  extraction  was  exalted  to  the  throne.  The 
priests  characterised  him  as  a  magician,  and  pretended  that  he  could 
assume  whatever  form  he  pleased.  His  Egyptian  name  was  Cetcs, 
which  the  Greeks  rendered  Proteus. 

It  was  during  his  reign,  that  Paris  and  Helen  were  driven  on 
the  coasts  of  Egypt,  in  their  passage  to  Troy,  but  when  the  Egyp- 
tian monarch  understood  the  shameful  breach  of  hospitality  which 
the  young  stranger  had  committed,  he  ordered  him  to  quit  his  do- 
minions. 

LYDIA. 

15.  The  history  of  the  kings  of  LYDIA  is  very  obscure. 
They  were  divided  into  three  dynasties.     1.  The  Atyda3. 
2.  The  Heraclidae.     3.  The  Mermnadse.      The  history  of 
Atydae  is  altogether  fabulous.     Argon  was  the  first  of  the  He- 
raclidcc,  and  Candaules  the  last.     Argon  reigned  about  1223 
years  B.  C.     The  Lydians  are  celebrated  as  merchants  and 

traffickers. 

§  Lydia  is  supposed  to  have  been  founded  by  Lud,  son  of  Shem.  It 
was,  however,  called  Lydia,  from  Lydus,  one  of  its  kings.  It  was 
previously  called  Msconia,  from  Maeon,  also  one  of  its  kings.  It  was 
conquered  at  length  by  the  descendants  of  Hercules. 

Lydia  Proper  was,  strictly  speaking,  at  first  only  that  part  of 
Mceonia  which  was  seated  on  the  /Egean  Sea ;  but  when  the  Greeks 
or  lonians  settled  there,  the  ancient  inhabitants  were  driven  to  the 
interior.  The  invaders  named  the  sea  coasts  where  they  settled 
Ionia,  after  the  country  whence  they  had  emigrated,  or  rather, 
whence  they  had  been  driven  by  the  Heraclidae  ;  while  the  Lydians 
gave  their  name  to  the  new  countries  in  which  they  settled. 

Long  before  the  invasion  of  the  lonians,  the  natives  of  Lydia  were 
devoted  to  commerce.  The  earliest  instance  on  record  of  a  gold  and 
silver  coinage  is  found  in  their  history.  They  were  also  the  first 
people  who  exhibited  public  sports. 

ITALY. 

1 6.  ITALY  appears  to  have  been  inhabited  at  a  remote 
era.     So  early  as  1289  years  B.  C.  we  read  of  a  king  named 
Janus,  who,  having  arrived  from  Thessaly,  planted  a  colony 
on  the  river  Tiber.     Four  sovereigns  succeeded  him  in  La- 
tium ;  during  the  reign  of  the  last  of  whom,  viz.  Latinus. 
arrived  ./Eneas,  the  Trojan  prince,  in  Italy.     ^Eneas  married 
Lavinia,  the  daughter  of  Latinus,  and  succeeded  him  in  the 
sovereignty.     After  ./Eneas  there  was  a  succession  of  kings  to 
the  time  of  Numitor,  the  grandfather  of  Romulus  and  Remu?, 
the  founders  of  Rome. 


44  ANCIENT  HISTORY PERIOD  IV 

The  history  of  these  kings  is,  however,  very  obscure  and 
confused,  and  very  little  dependence  can  be  placed  upon  it. 
Of  the  numerous  petty  kingdoms  of  which  Italy  was  com- 
posed, those  of  Etruria  and  Latium  alone  deserve  attention. 
The  Etruscans  are  thought  to  have  been  a  very  polished  peo- 
ple. The  inhabitants  of  Latium  were  the  immediate  ances- 
tors of  the  Romans.  A  considerable  part  of  Italy  was  doubt- 
less peopled  by  the  Greeks. 

§  Italy,  afterwards  the  seat  of  the  Roman  power,  was  peopled  at 
an  early  era,  though  we  cannot  determine  the  particular  point  01 
time,  with  certainty  as  to  the  country-  at  large.  The  colony  on  the 
Tiber,  as  we  have  seen,  was  settled  nearly  13  centuries  before  Christ. 
There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  a  part  of  Italy  was  inhabited 
by  a  refined  and  cultivated  nation,  many  ages  before  the  Roman 
name  was  known. 

The  Etruscans  are  justly  considered  as  such  a  nation ;  a  fact 
which  is  indicated  by  the  monuments  in  the  fine  arts  which  they 
have  left,  and  some  of  which  exist  to  this  day.  Their  alphabet,  re- 
sembling the  Phoenician,  disposes  us  to  believe  them  to  have  been  of 
eastern  origin. 

Though  many  of  the  inhabitants  of  Italy  originated  from  Greece 
and  the  east,  yet  a  portion  of  them,  it  is  believed,  must  have  origi- 
nated from  the  Celtic  or  Gomerian  tribes  of  the  north,  who  entered 
Italy  from  that  quarter.* 

The  story  of  Latinus  and  ^Eneas  is  briefly  as  follows.     At  the 
time  of  the  arrival  of  the  latter  in  Italy,  Latinus  was  engaged  in  a 
war  with  the  Rutuli  ;  and,  on  hearing  of  this  arrival,  he  ;mmedi- 
ately  marched  towards  the  strangers,  expecting  to  find  an  unprinci 
pled  banditti. 

But  ^Eneas,  though  commanding  a  body  of  hardy  veterans,  held 
out  the  olive  of  peace.  Latinus  listened  to  his  melancholy  tale,  and 
pitying  the  misfortunes  of  the  Trojan  exiles,  assigned  them  a  portion 
of  land,  on  condition  of  their  joining  against  the  Rutuli. 

^neas  eagerly  embraced  the  offer,  and  performed  such  essential 
service  in  the  cause  of  the  Latins,  that  this  monarch  bestowed  on 
him  his  only  daughter,  Lavinia,  in  marriage,  with  the  right  of  suc- 
cession to  the  crown. 

Distinguished  characters  in  Period  IV. 

1.  Moses,  the  first  Hebrew  lawgiver  and  leader. 

2.  Joshua,    a  conqueror   of  Canaan,  and  pious  military 
chieftain. 

3.  Orpheus,  the  father  of  poetry. 

4.  Musseus,  a  Greek  poet. 

5.  Samson,  a  judge  of  Israel,  and  endowed  with  extraor 
dinary  strength. 

*  See  Edin.  Rev.  No.  80.  Art.  V. 


1491—1004  B.  c.  45 

6.  Sanconiathon,  a  Phoenician,  one  of  the  earliest  writers 
of  history. 

7,  David,  a  king  of  Israel,  a  warrior  and  poet. 

§  1.  Moses,  when  an  infant,  having  been  exposed  on  the  brink  of 
the  river  Nile,  in  an  ark  of  bulrushes,  the  daughter  of  Pharaoh  found 
the  ark,  saved  the  child,  and  had  him  educated  as  her  own  son.  At 
forty  years  of  age,  having  renounced  the  honours  of  Pharaoh's  court, 
he  endeavoured  to  join  his  oppressed  countrymen,  but  they  would 
not  receive  him.  After  this,  circumstances  induced  him  to  flee  to 
the  land  of  Midian,  where  he  married,  and  enjoyed  a  retirement  of 
40  years. 

At  the  end  of  this  period,  God  appeared  to  him  in  the  mount  of 
Horeb,  and  ordered  him  to  return  to  Egypt,  with  a  commission  to 
Pharaoh,  respecting  his  release  of  the  Israelites  from  bondage.  He 
accomplished  this  object  only  after  the  infliction  of  ten  severe  and 
awful  plagues  upon  that  monarch  and  his  people.  At  length  God 
saw  fit,  through  Moses,  to  destroy  Pharaoh  and  the  flower  of  his 
military  force  in  the  Red  Sea. 

From  this  period,  Moses  was  employed  in  receiving  the  moral 
law  from  mount  Sinai,  in  prescribing  the  form  of  the  ceremonial 
worship  of  the  Hebrews,  in  regulating  their  civil  polity,  in  con- 
ducting their  military  operations,  and  in  leading  them  through  the 
wilderness  of  Sinai,  in  which  they  were  doomed  to  wander  during 
40  years. 

At  the  age  of  120  he  died  on  mount  Nebo,  in  the  land  of  Moab, 
having  first  taken  a  view  of  the  promised  land.  This  occurred  1451 
years  B.  C.  Moses  was  a  man  of  eminent  piety  and  wisdom. 

2.  Joshua  was  the  successor  of  Moses,  and  led  the  Israelites  into 
the  promised  land,  over  the  river  Jordan,  whose  waters  divided  to 
afford  them  a  passage.    The  first  city  which  he  conquered  was  Jeri- 
cho ;  this  was  followed  by  the  speedy  reduction  of  30  others. 

Having  divided  the  land  of  Canaan  among  the  ten  tribes,  Joshua 
died,  aged  110,  1426  years  B.  C. 

3.  Orpheus  was  the  son  of  (Eager,  or,  as  some  say,  of  Apollo,  by 
Calliope.    The  fictions  of  poetry  have  put  into  his  hands  a  lyre, 
whose  entrancing  sounds  stayed  the  courses  of  rivers,  moved  moun- 
tains, and  subdued  the  ferocity  of  wild  beasts.    Doubtless  the  effects  - 
of  his  song,  though  not  of  such  a  nature,  were  considerable,  in  that 
rude  and  early  age,  on  the  minds  of  untutored  barbarians. 

By  the  power  of  his  music,  as  fiction  reports,  he  regained  his 
wife,  Eurydice,  from  the  infernal  regions,  but  lost  her  again  in  con- 
sequence of  failing  to  comply  with  a  certain  condition,  on  which 
she  was  restored.  The  condition  was,  that  he  should  not  look  be- 
hind to  see  her  till  he  had  come  to  the  extremest  borders  of  hell. 
Contrary  to  promise  he  did  this,  thfough  the  impatience  of  love, 
or  by  reason  of  forgetfulness,  and  she  vanished  from  before  his  eyes. 

Orpheus,  according  to  story,  was  one  of  the  Argonauts ;  of  which 
celebrated  expedition  he  wrote  a  poetical  account.  This,  however, 
U  doubted  j  and  the  poems  that  pass  under  his  name,  are,  with  rea* 


46  ANCIENT  HISTORY PERIOD  IV. 

son,  ascribed  to  other  and  later  writers.  There  is  little  cause  to 
doubt  that  such  a  person  as  Orpheus  existed,  and  that  he  was  a 
great  poet  and  musician.  The  period  assigned  for  him  is  1284 
years  B.  C. 

4.  Musaeus  is  supposed  to  have  been  a  son  or  disciple  of  Linus  or 
Orpheus,  and  to  have  lived  about  1253  years  before  the  Christian  era. 
None  of  his  poems  remain.     A  Musaeus,  who  flourished  in  the  4th 
century,  according  to  the  judgment  of  most  critics,  wrote  "  The  loves 
of  Leander  and  Hero." 

5.  Samson  was  the  son  of  Manoah,  of  the  tribe  of  Dan.  As  he  was 
raised  up  to  avenge  the  Israelites  of  their  oppressors,  he  was  endow- 
ed with  extraordinary  strength.  On  one  occasion,  he  slew  1000  Phi- 
listines with  the  jaw-bone  of  an  ass.    At  various  other  times,  he  se- 
verely molested  and  distressed  them. 

At  length  he  was,  through  stratagem,  betrayed  by  Delilah,  and  de 
prived  of  his  strength.  It,  however,  soon  returned;  and  he  pulled 
down  the  temple  of  Dagon  on  the  heads  of  his  enemies,  the  Philistines, 
with  whom  he  perished  in  the  general  ruin.  Some  parts  of  his  cha- 
racter are  very  far  from  deserving  imitation.  His  various  exploits 
and  follies  are  recorded,  Judges  xiv.  xv.  xvi. 

6.  Sanconiathon  was  born  at  Berytus,  or,  according  to  others,  at 
Tyre.     He  flourished  about  1040  years  B.  C.    He  wrote,  in  the  lan- 
guage of  his  country,  a  history,  in  9  books,  in  which  he  amply  treat- 
ed of  the  theology  and  antiquities  of  Phoenicia  and  the  neighbouring 
places. 

This  history  was  translated  into  Greek  by  Philo,  a  native  of  Byb- 
lus,  who  lived  in  the  reign  of  the  emperor  Adrian.  Some  few  frag- 
ments of  this  Greek  translation  are  extant.  Some,  however,  suppose 
them  to  be  spurious,  while  others  maintain  their  authenticity. 

7.  David  was  the  son  of  Jesse,  and  anointed  king  of  Israel,  while 
keeping  his  father's  flocks,  by  Samuel,  the  prophet.      He  was  a 
raliant,  prosperous,   and  warlike  prince,   and  raised  himself  and 
people  to  great  eminence  and  renown.      His  name  began  to  be 
known  and  celebrated,  from  the  time  that  he  slew  Goliath,  the  giant. 
His  military  operations  were  planned  with  wisdom,  and  executed 
with  vigour. 

He  was  distinguished  as  a  sacred  poet  and  writer  of  psalms ;  no 
one  in  this  department  has  ever  equalled  him.  These  inspired  pro- 
ductions are  marked  by  loftiness,  vigour,  and  felicity  of  expression 
— abounding  in  the  sublimest  strains  of  drvotion,  and  conveying  the 
most  important  truths  and  instructions  to  the  mind. 

This  pious  prince  was  left  to  fall  into  scandalous  sins,  in  a  few  in- 
stances, particularly  in  the  seduction  of  Bathsheba,  and  the  murder 
of  Uriah,  her  husband ;  but  he  bitterly  repented  of  them,  and  was 
restored  to  the  divine  favour.  He  died,  1015  years  B.  C.,  after  a 
reign  of  40  years. 


1004—752  B.  c.  4i 


PERIOD   V. 

The  Period  of  Flomer,  extending  from  the  dedication  of  Solo- 
mon's temple,  1004  years  B.  C.,  to  the  founding  of  Rome, 
752  years  B.  C. 

ISRAELITES. 

SECTION  1.  From  the  accession  of  Solomon  to  the  throne 
of  the  ISRAELITES,  a  period  of  profound  peace  and  prosperity 
was  enjoyed  by  that  people  throughout  his  reign.  The 
most  important  undertaldng  of  this  monarch,  ^as  the  build- 
ing and  dedication  of  the  temple  of  the  Lord  at  Jerusalem. 

This  magnificent  structure  was  completed  in  seven  years. 
The  dedication  was  performed  by  the  king,  with  the  most 
solemn  religious  rites,  in  presence  of  all  the  elders  of  Israel, 
and  the  heads  of  the  various  tribes. 

This  _prince  exceeded  in  wisdom  all  who  went  before  him  ; 
but,  in  his  old  age,  he  took  many  wives  and  concubines  out 
of  the  idolatrous  nations  around  him,  who  corrupted  his 
heart.  The  Lord  therefore  declared,  by  the  prophet  Abijah, 
that  he  would  divide  the  kingdom  after  his  death,  and  give 
ten  tribes  to  Jeroboam ;  which  accordingly  took  place. 

§  The  temple  at  Jerusalem  was  a  most  sumptuous  and  costly  edifice. 
The  value  of  the  materials,  and  the  perfection  of  the  workmanship, 
rank  it  among  the  most  celebrated  structures  of  antiquity.  It  was 
not  very  large,  being  little  more  than  90  feet  in  length,  30  in  breadth, 
and  45  in  height ;  but  was  finely  proportioned,  and,  together  with  a 
grand  porch,  was  splendidly  ornamented. 

Towards  the  close  of  his  reign,  as  a  punishment  of  his  effeminacy 
and  idolatry,  the  Lord  stirred  up  certain  adversaries  against  him ; 
and,  though  the  principal  evil  threatened  against  Israel,  was  not  to 
occur  during  his  day,  yet  he  had  the  mortification  of  knowing  that 
it  would  be  inflicted  under  the  administration  of  his  son ;  and  that 
his  own  conduct  would  be  the  procuring  cause. 

We  cannot  help  believing  that  he  repented  of  his  awful  defection 
from  duty,  though  nothing  in  the  Bible  is  recorded  concerning  this 
point ;  and  all  ought  to  be  profited  by  the  memorials  which  he  has 
left  of  his  wisdom,  and  general  piety. 

2.  Rehoboam,  the  son  of  Solomon,  began  to  reign  over  the 
Israelites  975  years  B.  C.  Having  refused  to  lighten  the 
yoke  his  father  had  imposed  on  his  subjects,  ten  tribes  revolt- 
ed, and  followed  Jeroboam,  an  enterprising  domestic  of  the 
king.  The  tribes  of  Judah  and  Benjamin  alone  remained 


48  ANCIENT  HISTORY — PERIOD  V. 

faithful  to  Rehoboam.     From  this  time  Judah  and  Israel  are 
separate  kingdoms. 

3.  The  kingdom  of  the  Ten  Tribes,  or  the  Israelites,  dur 
ing  this  period,  was  governed  by  a  succession  of  vicious  and 
idolatrous  monarchs ;  and  wars  and  feuds,  treachery  and  mur- 
der, mark  their  history  in  a  shocking  manner.  Jeroboam  was 
their  first  king. 

§  A  few  incidents  in  the  lives  of  these  kings  may  be  noticed. 
Jeroboam,  to  prevent  his  subjects  from  going  to  Jerusalem  to  sacri 
fice,  made  two  golden  calves,  which  the  people  worshipped ;  for 
which  conduct,  God  declared  that  his  whole  house  should  be  cut  off. 

Zimri,  the  fourth  after  Jeroboam,  enjoyed  the  crown  only  seven 
days.  The  city  Tirzah,  in  which  he  was  besieged  by  Ornri,  being 
taken,  he  burnt  himself  to  death  in  his  palace. 

Ahab,  the  sixth  after  Jeroboam,  was  the  most  impious  king  who 
reigned  over  Israel.  He  married  Jezebel,  a  daughter  of  a  king  of 
the  Sidonians,  who  excited  him  to  commit  all  manner  of  wickedness. 
Among  other  things,  he  wantonly  murdered  Naboth,  for  refusing  to 
give  up  his  vineyard  to  Ahab. 

Jehu,  a  captain  under  Jehoram,  was  anointed  king  by  the  prophet 
Elisha  ;  and,  though  a  wicked  man,  was  the  instrument  of  executing 
the  Lord's  vengeance  upon  his  impious  contemporaries.  He  killed 
Jehoram,  and  the  70  sons  of  Ahab ;  and  after  having  slain  all  the 
priests  of  Baal,  he  destroyed  the  images,  and  the  house  of  their  god. 

Jehoash  was  successful  as  a  warrior.  He  defeated  Benhadad, 
king  of  Syria,  in  three  battles.  In  a  war  against  Amaziah,  king  of 
Judah,  he  took  him  prisoner,  broke  down  the  wall  of  Jerusalem,  and 
plundered  the  temple  and  the  king's  palace. 

Pekah,  the  last- king  during'  this  period,  made  war  against  Judah, 
with  Rezin,  king  of  Syria.  Under  his  reign,  part  of  the  ten  tribes 
were  carried  captive  to  Assyria,  by  Tiglath  Pileser. 

4.  Several  of  the  kings  of  Judah.  during  the  present  peri- 
od, were  pious  men,  and  adhered  to  the  worship  of  God. 
Others  of  them  imitated  the  profligate  kings  of  Israel.     Tiie 
people  whom  they  governed,  and  who  have  survived  to  the 
present  time,  are  called  Jews,  in  distinction  from  Israelites, 
the  name  once  applied  to  the  whole  twelve  tribes. 

§  We  will  notice  some  of  the  transactions  of  their  reigns.  During 
the  reign  of  Rehoboam,  Sesac,  king  of  Egypt,  took  Jerusalem,  and 
carried  off  the  treasures  of  the  temple,  and  of  the  palace. 

Jehoshaphat  carefully  enforced  the  worship  of  God.  The  Mo- 
abites  and  Ammonites  declared  war  against  him ;  but  the  Lord  threw 
them  into  confusion  in  such  a  manner,  that  they  destroyed  one 
another. 

Ahaziah,  directed  by  the  councils  of  Athaliah,  his  mother,  acted 
wickedly.  He  went,  with  the  vicious  Jehoram,  king  of  Israel,  to 
war  against  Hazael,  king  of  Syria.  When  Jehu  destroyed  the 


1004—752  B,  c.  40 

house  of  Ahab,  lie  sought  Ahaziah,  who  was  hid  in  Samaria,  and 
slew  him. 

Joash  reigned  with  justice  as  long  as  Jehoiada,  the  high  priest,  lived. 
After  his  death,  having  Mien  into  idolatry,  Zechariah,  the  son  of 
Jehoiada,  reproved  him  for  this  sin,  and  was  stoned  by  the  king's 
order.  God  then  raised  against  him  the  king  of  Syria,  who  plun- 
dered Jerusalem.  His  own  servants  also  conspired  against  him, 
and  stew  him  in  his  bed. 

Uzziah  made  successful  wars  against  the  Philistines  and  Arabians 
Intoxicated  with  prosperity,  he  went  into  the  temple  to  burn  incens 
upon  the  altar,  and  the  Lord  struck  him  with  leprosy  for  his  pre- 
sumption. 

Jotham,  a  pious  prince,  fought  and  overcame  the  Ammonites,  and 
rendered  them  tributary. 

GREECE. 

5.  GREECE,  at  the  commencement  of  the  present  period, 
wus  in  an  unsettled  state.     By  the  emigration  of  many  of 
Us  inhabitants,  colonies  had  been  formed,  particularly  in  Lesser 
Asia.     Afterwards  colonies  were  sent  to  Italy  and  Sicily. 
These,  owing  to  the  freedom  of  their  governments,  soon  ri- 
valled their  parent  states  ;  a  circumstance  which  induced  the 
latter  to  put  an  end  to  despotism,  and  to  adopt  popular  consti- 
tutions.   In  this  work  of  reformation,  Lycurgus,  the  legislator 
of  Sparta,  was  distinguished. 

6.  It  may  be  mentioned,  in  connexion  with  this  subject 
and  previously  to  an  account  of  the  reformation  of  Sparta, 
that  the  poems  of  Homer  were  introduced  from  Asia  into 
Greece  by  Lycurgus.     He  met  with  them  in  his  travels  in 
that  region,   carefully  preserved  them,  and  brought  them 
home  on  his  return,  886  years  B.  C.     Their  effect  on  the  na- 
tional spiritgmd  literature  of  the  Greeks,  was  at  length  highly 
propitious. 

§  Homer  flourished  about  900  years  B.  C.  Me  was  a  poor  blind 
man,  and  used  to  travel  from  place  to  place,  singing  his  verses. 
But  his  genius  was  transcend  ant.  All  succeeding  ages  have  bowed 
U)  it ;  and  his  poems  have  been  taken  as  the  model  of  all  epic  pro- 
ductions of  any  note  written  since  his  day. 

The  present  form  of  his  poems  is  supposed  not  to  have  been  the 
ancient  form.  They  were  probably  produced  in  separate  pieces  and 
uallads ;  and  were  united  into  continuous  poems,  it  is  said,  by  cer- 
tain learned  men,  under  the  direction  of  Pisistratus,  king  of  Athens. 

The  era  of  Grecian  splendour  was  several  centuries  after  the  time 
of  Homer ;  but  by  the  preservation  of  his  poems,  the  progress  of  the 
Greeks  in  arts  and  literature  was  effectually  secured. 

7.  Lycurgus,  by  his  peculiar  institutions,  raised  Sparta 

E 


50  ANCIENT  HISTORY PERIOD  IV 

from  a  weak  and  distracted  state,  to  superiority  in  arms  ovei 
the  other  republics  of  Greece.  Sparta  became  tiuly  republican 
in  its  government,  though  the  form  of  royalty  was  retained. 
Its  kings  we<e  merely  the  first  citizens  in  the  state,  and  ac- 
knowledged the  superior  authority  of  the  Ephori  and  the 
people,  to  whom  they  were  accountable.  Their  privileges, 
however,  sufficiently  distinguished  them  from  the  mass  of  the 
citizens. 

With  many  things  in  his  institutions  that  were  commend- 
able, there  was  much  that  was  pernicious.  His  sole  object 
seems  to  have  been,  to  render  the  Spartans  fit  only  for  war. 
The  chronological  date  of  the  commencement  of  this  refor- 
mation, is  884  years  B.  C. 

§  After  the  return  of  the  Heraclidpe,  Sparta  was  divided  between 
the  two  sons  of  Aristodemus,  Eurysthenes  and  Procles,  who  reigned 
jointly.  The  occasion  of  this  was,  that  Aristodemus  having  been 
killed  while  his  children  were  infants,  their  mother  was  unable  to 
tell  which  of  them  was  the  first  boTn,  since  they  were  twins.  The 
Spartans  consequently  agreed  that  they  should  be  joint  kings. 

This  double  monarchy  continued  in  the  one  line  under  30  kings, 
and  in  the  other  line  under  27  kings,  during  a  period  of  about  880 
years.  Polydectes  and  Lycurgus  were  the  sons  of  one  of  these 
kings.  Upon  the  death  of  his  brother,  the  crown  devolved  on  Ly- 
curgus ;  but  his  sister-in-law  being  with  child,  he  resigned  it. 

She  however  intimated  to  Lycurgus  that  if  he  would  marry  her, 
the  child  should  be  destroyed  immediately  upon  its  birth.  Lycur- 
gus, with(a  view  to  save  it,  desired  that  she  would  send  it  to  him,  and 
he  would  dispose  of  it.  Accordingly,  the  boy,  as  soon  as  he  was  born, 
was  sent  to  his  uncle. 

Lycurgus  was  at  supper  with  a  large  party  when  the  royal  infant 
arrived,  but  he  instantly  took  it  into  his  arms,  and  holding  it,  to  the 
view  of  the  company,  exclaimed,  "  Spartans !  behold  your  king." 
The  people  were  delighted,  and  the  boy  was  called  Chanlaus. 

Lycurgus,  with  a  view  to  suppress  the  calumnies  published  against 
him  by  the  faction  of  the  queen,  determined  upon  a  voluntary  exile. 
In  his  travels,  he  made  it  an  object  to  acquire  knowledge,  and  espe- 
cially to  ascertain  the  best  means  of  government.  It  was  during 
this  journey  that  he  discovered  the  poems  of  Homer,  as  above  men- 
ion  ed. 

Upon  his  recall  to  Sparta,  he  found  things  in  so  bad  a  condition, 
that  he  set  about  a  reformation  of  the  manners  of  the  people.  He  be- 
gan his  labours  by  instituting  a  senate  to  make  laws,  and  see  that  they 
were  executed ;  this  senate  was  composed  of  30  members,  the  kings 
being  of  the  number 

He  next  made  an  equal  division  of  the  lands,  so  that  all  the  Spar- 
tans shared  it  fairly  between  them.  When  he  endeavoured  to  do  the 
same  with  the  furniture,  clothes,  &c.  he  found  the  rich  very  averse  to 


1921—1491  D.  c.  51 


his  proposals.     He  therefore  took  another  course.     He  substituted 
iron  for  gold  and  silver,  as  the  medium  of  exchange. 

As  this  iron  money  was  of  no  account  among  the  neighbouring 
countries,  the  Spartans  could  no  longer  indulge  in  luxury,  by  pur- 
chasing foreign  costly  articles.  The  necessary  arts  of  life  he  allowed 
to  be  practised  only  by  slaves. 

He  then  commanded  that  all  persons,  even  the  Ivlngs  themselves, 
should  eat  at  public  tables,  and  that  these  tables  should  be  served 
only  with  plain  food.  This  regulation,  more  than  any  other,  offended 
the  rich  citizens.  They  rose  in  a  body  and  assaulted  Lycurgus  ;  and 
one  of  them,  pursuing  him  to  a  sanctuary,  struck  out  his  eye  with  a 
stick. 

Lycurgus  no  otherwise  punished  this  offender,  than  by  making 
him  his  page  and  attendant.  In  time,  these  dinners,  at  which  they 
served  up  a  kind  of  soup,  called  black  broth,  came  to  be  much  re- 
lished, and  very  pleasant  discourse  often  enlivened  them. 

An  admirable  part  of  the  ceremony  at  these  public  meals  was  the 
following.  When  the  company  were  assembled,  the  oldest  man 
present,  pointing  to  the  door,  said,  "  Not  one  word  spoken  here,  goes 
out  there."  This  wise  rule  produced  mutual  confidence,  and  prevent- 
ed all  scandal  and  misrepresentation. 

The  children  were  taught  in  large  public  schools,  and  were  made 
brave  and  hardy.  All  the  people  were  accustomed  to  speak  in  short 
pithy  sentences,  so  that  this  style  of  speaking  is  even  now  called  af- 
ter them,  laconic  ;  Laconia  being  one  of  the  names  of  Lacedaemon. 

When  Lycurgus  had  firmly  established  his  new  laws,  he  ensured 
their  observance  by  the  following  contrivance.  He  left  Sparta,  after 
having  made  the  people  swear,  that  they  would  abide  by  his  laws, 
until  he  should  return.  As  he  intended  not  to  return  at  all,  this  was 
to  swear  that  they  would  keep  his  laws  forever. 

Lycurgus  died  in  a  foreign  kind.  By  some  it  is  asserted,  that  he 
starved  himself  to  death.  His  laws  continued  in  force  500  years, 
during  which  time  the  Spartans  became  a  powerful  and  conquering 
people. 

The  institutions  of  this  legislator  were  impaired  by  many  blemishes. 
The  manners  of  the  Lacedemonian  women  were  suffered  to  be 
shamefully  loose.  The  youth  were  taught  to  subdue  the  feelings  of 
humanity.  The  slaves  were  treated  with  the  greatest  barbarity.  Even 
theft  was  a  part  of  Spartan  education. 

The  object  of  this  was  to  prepare  their  minds  for  the  stratagems  oil 
war.  Detection  exposed  them  to  punishment.  Plutarch  tells  us  of 
a  boy,  who  had  stolen  a  fox  and  hidden  it  under  his  coat,  and  who 
rather  chose  to  let  the  animal  tear  out  his  bowels,  than  to  discover 
the  theft. 

SECT.  8.  The  first  of  the  Olympiads,  an  era  by  which 
the  events  in  Grecian  history  are  reckoned,  occurred  776 
vears  B.  C.  The  Olympic  games  were  first  instituted  about 
1  150  years  B.  C.,  but  having  fallen  into  disuse,  were  restored 


ANCIENT  HISTORY PERIOD  V. 

at  different  times,  and  from  the  period  above  mentioned,  form 
a  certain  epoch  in  history. 

§  The  nature  of  these  games  will  be  described  under  the  "  Gene- 
ral Views,"  at  the  close  of  this  work. 

•  MACEDON. 

SECT.  9.  MACEDON,  a  kingdom  in  Gfeece,  and  sometimes 
considered  distinct  from  it  in  its  history,  was  founded  by  Ca- 
ranus,  an  Arrive  and  descendant  of  Hercules,  about  795 
years  B.  C.  The  government  continued  in  his  line  647 
years,  i.  e.  till  the  death  of  Alexander  TEgus,  the  posthumous 
soil  of  Alexander  the  Great. 

§  The  history  of  Macedon  under  its  first  kings  is  obscure,  and  pre- 
sents only  some  wars  with  the  Illyrians,  Thracians,  and  other  neigh- 
bouring nations.  It  became,  as  we  shall  hereafter  learn,  very  power- 
ful, and  under  Philip  overturned  the  liberties  of  the  other  states  ol 
Greece. 

ASSYRIA. 

SECT.  10.  After  a  chasm  of  800  years  in  the  history  oi 
the  first  kingdom  of  ASSYRIA,  we  find  a  few  particulars  re- 
specting one  or  two  of  its  last  sovereigns.  Pul,  who  is  men- 
tirfned  in  scripture,  subdued  Israel  in  the  rei^n  of  Menahem, 
who  became  his  tributary.  This  Pal  is  supposed  to  be  the 
king  of  Nineveh,  who,  with  his  people,  repented  at  the  preach- 
ing of  Jonah.  If  this  be  the  fact,  he  flourished  about  800 
years  B.  C.* 

§  The  object  of  Jonah's  preaching  was  to  denounce  the  divine 
judgements  against  this  people  on  account  of  their  wickedness.  The 
prophet  after  great  reluctance  to  obey  the  command  of  God,  and  a 
signal  chastisement  for  his  disobedience,  repaired  at  length  to  Nine- 
veh, and  executed  his  commission. 

The  Ninevites  took  the  alarm,  and  humbled  themselves  before 
Jehovah,  in  consequence  of  which  they  were  delivered  at  that  time 
from  destruction.  The  Assyrian  empire,  of  which  Nineveh  was  the 
capital,  ended,  however,  soon  afterwards,  as  we  shall  now  learn. 

Sect.  11.  Sardanapalus  was  the  last  and  the  most  vicious 
of  the  Assyrian  monarchs.  In  his  reign  a  conspiracy  broke 
out,  by  which  the  kingdom  was  destroyed,  7(57  years  B.  C. 
Three  monarchies  rose  from  its  ruins,  viz.  Nineveh,  which 

*  We  have  here  followed  Usher,  and  not  the  authors  of  the  Universal  Hia-- 
tory.  Usher,  as  we  think,  more  consistently,  supposes  Pul  to  be  the  father  oi 
Sardanapalus. 


1004—752  B.  c.  53 

preserved  the  name  of  Assyria,  Babylon,  and  the  kingdom 
of  the  Medes. 

§  Sardanapalus  was  the  most  effeminate  of  mankind.  He  never  left 
his  palace,  but  spent  all  his  time  with  his  women  and  his  eunuchs. 
He  imitated  them  in  dress  and  painting,  and  spun  with  them  at  the 
distaff.  Being  besieged  in  his  city,  by  Arbaces,  governor  of  the  Medes, 
he  at  length  set  fire  to  his  palace,  and  consumed  himself,  with  his  wo- 
men, eunuchs,  and  treasures. 

EGYPT. 

SECT.  12.  EGYPT  continued  to  be  governed  by  a  race  of 
kings,  concerning  whom  the  common  accounts  seem  not  to 
be  very  satisfactory.  The  most  considerable  or  the  best  known 
of  them  were  Shishak,  Rhamses,  Ainenophis  IV.  and  Thuo- 
rn.  Shishak  is  mentioned  in  scripture,  and  he  is  by  some 
authors  considered  the  same  as  Sesostris.  But  we  are  dispo- 
sed to  consider  Sesostris  as  much  more  ancient,  and  have  ac- 
cordingly spoken  of  him  in  a  former  period. 

§  Concerning  Shisliak,  it  appears  that  he  built  many  temples  and 
dtios,  dug  canals,  and  among  other  conquests,  took  Jerusalem  and 
spoilt  the  temple. 

Riiamses  possessed  a  very  avaricious  disposition.  Diodorus  in- 
forms us,  that  he  was  never  at  any  expense  either  for  the  honour  of 
the  gods,  or  the  welfare  of  his  people  ;  but  that  his  sole  delight  was 
in  the  augmentation  of  his  private  treasure,  which,  at  his  decease, 
amounted  to  no  lass  than  400,000  talents. 

AmenopUis  IV.  is  thought  to  be  the  same  with  Memnon,  whose 
famous  statue  was  said  to  utter  a  sound  at  the  rising  of  the  sun.  The 
monument  in  which  he  was  buried,  is  much  celebrated  for  its  mag- 
nificence, lie  acquired  great  reno\vn  by  his  expedition  against  the 
Bactrians. 

Thuoris  lost  the  Egyptian  possessions  in  the  East ;  and  after  his 
death,  Egypt,  reduced  within  its  natural  boundaries,  was  divided 
•'.iiioiig  several  little  kingdoms  for  about  44  years. 

PHOENICIANS. 

SECT.  13.  The  PHOENICIANS,  during  this  period,  were  go- 
verned by  the  successors  of  Hiram,  of  whom  the  first  was 
Balcazar,  his  son  ;  and  the  seventh  from  him  was  Pygma- 
lion, the  brother  of  the  celebrated  Dido.  The  cruelties  of 
Pygmalion  obliged  her  to  llee  to  Africa,  where  she  founded  a 
mighty  sovereignty,  as  will  now  be  mentioned. 

CARTHAGE. 

SECT.  14.  According  to  the  most  probable  accounts,  it  was 
869  years  B.  C.  when  Dido  arrived  at  Africa.  The  history 

E2 


D4  ANCIENT  HISTORY PERIOD  V. 

of  the  CARTHAGINIANS  is  dated  from  this  e\*ent.  She  fixed  her 
habitation  at  the  bottom  of  a  gulf,  on  a  peninsula,  near  the 
spot  where  Tunis  now  stands. 

From  this,  Carthage  arose,  a  city  which  afterwards  became 
famous  for  its  wealth  and  power,  and  from  its  connexion  with 
the  Roman  wars."  The  early  history  of  the  people,  who  were 
called  after  the  name  of  their  principal  city,  is  but  little 
known.  Its  later  history  is  involved  in  that  of  Rome. 

It  is  probable  Dido  might  have  found  a  few  inhabitants  in 
this  place,  whom  its  local  advantages  had  induced  to  settle 
there ;  but  to  her  and  her  attendants,  Carthage  is  doubtless 
indebted  for  a  regular  foundation. 

The  colony  had  the  same  language,  and  national  charac- 
ter, and  nearly  the  same  laws,  with  the  parent  state.  In  the 
height  of  its  splendour,  it  possessed  a  population  of  700,000 
inhabitants,  and  had  under  its  dominion  300  small  cities,  bor- 
dering on  the  Mediterranean  sea. 

§  Pygmalion,  wishing  to  possess  himself  of  the  immense  riches  oi 
Sichaens,  the  husband  of  Dido,  took  an  opportunity,  while  they  were 
engaged  in  a  chase,  to  run  him  through  the  body  with  a  spear.  The 
suspicion  of  his  sister  was  awakened  ;  but,  concealing  her  design, 
she  requested  Pygmalion  to  furnish  her  with  men  and  ships,  to  con- 
vey her  effects  to  a  small  city  between  Tyre  and  Sidon,  that  she  might 
live  there  with  her  brother  Barca. 

The  king  granted  her  request ;  but  Dido  had  no  sooner  embarked 
her  property  on  board,  than  her  brother  and  others,  who  favoured 
her  real  design,  set  sail  for  Cyprus,  whence  they  carried  off  a  great 
number  of  young  women,  and  then  steered  their  course  to  Africa. 

The  Tynan  monarch,  thus  defeated  in  his  schemes,  was  about  to 
send  a  fleet  after  the  fugitives  ;  but  the  tears  of  his  mother,  and  the 
threatening  predictions  of  the  oracle,  prevented  his  intended  revenge. 

ITALY. 

SECT.  15.  In  ITALY,  at  the  time  of  Numitor,  about  775 
B.  C.,  there  was  a  turn  in  events  deserving  our  notice.  Awn- 
lius:  the  brother  of  Numitor,  being  ambitious  of  the  throne, 
usurped  the  government,  and  connected  this  act  with  the 
murder  of  the  king's  only  son,  and  with  compelling  Rhea 
Sylvia,  his  only  daughter,  to  become  a  vestal.  lie  thus 
meant  to  prevent  any  from  becoming  claimants  to  the  throne. 

The  event,  however,  frustrated  the  hopes  of  Amulius  ;  for 
from  Sylvia  sprung  Remus  and  Romulus,  twin  brothers,  who, 
at  length  overcoming  Amulius,  replaced  their  grandfather, 
Numitor.  on  the  throne. 


1004—752  B.  c.  55 

§  Amulius,  hearing  of  the  birtl\of  Remus  and  Romulus,  so  contrary 
(o  his  expectations,  ordered  the  mother  to  be  buried  alive,  the  pun- 
ishment of  incontinent  vestals,  and  the  children  to  be  thrown  into  the 
river  Tiber.  The  latter  sentence  was  executed,  but  the  former  was 
prevented  by  the  intercession  of  a  daughter  of  Amulius. 

The  infants,  though  put  into  the  Tiber,  were  saved,  since  the  bas- 
ket in  which  they  were  covered,  floated  on  the  surface.  It  was  borne 
to  the  foot  of  the  Aventine  mount,  and  there  stranded.  According 
to  some  accounts,  a  she-wolf  suckled  them,  which  is  incredible. 

According  to  other  accounts,  the  woman  who  preserved  and  nursed 
them,  was  called  Lupa,  and  as  Lupa  is  the  Latin  word  for  she-wolf, 
this  circumstance  caused  the  mistake. 

'  The  two  .brothers  became  shepherds,  were  fond  of  hunting  wild 
beasts,  and  at  length  turned  their  arms  against  the  robbers  that  in- 
fested the  country.  Having  been  informed  of  their  high  birth,  they 
collected  their  friends,  and  fought  against  Amulius,  their  uncle,  and 
killed  him. 

Numitor,  after  an  exile  of  42  years,  was  then  called  to  the  throne 
again,  and  was  happy  to  owe  his  restoration  to  the  bravery  of  his 
grandsons.  Such  were  the  youths  who  were  destined  by  Provi- 
dence to  lay  the  foundation  of  a  city,  which  became  the  mistress  of 
the  world. 

Distinguished  characters  in  Period  V. 

1.  Solomon,  endowed  with  extraordinary  wisdom. 

2.  Homer,  the  greatest  of  the  Grecian  poets. 

3.  Ilesiod,  an  eminent  Greek  poet. 

4.  LycurgiiS)  a  reformer  of  the  Spartan  republic,  and  wise 
legislator. 

5.  Dido,  a  Tynan  princess,  who  founded  Carthage. 

6.  Isaiah,  the  greatest  of  the  prophetical  writers. 

§  1.  Solomon  \vas  the  son  of  David  by  Bathsheba.  He  succeeded 
David  in  the  kingdom  of  Israel.  He  was  the  wisest  of  mankind.  In 
parly  life  he  appeared  to  be  exemplary  in  piety,  but  was  afterwards 
guilty  of  great  defection  from  the  strictness  of  religion.  It  is  be- 
lieved, however,  that  he  did  not  die  an  apostate.  The  temple  which 
he  erected  at  Jerusalem  in  honour  of  the  God  of  Israel,  has  also  ren- 
dered his  name  immortal. 

He  wrote  the  books  of  Proverbs,  and  Ecclesiastes,  and  the  Canti- 
cles, all  inspired  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  He  died  975  years  B.  C.  aged 
58  years,  and  having  reigned  40  years. 

2.  Homer  was  not  only  the  greatest  of  the  Greek  poets,  but  the 
earliest  whose  works  have  survived  the  devastations  of  time.  On 
these  accounts  he  is  styled  the  father  of  poetry,  and  indeed,  so  far  as 
we  can  know  with  certainty,  he  is  the  most  ancient  of  all  profane 
classical  writers. 

The  place  of  his  nativity  is  unknown.  Seven  illustrious  cities 
contended  for  the  honour  of  having  given  him  birth.  His  parentage 


56  ANCIENT  HISTORY PERIOD  V. 

and  the  circumstances  of  his  life  are  also  unknown,  except  in  regard 
to  the  latter,  it  was  agreed  that  he  was  a  wandering  poet,  and  that 
he  was  blind. 

His  greatest  poems,  (and  they  are  among  the  greatest  of  uninspi- 
red books,)  are  the  Iliad  and  Odyssey.  Other  works  have  been  as- 
cribed to  him,  but  without  having  been  sufficiently  substantiated.  His 
poetry  is  characterized  by  sublimity,  fire,  sweetness,  elegance,  and 
universal  knowledge. 

The  poems  of  Homer  are  the  compositions  of  a  man,  who  travel- 
led and  examined,  with  the  most  critical  accuracy,  whatever  he  met  in 
his  way.  Modern  travellers  are  astonished  to  see  the  different  scenes 
which  his  pen  described,  almost  3000  years  ago,  still  appearing  the 
same ;  and  the  sailor  who  steers  his  course  along  the  ^Egean,  beholds 
all  the  promontories  and  rocks  which  presented  themselves  to  Nestor 
and  Menelaus,  when  they  returned  victorious  from  the  Trojan  war. 

The  first  appearance  of  Homer's  poems  in  Greece,  was  about  200 
years  after  the  supposed  time  of  the  bard.  Pisistratus,  tyrant  of 
Athens,  was  the  first  who  arranged  the  Iliad  and  Odyssey  in'tlie  form 
in  which  they  now  appear  to  us.  The  Arimdelian  marbles  fix  the 
period  in  which  he  flourished,  at  907  years  B.  C. 

3.  Jlesiod  is  generally  considered  as  having  been  a  contemporary 
of  Homer.  He  was  born  at  Ascra  in  Bceotia.  His  greatest  production 
was  a  poem  on  Agriculture,  which  contains  refined  moral  reflections, 
mingled  with  instructions  for  cultivating  fields. 

His  Theogony,  another  poem,  gives  a  faithful  account  of  the  god.s 
of  antiquity.  Hesiod  is  admired  for  elegance  and  sweetness.  Cicero 
highly  commends  him,  and  the  Greeks  were  so  partial  to  his  moral 
poetical  instructions,  that  they  required  their  children  to  learn  them 
all  by  heart. 

4.  Lycur£fu,s  flourished  about  884  years  B.  C.     He  was  regent  of 
Sparta,  until  Charilaus,  his  nephew,  "had  attained  to  mature  i  ears. 
Then  leaving  Sparta,  he  travelled  in  Asia  and  Egypt,  for  the  purpose 
of  improving  his  mind,  and  observing  the  manners,  customs,  and  po- 
litical institutions  of  different  nations. 

Upon  his  return,  he  reformed  the  abuses  of  the  state,  banishc;!  lux- 
ury, and  produced  a  system  which  gave  rise  to  all  the  magnanimity, 
fortitude,  and  intrepidity  which  distinguished  the  Lacedaemoniat 

Having  established  his  laws,  and  engaged  the  citizens  not  to  alter 
them  until  his  return,  he  left  his  country,  and,  by  a  voluntary  death, 
rendered  that  event  impossible  ;  thus  securing,  as  far  as  in  his  power, 
he  perpetuity  of  his  institutions. 

5.  Dido,   also  called   Elissa,  was  a  daughter  of  Bolus,  king  of 
Tyre,  an(i  married  her  uncle  Sichaeus.     Her  husband  having  been 
murdered  by  Pygmalion,  the  successor  of  Belus,  the  disconsolate 
princess,  with  a  number  of  Tyrians,  set  sail  in  quest  of  a  settlement. 
A  storm  drove  her  fleet  on  the  African  coast,  and  there  she  founded, 
or  enlarged  a  city,  that  became  much  celebrated  in  the  annals  of 
history. 

Her  beauty,  as  well  as  the  fame  of  her  enterprise,  gained  her 
many  admirers;  and  her  subjects  wished  to  compel  her  to  marry 


1004—752  B.  c.  5? 

larbas,  king  of  Mauritania,  by  whom  they  were  threatened  with  war. 
Dido  requested  three  months  for  consideration ;  and,  during  that 
time,  she  erected  a  funeral  pile,  as  if  wishing, 'by  a  solemn  sacrifice, 
to  appease  the  manes  of  Siehaeus,  to  whom  she  had  vowed  eternal 

fidelity. 

When  her  preparation  was  completed,  she  stabbed  herself  on  the 
pile,  in  presence  of  iier  people,  and  by  this  desperate  feat,  obtained 
the  name  of  Dido,  valiant  worn  an.  The  poets  have  made  ^Eneas  and 
Dido  contemporaneous,  but  this  is  only  a  fiction,  allowed  perhaps  by 
the  rules  of  their  art. 

6.  Isaiah  was  the  son  of  Amos,  and  of  the  lineage  of  David.  He 
prophesied  from  735  to  681  13.  C.  during  the  reigns  of  several  kings 
of  Judah.  lie  is  the  greatest  and  the  sublimest  of  the  prophets.  He 
reproved  the  sinners  of  his  day  with  boldness,  and  exposed  the  many 
vices  that  prevailed  in  the  nation.  He  is  called  the  evangelical  pro- 
phet, from  his  frequent  allusion  to,  and  prediction  of  Gospel  times. 
He  is  said  to  have  been  cut  in  two  with  a  wooden  saw,  by  the  cruel 
king  Manasseh. 


PERIOD   VI. 

The  period  of  the  Roman  kings,  extending  from  the 
founding  of  Rome,  752  years  B.  C.,  to  the  battle  of  Ma- 
rathon, 490  years  B.  C. 

ROMANS. 

SECT.  1.  Romulus  began  the  building  of  ROME  752  B.  C. 
His  brother  Remus  was  indeed  concerned  in  the  projected  un- 
dertaking, but  a  dispute  arising  between  the  brothers  respect- 
ing the  place  where  the  city  should  stand,  they  had  recourse 
to  arms  ;  in  consequence  of  which,  Remus  lost  his  life. 

Romulus,  only  18  years  of  age,  was  thus  left  to  pursue  the 
enterprise  alone.  On  the  Palatine  hill  he  fixed  as  the  spot, 
and  enclosing  about  a  mile  of  territory  in  compass,  with  a 
wall,  he  filled  it  with  1000  houses,  or  rather  huts.  To  this 
collection  he  gave  the  name  of  Rome  ;  and  he  peopled  it  with 
the  tumultuous  and  vicious  rabble,  which  he  found  in  the 
neighbourhood.  At  first  it  was  nearly  destitute  of  laws  ;  but 
it  soon  became  a  well  regulated  community. 

§  The  liberty  of  building  a  city  on  those  hills,  where  the  two  bro- 
thers had  fed  their  flocks,  was  granted  to  them  by  Numitor,  the  king. 
He  assigned  to  them  a  certain  territory,  and  permitted  such  of  his 
subjects  as  chose,  to  resort  thither  in  aid  of  the  work. 

A  division  taking  place,  in  regard  to  the  particular  spot  where  the 
city  should  stand,  Numitor  advised  them  to  watch  the  flight  of  birds, 


58  ANCIENT  HISTORY — PERIOD  VI. 

a  custom  common  in  that  age,  when  any  contested  point  was  to  be 
settled.  They  took  their  stations  on  different  hills.  .Remus  saw  six 
vultures ;  Romulus  twice  as  many  ;  so  that  each  one  thought  himself 
victorious — the  one  having  the  first  omen,  the  other  the  most  com- 
plete. 

A  contest  was  the  result ;  and  it  is  asserted  that  Rernus  was  killed 
by  the  hand  of  his  brother.  Jumping  contemptuously  over  the  city 
wall,  he  was  struck  dead  upon  the  spot  by  Romulus,  who  declared 
that  no  one  should  insult  his  rising  walls  with  impunity. 

2.  Romulus,  having  been  elected  king,  introduced  order 
and  discipline  among  his  subjects,  which  gradually  improved 
under  his  successors. 

He  adopted  many  important  regulations  respecting  the  go- 
vernment and  policy  of  his  newly  acquired  territory,  the  wis- 
dom of  which  has  been  sanctioned  by  time.  As  some  of 
these,  a,nd  other  institutions  that  were  afterwards  added,  are 
to  be  presented  under  the  General  "Views  in  this  work,  they 
need  not  here  be  given. 

3.  Under    the    salutary  regulations   of    Romulus,  great 
numbers  of  men,  from  the  small  towns  around  Rome,  flock- 
ed to  the  city,  and  every  day  it  increased  in  power  and  ex- 
tent.    The  most  important  event  under  the  administration 
of  Romulus,  was  the  Rape  of  the  Sabine  virgins,  by  which 
the  Romans  were  supplied  with  wives,  and  which  caused  the 
war  that  thence  ensued  between  the  Romans  and  Sabines. 

After  conquering  some  of  the  neighbouring  kings,  Romu- 
lus was  killed  (it  is  supposed)  by  the  Senators,  having  reigned 
37  years,  and  was  succeeded,  at  the  expiration  of  one  year, 
by  Numa  Pompilius,  a  Sabine,  the  wisest  and  best  of  the 
Roman  kings,  715  years  B.  C. 

§  In  the  want  of  women,  Romulus  proposed  intermarrages  with  the 
Sabines,  his  neighbours.  His  proposal,  however,  was?  rejected  with 
scorn.  He  then  tried  the  effect  of  intrigue  and  force.  Inviting  the 
neighbouring-  tribes  to  witness  some  magnificent  spectacle  in  the 
city,  he  had  the  pleasure  of  rinding  that  the  Sabines,  with  their  wives 
and  daughters,  were  among  the  foremost  to  be  present. 

At  the  proper  time,  the  Roman  youth  rushed  in  among  them  with 
drawn  swords,  seized  the  youngest  and  most  beautiful  of  the  women, 
and  carried  them  off  by  violence.  The  virgins,  at  first  offended  by 
the  boldness  of  the  intrusion,  at  length  became  reconciled  to  their  lot. 

The  Sabines,  as  might  be  expected,  resented  the  affront,  and  flew 
to  arms.  After  several  unfortunate  attempts  at  revenge,  the  Sabines, 
with  Tatius,  their  king,  at  their  head,  entered  the  Roman  territories, 
25,000  men  strong.  Having  by  stratagem  passed  into  the  city,  they 


752—490  B.  c.  59 

continued  the  war  at  pleasure.  At  length  the  Romans  and  Sabines 
prepared  for  a  general  engagement.  » 

In  the  midst  of  the  fight,  however,  the  Sabine  women  who  had 
been  carried  off  by  the  Romans,  rushed  in  between  the  combatants. 
"  If,"  cried  they,  "  any  must  die,  let  it  be  us,  who  are  the  cause  of 
your  animosity ;  since,  if  our  parents  or  our  husbands  fall,  we  must, 
in  either  case,  be  miserable  in  surviving  them." 

This  moving  spectacle  produced  an  effect.  An  accommodation 
ensued.  It  was  agreed  that  Tatius  and  Romulus  should  reign  jointly 
in  Rome ;  that  100  Sabines  should  be  admitted  into  the  senate ;  and 
that  the  privileges  of  Roman  citizens,  should  be  extended  to  such  of 
the  Sabines  as  chose  to  enjoy  them. 

Tatius  lived  but  five  years  after  this ;  and  Romulus,  taking  advan- 
tage of  this  event,  and  elated  by  prosperity,  invaded  the  liberty  of 
his  people.  The  senators  opposed  his  encroachments,  and  at  length, 
it  is  said,  tore  him  to  pieces  in  the  senate  house. 

When  the  throne  was  offered  to  Numa,  he  wished  to  decline  it ;  and 
it  was  not  until  his  friends  repeatedly  urged  him  to  accept  it,  that  he 
gave  up  his  own  wishes  to  theirs,  and  for  the  good  of  his  country 
consented  to  become  king  of  Rome. 

He  was  a  wise  and  virtuous  man,  and,  before  his  elevation  to  the 
throne,  lived  contentedly  in  privacy.  He  proved  excellent  as  a  mo- 
narch, and  reigned  43  years  in  profound  peace,  inspiring  his  subjects 
with  the  love  of  wisdom  and  virtue, 

He  multiplied  the  national  gods,  built  temples,  and  instituted  dif- 
ferent classes  of  priests,  and  a  great  variety  of  religious  ceremonies. 
The  Flamines  officiated  each  in  the  service  of  a  peculiar  deity;  the 
Salii  guarded  the  sacred  bucklers  ;  the  Vestals  cherished  the  sacred 
fire ;  the  Augurs  and  Aruspices  divined  future  events  from  the  flight 
of  birds,  and  the  entrails  of  victims. 

4.  The  third  king  of  Rome  was  Tullius  Hostilius,  who 
was  elected,  and  began  to  reign,  672  B.  C.  His  disposi 
tion  was  warlike.  He  subdued  the  Albans,  Fidemites,  and 
other  neighbouring  states.  The  Sabines,  now  disunited  from 
the  Roman?,  became 'their  most  powerful  enemy.  Tullius 
reigned  33  years,  and,  according  to  some  accounts,  he  was 
killed  by  lightning.  The  most  remarkable  event  during  the 
reign  of  Tullius,  was  the  combat  between  the  Horatii  and 
Curiatii. 

In  the  war  between  the  Romans  and  Albans,  as  their  armies  were 
about  to  engage,  the  Alban  general  proposed  that  the  dispute  should 
be  decided  by  single  combat,  and  that  the  side  whose  champion  was 
overcome,  should  submit  to  the  conqueror.  To  this  the  Roman  king 
acceded. 

It  happened  that  there  were  three  twin  brothers  in  each  army ; 
those  of  the  Romans  were  called  Horatii,  those  of  the  Albans,  Cu- 
riatii ;  all  remarkable  for  their  prowess.  To  these  the  combat  was 


60  ANCIENT  HISTORY PERIOD  VI. 

assigned.  The  armies  were  drawn  up  in  due  order,  and  the  brothers 
took  to  their  arms. 

The  signal  being  given,  the  youths  rushed  forward  to  the  encoun- 
ter. They  were  soon  engaged  hand  to  hand,  each  regardless  of  his 
own  safety,  seeking  only  the  destruction  of  his, opponent.  The  three 
Albans  were  severely  wounded,  and  loud  shouts  ran  along  the  Ro 
man  army.  In  a  few  seconds,  two  of  the  Romans  fell  and  expired. 
The  acclamations  were  heard  amid  the  Albans. 

The  surviving  Roman  now  saw  that  all  depended  on  him  ;  it  was 
an  awful  moment.  But  he  did  not  despair  ;  he  manfully  roused  his 
spirits  to  meet  the  exigence  of  the  occasion.  Knowing  that  force 
alone  could  not  avail,  he  had  recourse  to  art. 

He  drew  back,  as  if  flying  from  his  enemies.  Immediately  were 
heard  the  hisses  of  the  Romans.  But  Horatius  had  the  felicity  to 
witness  what  he  wished.  The  wounded  Curiatii,  pursuing  him  at 
unequal  distances,  were  divided.  Turning  upon  the  nearest  pursuer, 
he  laid  him  dead  at  his  feet.  The  second  brother  advancing,  soc-n 
shared  the  same  fate. 

Only  one  now  remained  on  each  side.  The  hisses  of  the  Romans 
were  turned  into  cheerings.  But  what  was  their  exultation  when 
they  saw  the  last  of  the  Curiatii  stretched  lifeless  on  the  ground  ! 

What  followed,  it  is  painful  to  relate.  When  Horatius  readied 
Rome,  he  saw  his  sister  bitterly  lamenting  the  death  of  the  Curiatii, 
one  of  whom  she  was  engaged  to  marry.  In  the  dreadful  moment 
of  ungovcrned  rage,  he  killed  her  on  the  spot. 

Horatius  was  condemned  to  die  for  his  crime,  but  making  his  ap- 
peal to  the  people,  he  was  pardoned,  though  his  laurels  and  his  cha- 
racter were  forever  tarnished. 

5.  Rome  was  governed  by  four  other  kings,  in  succession, 
v.iz.  Ancius  Martins,  Tarquinius  Prisons,  Servius  Tullius,  and 
Tarquinins  Superbus. 

Ancns  inherited  the  virtues  of  his  grandfather,  Numa,  and 
was,  besides,  a  warrior;  Tarquin  enriched  Rome  with  mag- 
nilicent  works :  Servius  ruled  with  political  wisdom  ;  but 
Tarquin  the  Proud  pursued  a  course  of  systematic  tyranny. 
With  him  ended  the  monarchical  form  of  government  at  Rome, 
509  years  B.  C. 

§  Servius  married  his  two  daughters  to  the  two  sons  of  Tarquin, 
and  then  having  established  good  government,  was  preparing  to  qu 
tiie  throne  and  live  in  peace  and  retirement.     But  these  intentions 
were  frustrated. 

Tullia,  one  of  his  daughters,  preferred  her  sister's  husband  to  her 
own,  and  he  was  disposed  to  reciprocate  so  vile  an  attachment.     To 
answer  their  base  purposes,  they  both  killed  their  respective  partners. 
As  one  wickedness  too  surely  paves  the  way  for  another,  these  flagi 
tious  wretches  next  plotted  the  death  of  Servius. 

It  will  be  read  with  horror,  that  not  only  did  the  cruel  Tullia  re- 
joice, when  she  heard  that  Tarquinius  had  murdered  her  father,  but 


752— 490  B   c.  Gi 

that  when  she  rode  forth  in  her  chariot,  to  congratulate  the  base  mur- 
derer, she  would  not  permit  her  coachman  to  indulge  even  his  hu- 
manity, who  seeing  the  bleeding  body  of  Servius  lying  in  the  street, 
was  about  to  turn  down  another  road,  thinking,  very  rationally,  that 
his  mistress  would  be  shocked  to  behold  the  mangled  corpse  of  her 
old  father. 

Tullia  had  expelled  from  her  heart  all  natural  feeling,  and  per- 
ceiving the  hesitation  of  the  coachman,  angrily  bade  the  man  drive 
on ;  he  did  so,  and  the  chariot-wheels  of  .the  daughter's  car  wer 
stained  with  the  blood  of  her  gray-haired  father. 

Tarquin,  surnamed  the  proud,  upon  this  event,  was  made  king ; 
but  though  at  first  he  ingratiated  himself  with  the  lower  classes  of 
the  people,  yet  by  his  oppressive  and  tyrannical  conduct,  he  at  length 
became  an  object  of  universal  detestation.  His  son  Sextus  having 
greatly  indulged  in  detestable  vices,  became  the  occasion  of  his  own 
and  the  king's  ruin. 

This  prince,  and  Collatinus  a  noble  Roman,  and  some  officers, 
when  with  the  army  besieging  Ardea,  a  small  town  not  far  from 
Rome,  in  the  height  of  a  debauch,  were  boasting  what  excellent 
wives  each  possessed.  Collatinus  was  certain  that  his  was  the  best ; 
in  their  merriment,  the  young  men  mounted  their  horses,  and  set  oit 
for  Rome,  to  discover  whose  wife  was  most  properly  employed  in 
the  absence  of  her  husband. 

The  ladies  were  all  found  visiting  and  passing  the  time  in  amuse- 
ment and  mirth,  except  Lucretia,  the  wife  of  Collatinus.  She  was 
industriously  spinning  wool  among  her  maidens  at  home.  Sextus 
was  so  taken  with  the  good  sense  and  right  behaviour  of  Lucretia, 
that  he  fell  in  love  with  her,  and  wished  her  tcf  quit  her  husband, 
indulging  at  the  same  time  the  most  unwarrantable  designs. 

Lucretia,  shocked  at  his  vile  proposals,  and  unable  to  survive  her 
dishonour,  killed  herself  for  grief,  which  so  distracted  Collatinus,  that 
with  Junius  Brutus,  and  other  friends,  he  raised  an  army,  and  drove 
Sextus  and  his  infamous  father  from  Rome.  The  people  had  suffer- 
ed so  much  under  the  tyranny  of  this  king,  that  they  resolved  that 
he  should  never  come  back,  and  that  they  would  have  no  more  kings. 

The  cause  of  the  interest  which  Brutus  took  in  the  death  of  Lu- 
cretia, was  the  following.  His  father  and  eldest  brother  had  been 
slain  by  Tarquin,  and  unable  to  avenge  their  death,  he  pretended  to 
be  insane.  The  artifice  saved  his  life ;  he  was  called  Brutus  for  his 
stupidity.  When  the  infamous  deed  of  the  Tarquins  was  done,  arid 
the  catastrophe  which  ensued  was  known,  he  seized  the  occasion  of 


revenge. 


Snatching  the  dagger  from  the  wound  of  the  bleeding  Lucretia,  he 
swore  upon  the  reeking  blade,  immortal  hatred  to  the  royal  family. 
"  Be  witness,  ye  gods,"  he  cried,  "  that  from  this  moment  I  proclaim 
myself  the  avenger  of  the  chaste  Lucretia's  cause,"  &c.  This  energy 
of  speech  and  action,  in  one  who  had  been  reputed  a  fool,  astonished 
Rome,  and  every  patriot's  arm  was  nerved  against  Tarquin  and  his 
adherents — against  Tarquin  and  royalty, 

•  F 


63  ANCIENT  HISTORY — PERIOD  YI. 

6.  From  a  monarchy,  Rome  now  became  a  republic,  wilh 
a  gradual  increase  of  the  power  of  the  people  from  time  to 
time.  At  jirst  the  nobles  had  much  the  largest  share  in  the 
government.  The  supreme  authority  was  committed  to  two 
magistrates,  chosen  from  the  patrician  order  every  year,  who 
were  named  consuls.  Their  power  wras  nearly  or  quite  equal 
to  that  of  the  kings,  only  it  was  temporary.  Brutus  and 
Collatinus  were  the  first  consuls,  who,  with  several  of  their 
successors,  were  engaged  in  hostility  with  the  banished  kinq;. 

§  Tarquin,  after  his  expulsion,  took  refuge  in  Etruria,  where  lie 
enlisted  two  of  the  most  powerful  cities,  Venii  and  Tarquinii,  to  es- 
pouse his  cause.  At,  Rome  also  he  had  adherents.  A  conspiracy 
having  been  formed  to  open  the  gates  of  the  city  to  him,  the  republic 
was  on  the  eve  of  ruin. 

It  was  however  discovered  in  season,  and  the  two  sons  of  Brutus 
aaving  been  concerned  in  it,  he  sternly  ordered  them  to  be  beheaded 
in  his  presence.  He  put  off  the  father,  and  acted  only  the  consul — a 
dreadful  necessity. 

Some  time  after,  in  a  combat  between  the  Romans  and  Tarquins, 
Brutus  engaged  with  Anms,  son  of  Tarquin,  and  so  fierce  was  the 
attack,  that  they  both  fell  dead  together.  Brutus  was  honoured  as 
the  father  of  the  republic. 

Tarquin  now  fled  for  aid  to  Porsenna,  king  of  Cmsium,  who  ad- 
vanced with  a  large  army  to  Rome,  and  had  nearly  entered  it.  The 
valour  of  one  man  saved  the  city.  Horatius  Codes,  seeing  the  ene- 
my approach  the  bridge  where  he  stood  sentinel,  and  observing  the 
retreat  of  the  Romans,  besought  them  to  assisuhim.  He  told  them  to 
burn  or  break  down  the  bridge  behind  him,  whilst  he  went  forward 
to  keep  back  the  enemy. 

He  then  remained  alone  fighting  in  the  midst  of  his  enemies,  and 
when  he  heard  the  crash  of  the  bridge  and  the  shouts  of  the  Romans, 
knowing  that  no  way  of  entrance  was  left  for  the  foe,  he  jumped  .into 
the  river  and  swam  over  to  his  friends  in  safety. 

In  the  war  with  Porsenna  occurred  another  remarkable  incident. 

Mutius  Scoevola,  a  noble  young  Roman,  upon  leave  obtained  of  the 
senate,  disguised  himself,  and  entered  the  tent  of  Porsenna.  There  lie 
saw  a  man  so  richly  drest  that  he  thought  he  was  the  king,  whom  he 
contrived  to  kill,  but  it  was  only  the  king's  secretary. 

While  endeavouring  to  quit  the  camp,  Mutius  was  seized  and  car- 
ried before  Porsenna,  who  told  him  he  would  severely  torture  him  if 
he  did  not  betray  the  schemes  of  the  Romans.  Mutius  only  answered 
by  putting  his  hand  into  one  of  the  fires  lighted  near  him,  and  hold- 
ing it  steadily  there. 

The  king,  seeing  the  courage  and  fortitude  of  this  youth,  leaped 
from  his  throne,  and  drawing  the  hand  of  Mutius  from  the  flame, 
highly  praised  him,  and  dismissed  him  without  farther  harm.  Peace 
was  soon  concluded  upon  this  incident. 


752—490  B.  c.  63 

7.  The  Latins,  excited  by  Mamilius,  Tarquin's  son-in- 
law,  declared  war  against  the  Romans,  501  years  B.  C.  The 
common  people,  oppressed  by  the  patrician  order,  had  become 
disaffected,  and  refused  to  enlist  into  the  service.  In  this 
crisis,  the  Romans  resorted  to  the  desperate  measure  of  having 
a  dictator,  a  magistrate  with  unlimited  authority,  for  the  pe- 
riod of  six  months.  This  was  an  effectual  resort  in  times  of 
danger. 

A  few  years  after,  the  people,  supposing  their  grievances 
riot  sufficiently  redressed,  rose  in  general  insurrection,  when 
the  senate  consented  to  create  five  new  magistrates,  called 
tribunes,  who  were  to  be  annually  selected  by  the  people. 

These  were  to  be  sacred  ;  their  office  was  to  defend  the 
oppressed,  pardon  offenders,  arraign  the  enemies  of  the  peo- 
ple, and,  if  necessary,  stop  the  whole  machine  of  government. 
They  were  afterwards  increased  to  ten.  The  popular  or  de- 
mocratic constitution  of  Rome  may  be  dated  from  this  period, 
490  years  B.  C. 

About  this  time,  Coriolanus,  a  patrician  and  able  warrior, 
being  banished  from  Rome,  for  proposing  the  abolition  of  .the 
tribunate,  retired  to  the  Volsci,  among  whom  he  raised  an 
army,  and  advanced  to  besiege  Rome.  Attacking  the  city, 
he  would  probably  have  conquered  it,  but  he  was  turned  from 
his  purpose  by  the  prayers  and  tears  of  his  mother,  wife,  and 
children. 

§  A  few  particulars  respecting  Coriolanus  must  here  be  related. 
Passing  over  the  circumstances  of  his  banishment,  we  find  that  upon 
his  entrance  into  the  territory  of  the  Volsci,  he  met  a  most  friendly 
reception  from  Tullus  Aufidius,  a  mortal  enemy  to  Rome. 

Having  advised  this  prince  to  make  war  against  the  Romans,  he 
marched  at  the  head  of  the  Volsci,  as  general.  The  approach  of 
Coriolanus,  at  the  head  of  so  powerful  an  enemy,  greatly  alarmed 
the  Romans,  who  sent  him  several  embassies  to  reconcile  him  to  hi? 
country,  and  to  solicit  his  return.  He  was  deaf  to  all  proposals  ;  and 
though  each  successive  embassy  was  made  more  and  more  solemn 
and  urgent,  he  bade  them  prepare  for  war. 

At  Rome,  all  was  now  confusion  and  consternation.  The  republic- 
was  nearly  given  up  for  lost.  Coriolanus  had  pitched  his  camp  at 
only  a  very  short  distance  from  the  city.  As  a  last  resort,  it  was 
suggested,  that  possibly  his  wife  or  mother  might  effect  what  the 
senate  and  the  ministers  of  religion  could  not. 

Accordingly  his  mother,  Veturia,  and  his  wife,  Vergilia,  with  his 
children,  and  the  principal  matrons  of  the  city,  undertook  the  Ip^t 
embassy.  The  meeting  of  Coriolanus  and  this  train,  was  in  the h'gh- 


64  ANCIENT  HISTORY PERIOD  VI. 

est  degree  tender  and  affecting.  In  the  sternness  of  his  soul  he  had 
resolved  to  give  them  a  denial ;  but  the  authority  of  a  mother,  and 
the  entreaties  of  a  wife  and  of  children,  must  be  listened  to. 

"My  son,"  cried  his  mother,  "how  am  I  to  consider  this  meeting'/ 
Do  I  embrace  my  son  or  my  enemy?  Am  I  your  mother  or  your 
captive  ?  How  have  I  lived  to  see  this  day — to  see  my  son  a  banished 
man — and  still  more  distressful,  to  see  him  the  enemy  of  his  coun- 
try ?  how  has  he  been  able  to  turn  his  arms  against  the  place  that 
gave  him  life — how  direct  his  rage  against  those  walls  that  protect 
liis  wife,  his  children,  and  his  gods  ?  But  it  is  to  me  only  that  my 
country  owes  her  oppressor.  Had  I  never  been  a  mother,  Rome  had 
still  been  free." 

With  these  and  similar  words,  and  with  the  tears  and  entreaties  of 
his  wife  and  children,  his  stern  and  obstinate  resolutions  were  over- 
come. He  was  melted  under  them,  and  the  feelings  of  a  man  rose 
superior  to  the  honour  of  a  soldier  and  the  vengeance  of  a  foe.  The 
Volsci  were  marched  from  the  neighbourhood  of  Rome,  but  the  event 
fulfilled  the  sad  prediction  which  he  addressed  to  his  mother,  in  re- 
ply— a  prediction  which  only  a  Roman  mother  could  hear — "  O  my 
mother,  thou  hast  saved  Rome,  but  lost  thy  son." 

The  act  of  Coriolanus,  of  course,  displeased  the  Volsci.  He  was 
summoned  to  appear  before  the  people  of  Antium :  but  the  clamours 
which  his  enemies  raised  were  so  'prevalent,  that  he  was  murdered 
on  the  spot  appointed  for  his  trial.  His  body  was  honoured,  never- 
theless, with  a  magnificent  funeral  by  the  Volsci,  and  the  Roman  ma- 
trons put  on  mourning  for  his  loss. 

To  show  their  sense  of  Veturia's  merit  and  patriotism,  the  Romans 
dedicated  a  temple  to  Female  Fortune. 

GREECE. 

8.  GREECE,  during  this  period,  underwent  several  changes. 
After  trie  institutions  of  Lycurgus  had  been  a  number  of 
years  in  successful  operation,  those  of  Athens  began  to  re- 
ceive attention  from  some  of  their  wise  men.  The  office  ot 
archon  had  become  decennial,  at  the  beginning  of  this  pe- 
riod. 

In  648  B.  C.  the  archons  were  elected  annually,  were 
nine  in  number,  and  all  had  equal  authority.  Under  these 
changes  the  people  became  miserable,  and  a  reform  was  at- 
tempted, first  by  Draco,  and  150  years  afterwards  by  the  illus- 
trious Solon,  594  years  B.  C.  At  the  request  of  the  citizens, 
they  each  furnished,  during  his  archonship,  a  written  code 
for  the  regulation  of  the  state. 

§  Draco  was  a  wise  and  honest,  but  a  very  stern  man.  His  laws 
were  characterized  by  extreme  severity.  Very  trifling  offences  were 
punished  with  death,  "  because,"  said  Draco,  "  small  crimes  deserve 
death,  and  I  have»no  greater  punishment  for  the  greatest  sins,"- 
plan  ill  adapted  to  the  state  nf  human  society. 


752—490  B.  c.  65 

Solon  was  one  of  the  seven  wise  men  of  Greece.  He  established 
excellent  rules  of  justice,  order,  and  discipline.  But,  though  possess- 
ed of  extensive  knowledge,  he  wanted  a  firm  and  intrepid  mind ;  and 
he  rather  accommodated  his  system  to  the  habits  and  passions  of  his 
countrymen,  than  attempted  to  reform  their  manners. 

He  cancelled  the  bloody  code  of  Draco,  except  the  laws  which  re- 
lated to  murder ;  and  he  abolished  the  debts  of  the  poor  by  an  act  of 
insolvency.  He  divided  the  Athenians  into  fojp  classes,  of  which  the 
three  first  consisted  of  persons  possessing  property,  and  the  fourth  of 
those  who  were  poor. 

All  the  offices  of  the  state  were  committed  to  the  care  of  the  rich ; 
but  those  who  possessed  no  property,  were  allowed  to  vote  in  the 
general  assembly  of  the  people,  in  whose  hands  he  lodged  the  su- 
preme power. 

He  instituted  a  senate,  composed  of  400  persons,  (afterwards  in- 
creased to  500  and  600,)  who  had  cognisance  of  all  appeals  from  the 
court  of  Areopagus,  and  with  whom  it  was  necessary  that  every 
measure  should  originate  before  it  was  discussed  in  the  assembly  of 
the  people.  In  this  way  he  sought  to  balance  the  weight  of  the  po- 
pular interest. 

Solon  committed  the  supreme  administration  of  justice  to  the 
court  of  Areopagus.  This  court  had  fallen  into  disrepute,  but  So- 
lon, by.  confining  its  numbers  to  those  who  had  been  archons,  great- 
ly raised  the  reputation  of  the  body. 

The  following  anecdote  of  Solon  and  Thespis  is  worthy  of  remem- 
brance. Thespis  was  an  actor  of  plays.  Solon  having  at  one  time 
attended  those  shows,  which  were  then  very  rude,  called  Thespis, 
who  had  been  acting  various  characters,  and  asked  him  if  he  was 
not  ashamed  to  speak  so  many  lies  ? 

Thespis  replied,  "  It  was  all  in  jest."  Solon,  striking  his  staff  on 
the  ground,  violently  exclaimed,  "If  we  encourage  ourselves  to  speak 
falsely  in  jest,  we  shall  run  the  chance  of  acquiring  a  habit  of  speak- 
ing falsely  in  serious  matters."  Such  a  sentiment  is  worthy  of  the 
wisdom  of  Solon. 

9.  Scarcely  had  Athens  begun  to  enjoy  the  benefit  of 
these  new  regulations,  when  Pisistratus,  a  rich  and  ambi- 
tious citizen,  usurped  the  supreme  power,  (B.  C.  560,)  which 
act  Solon  was  unable  to  prevent.  He  and  his  posterity  exer- 
cised it  during  50  years. 

Hippias  and  Hipparchus,  his  sons,  who  succeeded  him,  en- 
joyed a  peaceable  crown  for  a  time,  but  were  at  length  de- 
throned, and  democracy  was  restored. 

§  Pisistratus  secured  the  favour  of  the  people  by  the  following  ex- 
pedient. Wounding  himself,  he  ran  into  the  market  place,  and  pro- 
claimed that  his  enemies  had  inflicted  the  injury.  Solon,  with  con- 
tempt, said  to  him,  "  Son  of  Hippocrates,  you  act  Ulysses  badly :  he 
hurt  himself  to  deceive  his  enemies ;  you  have  done  so  to  cheat  your 
friends." 

F2 


66  ANCIENT  HISTORY — PERIOD  VI. 

The  populace,  as  is  generally  the  case,  being  deaf  to  the  voice  of 
reason,  Pisistratus  became  tyrant,  or  king  of  Athens.  He  secured 
the  affections  of  the  people  by  his  splendour  and  munificence.  He 
was  eminent  for  his  love  of  learning,  and  the  fine  arts.  He  adorned 
Athens  with  many  magnificent  buildings. 

The  restoration  of  democracy  was  undertaken  by  Harmodius  and 
Aristogiton,  who  were  citizens  in  middle  life.  They  succeeded 
eventually,  though  %py  both  lost  their  lives  in  the  attempt.  Aristo- 
giton was  previously  tortured,  having  fallen  into  the  hands  of  Hip- 
pias.  By  the  aid  of  the  Lacedaemonians  the  object  was  accomplish- 
ed, and  Hippias.  who  at  first  escaped  the  fate  of  his  brother,  was  at 
length  dethroned. 

Passing  into  Asia,  he  solicited  foreign  aid  to  place  him  in  the  so- 
vereignty. Darius  at  this  time  meditated  the  conquest  of  Greece. 
Hippias  took  advantage  of  the  views  of  an  enemy  against  his  native 
country,  and  Greece  soon  became  involved  in  a  war  with  Persia. 

10.  Under  the  institutions  of  Lycurgus  the  Spartans  had 
become  a  race  of  warriors.     Being  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Messenia,  they  were  almost  constantly  at   war   with   thai 
state.     The  first  Messeman  war  began  743  years  B.  C.  and 
lasted  1 9  years.     There  were  two  other  periods  of  conten- 
tion between  Sparta  and  Messenia,  but  the  latter  was  final- 
ly subdued.     The  territory  was  seized  and  its  inhabitants 
were  enslaved. 

§  During  one  of  these  wars,  the  Lacedaemonians,  it  is  said,  bound 
themselves  by  oath  not  to  return  home  till  they  had  conquered  the 
Messenians.  Despairing,  however,  of  ever  returning,  they  sent  or- 
ders to  the  women  of  Sparta  to  recruit  the  population,  by  promiscu- 
ous intercourse  with  the  young  men,  who  being  children  when  the 
war  began,  had  not  taken  the  oath. 

The  offspring  of  this  singular  and  improper  order  were  denomina- 
ted Partheniae,  or  Sons  of  Virgins. 

ISRAELITES. 

11.  The  kingdom  of  ISRAEL,  towards  the  beginning  of 
the  present  period,  (721  B.  C.)  was  subverted  by  Salmana- 
zar king  of  Assyria,  or  Nineveh.     The  Israelites  were  car- 
ried captive  to  Assyria,  whence  they  never  returned.     This 
event  occurred  during  the  reign  of  Hosea,  their  last  king. 

§  Hosea  had  reigned  nine  years,  when  Salmanazar  made  him  tribu- 
tary. But  Hosea  having  revolted,  the  Assyrian  king  besieged  Sama- 
ria, the  capital  of  the  ten  tribes,  and  after  three  years  took  and  plun- 
dered it. 

Except  a  few,  who  remained  in  Canaan,  the  Israelites  were  disper- 
sed throughout  Assyria,  and  lost  their  distinctive  character.  Those 
who  remained  in  their  native  country  became  intermixed  with  stran- 
gers. The  descendants  of  these  mingled  races  were  afterwards 
known  by  the  name  of  Samaritans. 


752—490  B.  c.  67 

\ 

Thus,  in  a  little  more  than  two  centuries  after  the  separation  of  the 
(en  tribes  from  those  of  Judah  and  Benjamin,  were  they  destroyed 
as  a  nation,  having,  on  account  of  their  great  sins,  previously  suffered 
an  awful  series  of  calamities. 

JEWS. 

12.  The  kingdom  of  JUDAH  from  the  commencement  of 
this  period  enjoyed  but  a  doubtful  existence.     It  was  invaded 
at  different  times  by  the  Babylonians,  rendered  tributary,  and 
finally  subdued. 

Nebuchadnezzar,  within  115  years  after  the  destruction,  of 
Samaria,  took  Jerusalem,  and  razed  the  city  and  its  temple 

to  its  foundations. 

§  During  the  latter  part  of  the  kingdom  of  Judah,  the  greater  por 
lion  of  its  kings  were  impious.    Two  or  three  of  them,  however, 
were  eminently  religious.    Such  were  Hezekiah  and  Josiah.    They 
were  both  of  them  reformers,  and  destroyed  the  altars  of  idolatry. 

The  idolatry  of  Ahaz  was  punished  by  the  captivity  of  200,000  of 
his  subjects,  though  they  were  afterwards  sent  back  upon  the  remon- 
strance of  the  prophet  Obed.  Manasseh^an  impious  and  cruel  prince, 
was  carried  to  Babylon,  bound  with  fetters.  This  affliction,  becom- 
ing the  means  of  his  repentance,  God  heard  his  supplications,  and 
brought  him  again  into  his  kingdom. 

13.  Under  Jehoiachin,  who  was  carried  captive  to  Baby 
Ion,  together  with  his  people,  commenced  the  Seventy  years 
Captivity  of  the  Jews,  606  B.   C.      The  king  was  after- 
wards released,  but  remained  tributary  to  the  king  of  Baby 
Ion.  ; 

§  In  the  reign  of  Zedekiah,  the  next  but  one  in  succession  after  Je- 
hoiachin, Jerusalem  was  taken  by  the  Babylonians,  and  entirely  de- 
molished. Zedekiah,  after  seeing  all  his  children  slain,  had  his  eyes 
put  out,  and  was  brought  in  fetters  to  Babylon. 

14.  The  Jews  having  been  in  captivity  to  the  Babylo- 
nians just  70  years,  were  permitted,  by  Cyrus,  king  of  Persia., 
to  return  to  their  native  land,  536  years  B.  C.     This  was 
accomplished  under  the  direction  of  Zerubbabel  and  Joshua, 
their  leaders. 

They  soon  began  the  rebuilding  of  the  temple,  but  their 
enemies  prevented  them  from  making  any  progress.  Seve- 
ral years  afterwards  they  commenced  the  work  anew,  and 
i»mpVted  it  in  the  space  of  four  years,  516  B.  C.  Upon 
thu--  event  they  celebrated  the  first  passover. 

§  The  return  of  the  Jews  from  their  captivity  happened  the  first 
year  of  Cyrus,  who,  as  we  shall  soon  learn,  had  conquered  Babylon, 
and  terminated  the  Babylonian  empire. 

The  influence  of  adversity  on  many  01  the  Jews,  seems  to  have 


68  ANCIENT  HISTORY — PERIOD  VI. 

been  very  favorable  on  this  occasion.  It  brought  them  to  repent- 
ance, and  engaged  them  in  the  worship  and  ordinances  of  their  re- 
ligion. The  vessels  of  the  temple,  which  Nebuchadnezzar  had 
brought  with  him  from  Jerusalem,  were  all  restored  by  the  Persian 
monarch. 

NINEVEH. 

15.  Of  the  three  kingdoms  into  which  the  ancient  Assy- 
rian empire  was  divided  upon  the  death  of  Sardanapalus, 
NINEVEH  or  Assyria  comes  first  in  order.     Its  first  king  is 
supposed  to  have  been  Tiglath  Pileser,  747  B.  C.     A  few 
of  his  successors,  during  this  period,  were  Salmanazar,  Sen 
nacherib,  Esarhaddon,  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  Belshazzar. 

Under  the  last  of  these  kings  the  kingdom  of  Nineveh  end 
ed.     Babylon,  its  capital,  was  taken  by  Cyaxares  II.  aided 
by  Cyrus,  and  Belshazzar  was  killed,  538  years  B.  0. 

§  Salmanazar  was  the  sovereign  mentioned  above,  in  the  history  of 
the  Israelites.  He  destroyed  the  kingdom  of  the  Ten  Tribes. 

Of  Sennacherib  it  is  recorded  in  his  war  with  the  Jews,  that  having 
written  a  letter  to  Hezekiah  full  of  blasphemy  against  the  God  of  Is- 
rael, God,  in  order  to  punish  him,  when  he  was  just  ready  to  take  Je- 
rusalem, sent  an  angel,  who  in  one  night  smote  185,000  men  of  his 
army. 

Covered  with  shame,  he  returned  to  his  own  country,  and  there 
his  two  eldest  sons  conspired  against  and  killed  him  in  the  temple  of 
Nisroch. 

About  108  years  after  this  prince,  Nebuchadnezzar  began  to  reign 
over  the  kingdom  of  Nineveh.  He  signalized  his  reign  by  many  con- 
quests, particularly  of  Syria,  Palestine,  and  Egypt. 

His  heart  being  elated  with  success,  God,  to  punish  him  for  his 
pride,  reduced  him  to  such  a  state  of  insanity,  that,  wandering  in  the 
forests,  he  lived  upon  grass,  like  a  wild  beast.  He  recovered  twelve 
months  before  his  death,  and,  by  a  solemn  edict,  published  through- 
out the  whole  of  his  dominions  the  astonishing  things  that  God  had 
wrought  in  him. 

Labynit,  or  the  scripture  Belshazzar,  became  peculiarly  infamous, 
by  profanely  using  the  holy  vessels  which  Nebuchadnezzar  had 
brought  out  of  the  spoils  of  the  temple.  He  was  at  length  besieged 
by  Cyaxares  II.  king  of  the  Medes,  in  conjunction  with  Cyrus. 

During  the  siege  he  made  a  great  entertainment  for  his  whole  court 
on  a  certain  night;  but  their  joy  was  greatly  disturbed  by  a  vision, 
and  still  more  by  the  explanation  which  Daniel,  the  prophet,  a  Jew- 
ish captive,  gave  of  it  to  the  king,  that  his  kingdom  was  taken  from 
him,  and  delivered  to  the  Medes  and  Persians.  That  very  night 
Babvlon  was  taken  and  Belshazzar  killed. 

BABYLON. 

16.  BABYLON,  the  next  kingdom  in  order  of  the  second  em- 


752—490  B.  c.  69 

pire  of  Assyria,  continued  separate  not  quite  70  years.  Na- 
bonassar  was  its  first  king.  After  a  few  successive  reigns, 
and  interregnums,  it  was  subdued  by  Esarhaddon,  one  of  the 
kings  of  Nineveh,  and  annexed  to  his  dominions,  680  B.  C. 
§  The  famous  astronomical  epocha  at  Babylon,  called  the  era  of 
Nabonassar,  commenced  from  the  reign  of  this  prince.  We  are  un- 
acquainted with  the  history  of  his  successors,  only  Merodach  seems 
to  be  the  same  prince  who  sent  ambassadors  to  Hezekiah,  to  congra- 
tulate him  on  the  recovery  of  his  health. 

MEDES. 

17.  The  last  in  order  of  the  kingdoms  that  constituted 
the  second  empire  of  Assyria  was  that  of  the  MEDES.  After 
the  destruction  of  the  first  Assyrian  empire,  the  Medes  enjoy- 
ed for  some  time  the  liberty  they  had  acquired  by  their  va- 
lour. They  formed  a  republic ;  but  anarchy  having  prevailed, 
they  elected  a  king  after  37  years. 

Dejoces,  the  first  king,  was  elected  690  years  B.  C.  The 
fourth  king  after  him,  viz.  Cyaxares  II.  or  Darius  the  Mede, 
having  with  his  nephew,  Cyrus,  conquered  Babylon,  reigned 
over  it  two  years  in  conjunction  with  Cyrus ;  after  which  the 
kingdom  of  the  Medes,  and  indeed  the  \vhole  Assyrian  em- 
pire, was  united  to  that  of  Persia,  536  years  B.  C. 

§  The  Medes  are  supposed  to  be  the  descendants  of  Madai,  the  third 
son  of  Japhet,  from  whom  they  derived  their  name.  They  seem  to 
have  been  independent  tribes  at  first,  and  not  to  have  been  united 
under  one  monarchy  till  the  time  of  Dejoces. 

They  were  governed  by  petty  princes,  and  some  are  of  opinion, 
that  one  of  the  four  kings,  who  in  the  time  of  Abraham,  invaded  the 
southern  coast  of  Canaan,  reigned  in  Media.  They  were  first  brought 
into  subjection  to  the  Assyrian  yoke  by  Ninus. 

Some  time  after  they  had  shaken  off  this  yoke,  they  were  govern- 
ed by  kings  of  their  own,  who  became  absolute,  and  were  controlled 
by  no  law.  Of  Dejoces  it  is  recorded,  that  he  no  sooner  ascended 
the  throne,  than  he  endeavoured  to  civilize  and  polish  his  subjects. 
He  built  the  beautiful  city  of  Ecbatana,  and  made  it  the  capital  of  his 
empire. 

He  then  contrived  a  code  of  laws  for  the  good  of  the  state,  and  cau- 
sed them  to  be  strictly  obeyed.  In  a  war  with  Nebuchadnezzar  I. 
his  capital  was  plundered,  and  stripped  of  all  its  ornaments,  and 
falling  into  the  conqueror's  hands,  he  was  cruelly  shot  to  death  with 
arrows. 

Phraortes,  his  successor,  was  much  more  fortunate,  and  conquered 
almost  all  upper  Asia.  Cyaxares  I.  a  brave  prince,  made  war  upon 
the  kingdom  of  Nineveh,  to  avenge  the  wrongs  inflicted  by  Nebu- 
chadnezzar. A  battle  ensued,  in  which  the  Ninevitea  or  Assyrians 


70  ANCIENT    HISTORY — PERIOD    VI. 

were  defeated ;  but  a  formidable  army  of  the  Scythians  having  invaded 
Media,  Cyaxares  marched  with  all  his  forces  against  them. 

The  Medes,  however,  were  vanquished,  and  obliged  to  make  an 
alliance  with  the  Scythians,  who  settled  in  Media,  where  they  re- 
mained for  28  years.  Finding  that  they  could  not  get  rid  of  their 
troublesome  guests  by  force,  they  effected  it  by  stratagem.  The 
Scythians  being  invited  to  a  general  feast,  which  was  given  in  every 
family,  each  landlord  made  his  guest  drunk,  and  in  that  condition 
massacred  him. 

After  this  event,  Cyaxares  entered  into  a  war  with  the  Lydians. 
This  war  continued  five  years.  The  battle  fought  in  the  fifth  year, 
was  remarkable  on  account  of  a  total  eclipse  of  the  sun,  which  hap- 
pened during  the  engagement,  and  which  was  foretold  by  Thales,  the 
philosopher. 

The  Medes  and  Lydians,  equally  terrified,  immediately  retreated, 
and  soon  after  concluded  a  peace.  Two  more  princes  succeeded,  viz. 
Astyages  and  Cyaxares  II.  Astyages  married  his  daughter  to  Cam- 
byses,  king  of  Persia,  of  which  marriage  Cyrus  was  the  issue.  After 
the  death  of  Cyaxares,  Cyrus  united  the  kingdoms  of  the  Medes  and 
Persians. 

PERSIA. 

18.  From  the  days  of  Cyras  the  Great,  536  years  B.  C. 
the  PERSIAN  empire  holds  a  distinguished  place  in  ancient 
history.  It  was  originally  of  small  extent,  and  almost  un- 
known ;  but  after  being  founded  by  Cyrus,  it  included  all 
India,  Assyria,  Media,  and  Persia,  and  the  parts  adjoining  to 
the  Euxine  and  Caspian  Seas.  It  is  sometimes  called  the 
Medo-Persian  empire. 

Cyrus  is  represented  as  a  prince  of  an  excellent  character, 
and  he  obtained  the  surname  of  Great,  from  his  heroic  actions 
and  splendid  achievements.  Having  undertaken  an  expedi- 
tion against  the  Scythians,  he  was  surprised  and  slain  by 
means  of  an  ambuscade  from  the  enemy,  529  years  B.C. 

He  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Cambyses,  who  is  called  in 
scripture  Artaxerxes,  and  who  added  Egypt  to  his  empire. 
Cambyses  was  succeeded  by  Darius,  522  years  B.  C.,  the  son 
of  Hystaspes,  who  by  a  stratagem  obtained  the  sovereignty. 

§  The  first  inhabitants  of  Persia  were  called  Elamites,  and  descended 
from  Elam  the  eldest  son  of  Shem.  During,  however,  more  than  16 
centuries  we  have  little  information  relative  to  their  history.  Che- 
derlaomer,  the  only  king  of  Elam  recorded  in  history,  conquered  the 
king  of  Sodom,  but  was  defeated  by  Abraham.  This  incident  is 
mentioned  in  Scripture. 

Cyrus  was  born  but  one  year  after  his  uncle  Cyaxares.  The  man- 
ners of  the  Persians  were  admirable  in  those  days,  great  simplicity 
of  dress,  and  food, and  behaviour,  universally  prevailed,  so  that  Cyrus 


752—490  B.  c.  71 

»  plainly  and  wisely  educated,  as  he  was  treated  like  other  chil- 
dren of  his  own  age.  But  he  surpassed  them  all,  not  only  in  aptness 
to  learn,  but  in  courage  and  in  address. 

When  he  was  yet  a  boy,  his  mother  took  him  to  visit  his  grand- 
father, but  the  pride  and  luxury  of  the  court  of  Media  quite  surprised 
and  disgusted  him.  Astyages  was  so  charmed  with  the  sensible  con- 
versation and  artless  manners  of  the  prince,  that  he  loaded  him  with 
presents.  Cyrus,  however,  gave  them  all  away  to  the  courtiers,  ac- 
cording to  their  merits,  or  their  services  rendered  to  himself. 

Sacas,  the  cup-bearer,  he  neglected,  because  he  did  not  let  him  visit 
Astyages  when  he  pleased  ;  and  when  Astyages  lamented  his  neglect 
of  so  good  an  officer,  "  Oh,"  said  the  young  prince,  "  there  is  not 
much  merit  in  being  a  good  cup-bearer ;  I  can  do  as  well  myself." 
He  then  took  the  cup,  and  handed  it  to  his  mother  with  great  modesty 
and  gracefulness. 

Astyages  admired  his  skill,  but  laughingly  observed,  "  the  young 
waiter  had  forgotten  one  thing."  "  What  have  I  forgotten  ?"  asked 
Cyrus.  "  To  taste  the  wrine  before  you  handed  it  to  me  and  your  mo- 
ther." "  I  did  not  forget  that,  but  I  did  not  choose  to  swallow  poison." 

"  Poison !"  exclaimed  the  king.  "  Yes,  there  must  be  poison  in  the 
cup,  for  they  who  drink  of  it  sometimes  grow  giddy  and  sick,  and 
fall  down."  "  Then  do  you  never  drink  in  your  country  ?"  inquired 
Astyages.  "  Yes,  but  we  only  drink  to  satisfy  thirst,  and  then  a  lit- 
tle water  suffices." 

Many  similar  anecdotes  are  recorded  of  this  prince,  which  may  be 
learnt  from  larger  histories.  Having  reduced  all  the  nations  from 
the  ^Egean  sea  to  the  Euphrates,  he  advanced  towards  Babylon,  and 
at  length  entered  it  by  stratagem.  Having  caused  deep  and  large 
ditches  to  be  dug  all  around  it,  he,  on  a  certain  night,  when  all  the 
Babylonians  were  engaged  in  feasting  and  merriment,  ordered  the 
dams  of  the  ditches  to  be  thrown  open,  that  the  waters  of  the  Euphra- 
tes might  run  into  them. 

By  this  means,  the  channel  of  the  river,  which  ran  through  the  city, 
was  left  dry,  so  that  the  troops  entered  it  without  opposition.  The 
guards  were  surprised  and  slain,  together  with  the  king  and  all  his 
family.  The  kingdom  of  Babylon  was  thus  destroyed  for  ever. 

Two  years  after  this,  Cyrus  reigned  over  his  vast  empire  alone 
during  seven  years,  in  the  first  of  which  he  published  the  famous 
edict  for  the  return  of  the  Jews. 

Of  Cambyses,  the  son  of  Cyrus,  it  is  recorded  that  he  conquered 
Egypt,  which  remained  under  the  Persian  yoke  112  years.  He  made 
himself  master  of  Pelusium.  the  key  of  Egypt,  by  the  following 
Btratagem.  He  placed  in  front  of  his  army  a  great  number  of  those 
animals  considered  sacred  by  the  Egyptians,  who  not  daring  to  injure 
them,  made  no  opposition  to  the  Persian  army. 

After  an  impostor  named  Smerdis,  who  reigned  7  months,  Darius, 
a  descendant  of  Cyrus  on  the  mother's  side,  ascended  the  throne. 
In  his  time  it  was  that  the  Jews  were  permitted  to  rebuild  their  tem- 
ple. After  a  war  against  the  Scythians,  he  turned  his  arms,  as  we 
shall  soon  see,  against  the  Greeks. 


72  ANCIENT  HISTORY — PERIOD  VI. 

LYDIANS. 

19.  In  the  history  of  the  LYDIANS,  the  last  of  its  dynasties, 
was  that  of  the  Mermnadse.     Gyges,  one  of  the  chief  officers 
of  Candaules  the  king,  having  murdered  the  latter,  became 
possessed  of  his  queen  and  throne,  718  years  B.  C.     He  was 
the  first  of  the  Mermnadee  race.     The  fourth  prince  after  him 
was  Croesus,  so  celebrated  for  his  riches.     His  kingdom  was 
conquered  by  Cyrus. 

§  A  circumstance  worthy  of  record  occurred  in  the  contest  between 
Cyrus  and  Croesus.  After  Croesus  was  taken  prisoner,  he  was  con- 
demned by  the  conqueror  to  be  burnt  alive.  When  the  unhappy 
prince  was  led  to  the  funeral  pile,  he  exclaimed  aloud  three  times, 
Solon  !  Solon !  Solon ! 

Cyrus  immediately  demanded,  why  he  pronounced  that  celebra- 
ted philosopher's  name  with  so  much  vehemence  in  that  extremity. 
Croesus  answered,  that  the  observation  of  Solon,  "That  no  mortal 
could  be  esteemed  happy  till  the  end  of  life,"  had  forcibly  recurred  to 
his  recollection. 

Cyrus  was  struck  with  the  remark,  and,  as  if  in  anticipation  of  his 
own  tragical  end,  ordered  the  unhappy  king  to  be  taken  from  the  pile, 
and  treated  him  ever  after  with  honour  and  respect. 

EGYPT. 

20.  EGYPT,  during  the  present  period,  was  governed  by 
the  following  kings — Sabbacon,  Tharaca,  Pharaoh-Necho, 
Psammenitus,  and  a  few  others.     Under  the  last  of  these, 
525  B.  C.  Egypt  was  conquered  by  Cambyses,  king  of  Per 
sia,  to  which  power  it  was  subject  more  than  a  century. 

§  Sabbacon,  a  king  of  Ethiopia,  it  seems,  conquered  Egypt.  He 
killed  Nechus,  king  of  Sais ;  burnt  Bocchoris,  another  king,  to  death, 
and  forced  Anysis  the  blind  to  retire  into  the  morasses.  During  his 
continuance  in  Egypt,  he  acquired  a  high  reputation  for  wisdom  and 
integrity.  He  finally  relinquished  the  sceptre,  and  returned  into 
Ethiopia,  because  he  would  not  massacre  the  priests,  agreeably  to  a 
suggestion  said  to  have  been  imparted  unto  him  by  the  tutelar  god 
of  Thebes. 

Tharaca,  called  in  scripture  Tirhakah,  made  war  against  Senna- 
cherib, king  of  Assyria.  After  him  there  was  an  anarchy  of  two 
years,  and  an  aristocracy  of  twelve  governors  for  fifteen  years. 

Pharaoh-Necho  waged  war  against  the  Assyrians  and  Jews,  killed 
Josiah  king  of  Judah,  captured  Jerusalem,  imprisoned  Jehoahaz, 
and  appointed  Jehoiachim  king. 

Psammenitus  reigned  only  six  months  before  the  invasion  of  Cam- 
byses, and  the  subjection  of  his  kingdom.  He  was  kindly  treated  at 
first  by  the  conquerer,  but  thirsting  for  an  opportunity  to  revenge 
himself,  he  was  condemned  to  drink  bull's  blood,  and  died  wretch- 
edly. 


752—490  B.  o,  73 

Distinguished  Characters  in  Period  VI. 

1.  Romulus,  founder  and  first  king  of  Rome. 

2.  Sappho,  a  Greek  poetess,  inventor  of  the  Sapphic  verse. 

3.  jEsop,  a  Phrygian  philosopher  and  fabulist. 

4.  Solon,  a  legislator  of  Athens,  and  one  of  the  wisest  men 
of  Greece. 

5.  Thales,  founder  of  the  Ionic  philosophy. 

6.  Cyrus,  a  wise  and  successful  prince,  who   conquered 
most  of  the  East. 

7.  Anacreon,  a  Greek  poet,  and  father  of  the  Anacreontic 
verse. 

8.  Pythagoras,  a  Grecian  philosopher. 

§  1.  Romulus  was  a  son  of  Rhea  Sylvia,  and  grandson  of  Numitor, 
king  of  Alba,  and  born  at  the  same  birth  with  Remus.  His  story 
has  already  been  told.  As  the  founder  of  Rome  his  name  is  immor- 
tal. His  virtues  were  those  of  a  military  chieftain  and  adventurer 
in  a  rude  age.  He  is  not  undistinguished  as  a  legislator,  though  his 
institutions  had  almost  exclusively  a  warlike  tendency. 

After  a  reign  of  37  or  39  years,  he  was  killed,  as  is  supposed,  by 
the  senators.  The  fable,  however,  on  this  subject  is,  that  as  he  was 
giving  instructions  to  the  senators,  he  disappeared  from  their  sight — 
an  eclipse  of  the  sun,  which  happened  at  that  time,  being  favourable 
to  the  rumor  that  he  was  taken  up  to  heaven.  The  Romans  paid 
him  divine  honours  under  the  name  of  Quirinus,  and  ranked  him 
among  the  twelve  great  gods. 

2.  Sappho  was  born  in  the  island  of  Lesbos,  about  600  years  B.  C. 
She  is  celebrated  for  her  poetical  talents  and  beauty.    Her  tender 
attachments  were  extremely  violent,  and  the  conduct  into  which  they 
betrayed  her  must  be  reprobated  by  every  virtuous  mind.    She  con- 
ceived such  a  passion  for  Phaon,  a  youth  of  Mytilene,  that  upon  his 
refusal  to  reciprocate  it,  she  threw  herself  into  the  sea  from  Mount 
Leucas. 

She  composed  nine  books  in  lyric  verses,  besides  epigrams,  elegies, 
&c.  Of  all  these  compositions  nothing  now  remains  but  two  frag- 
ments, one  of  which  is  preserved  by  Longinus ;  though  they  were 
all  extant  in  the  age  of  Horace.  Her  poems  were  admired  for  their 
sublimity,  sweetness,  and  elegance ;  yet  they  were  highly  objection- 
able, it  is  said,  on  account  of  their  licentiousness. 

3.  ^Esop  flourished  about  580  years  B.  C.    Those  entertaining  and 
instructive  fables  which  he  composed,  have  acquired  for  him  a  high 
reputation,  and  he  is  generally  supposed  to  have  been  the  inventor 
of  that  kind  of  writing.    He  was  originally  a  slave,  and  had  several 
masters,  but  procured  his  liberty  by  the  charms  of  his  genius.     Fall- 
ing into  the  hands  of  an  Athenian  philosopher,  he  was  enfranchised. 

He  travelled  over  the  greatest  part  of  Greece  and  Egypt,  but  re- 
sided much  at  the  court  of  Croesus,  king  of  Lydia,  by  whom  he  was 
ix  to  consult  the  oracle  of  Delphi.    In  this  commission  JEsop  be- 

G 


74  ANCIENT  HISTORY PERIOD  VI. 

liaved  himself  with  great  severity,  and  sarcastically  compared  the 
Delphians  to  floating  sticks  which  appear  large  at  a  distance,  but  are 
nothing  when  brought  near. 

The  Delphians,  offended  with  his  caustic  remarks,  accused  him  of 
some  act  of  sacrilege,  and  pretending  to  have  proved  it  against  him, 
threw  him  down  from  a  rock.  He  is  said  to  have  been  short  and 
deformed  in  his  person. 

4.  Solon  was  born  at  Salamis  and  educated  at  Athens.    After  de- 
voting the  early  part  of  his  life  to  philosophical  and  political  studies. 
he  travelled  over  the  greatest  portion  of  Greece ;  but  was  distressed 
with  the  dissentions  that  prevailed  among  his  countrymen. 

Having,  however,  been  elected  archon  and  legislator  of  Athens,  he 
made  a  reform  in  every  department  of  the  government.  He  institu- 
ted the  Areopagus,  regulated  the  Prytaneum,  and  his  laws  flourished 
in  full  vigour  above  400  years.  He  died,  as  some  report,  in  Cyprus,  at 
the  court  of  king  Philocyprus,  in  his  80th  year,  about  558  B.  C. 

5.  Thales  was  born  at  Miletus,  in  Ionia.    Like  the  rest  of  the  an- 
cients, he  travelled  in  quest  of  knowledge,  and  for  some  time  resided 
in  Crete,  Phrenicia,  and  Egypt.    Under  the  priests  of  Memphis  he 
was  taught  geometry,  astronomy,  and  philosophy,  and  enabled  to 
measure  with  exactness,  the  height  and  extent  of  a  pyramid,  by  its 
shadow. 

His  discoveries  in  astronomy  were  great,  and  lie  was  the  first  who 
calculated  accurately  a  solar  eclipse.  Like  Homer,  he  looked 
upon  water  as  the  principle  of  every  thing.  In  founding  the  Ionic 
sect  of  philosophy,  which  distinguished  itself  for  deep  and  abstruse 
speculations,  his  name  is  memorable. 

He  died  in  the  96th  year  of  his  age,  about  548  years  B.  C.  His 
compositions  are  lost. 

6.  Cyrus  subdued  the  eastern  parts  of  Asia,  and  made  war  against 
Crcesus,  king  of  Lydia,  whom  he  conquered,  B.  C.  548.   He  invaded 
the  kingdom  of  Assyria,  and  took  the  city  of  Babylon,  by  drying  the 
channels  of  the  Euphrates,  and  marching  his  troops  through  the  bed 
of  this  river,  while  the  people  were  celebrating  a  grand  festival. 

He  afterwards  marched  against  Tomyris,  the  queen  of  the  Massa- 
getas,  a  Scythian  nation,  and  was  defeated  in  a  bloody  battle,  B.  C. 
1530.  The  victorious  queen,  who  had  lost  her  son  in  the  previous 
encounter,  was  so  incensed  against  Cyrus,  that  she  cut  off  his  head, 
and  threw  it  into  a  vessel  filled  with  human  blood,  exclaiming,  "  Sa- 
tisfy thyself  with  blood,  which  thou  hast  so  eagerly  desired." 

According  to  Xenophon,  Cyrus  possessed  many  excellent  traits  of 
character. 

7.  Anacreon  had  a  delicate  wit,  but  he  was  certainly  too  fond  of 
pleasure  and  wine.    All  that  he  wrote  is  not  extant ;  though  his  odes 
remain,  and  their  sweetness,  gayety,  and  elegance  have  been  admi- 
red in  every  age.    With  "  flowers,  beauties,  and  perpetual  graces," 
they  have  a  hurtful  moral  tendency. 

He  lived  to  his  85th  year,  and  after  every  excess  of  pleasure  and 
debauchery,  choked  himself  with  a  grape  stone,  and  expired.  His 
Statue  was  placed  in  the  citadel  of  Athens,  representing  him  as  an 


752—490  B.  c.  75 

old  aftmfcen  man,  singing,  with  every  mark  of  dissipation  and  in- 
temperance. 

8.  Pythagoras  was  born  at  Samos.  In  his  18th  year  he  obtained 
the  prize  for  wrestling  at  the  Olympic  games.  He  afterwards  tra- 
velled in  Egypt,  Chaldaea,  and  the  east,  and  at  length,  in  his  40th 
year,  he  retired  to  Crotona,  in  Magna  Graecia. 

Here  his  universal  knowledge  gained  him  friends,  admirers,  and 
iisciples,  arid  a  reformation  took  place  in  the  morals  of  the  people. 
The  world  is  indebted  to  him  for  the  demonstration  of  the  47th  pro- 
position of  Euclid,  respecting  the  square  of  the  hypothemise.  By 
fiis  ingenious  discoveries  in  astronomy  he  traced  the  true  solar  sys- 
tem. The  time  and  place  of  his  death  are  unknown. 


PERIOD  VII. 

The  Period  of  Grecian  Glory,  extending  from  the  Battle 
of  Marathon^  490  years  B.  C.  to  the  birth  of  Alexander, 
356  years  B.  C. 

GREECE. 

I.  The  GREEKS,  soon  after  the  expulsion  of  Hippias,  the 
king  of  Athens,  became  involved  in  a  war  with  Persia.  Un- 
der Darius,  the  Persians  invaded  Greece,  496  years  B.  C. 
His  first  fleet  was  wrecked ;  but  -a  second  of  600  sail,  con- 
taining 500,000  men,  ravaged  the  Grecian  islands,  and  an 
immense  army  poured  down  on  Attica. 

Miltiades,  at  the  head  of  the  Greeks,  met  the  Persian  hosts, 
and  defeated  them  on  the  plain  of  Marathon.  The  Persians 
lost  6300  men  in  that  battle,  while  the  Greeks  lost  but  190. 
The  Grecian  force  did  not  exceed  10,000  men.  The  date 
of  this  engagement  is  490  years  B.  C.  and  one  of  the  most 
important  in  its  consequences  that  history  records. 

§  Ambition  and  revenge  in  the  breast  of  Darius,  gave  rise  to  his 
project  of  invading  Greece.  The  Athenians  had  rendered  assistance 
to  the  people  of  Ionia  in  attempting  to  throw  off  the  Persian  yoke, 
and  had  ravaged  Sardis,  the  capital  of  Lydia.  Darius  soon  reducing 
the  lonians  to  submission,  turned  his  arms  against  the  Greeks ;  while 
the  exile  Hippias,  basely  seconded  the  plans  of  the  Persian  monarch. 

One  expedition  in  a  great  measure  failed ;  and  it  was  some  time 
before  another  could  be  gathered  and  prepared  to  act,  so  that  it  was 
six  years  from  the  period  in  which  the  Persian  invasion  first  com 
menced,  to  the  battle  of  Marathon.  Previously  to  the  descent  on 
Attica,  the  Persians,  under  Mardonius,  had  attacked  Thrace,  Macedo- 
nia, and  the  neighbouring  provinces. 

Marathon,  where  the  Grecian  and  Persian  forces  met,  was  a  small 
town  by  the  sea  side.  The  Greeks  were  led  by  ten  generals,  each 


76  ANCIENT  HISTORY PERIOD  VII. 

of  whom  was  to  command  for  one  day  by  turns,  and  Miltiades  was 
to  take  his  turn  as  the  others,  although  he  was  chief  general. 

Aristides,  (one  of  the  ten,)  had  sense  enough  to  see  the  evil  of  such 
a  plan,  and  generosity  to  give  up  his  honours,  for  the  benefit  of  his 
country.  When  it  was  his  day  to  command  he  resigned  it  to  Miltia- 
des, because,  as  he  said,  "  Miltiades  is  the  best  general."  The  other 
generals  saw  the  propriety  of  this  conduct,  and  resigned  to  their 
commander  in  like  manner. 

Miltiades,  however,  thought  it  his  duty  not  to  act  till  his  proper  day 
came  round,  but  he  probably  made  the  necessary  preparation.  The 
armies  engaged  in  a  fierce  and  obstinate  battle.  Themistocles,  a 
brave  man,  and  the  compeer  of  Aristides,  fought  nobly  by  his  side. 
From  the  skill  with  which  Miltiades  had  placed  his  troops,  as  much 
as  from  the  valour  of  those  troops,  the  battle  of  Marathon  was  won 
by  the  Greeks. 

A  soldier  covered  with  the  blood  of  the  enemy  ran  to  Athens  with 
the  news,  and  had  just  strength  enough  left  to  say,  "Rejoice!  the 
victory  is  ours !"  and  then  fell  down  dead,  from  his  fatigue  and 
wounds. 

Not  long  after  this  service  rendered  to  his  country,  Miltiades,  who 
at  first  was  loaded  with  honours,  died  in  prison,  where  he  was  thrust 
by  the  Athenians,  because  he  could  not  pay  a  fine  which  they  order- 
ed him  to  pay.  On  a  false  pretence  of  treachery  to  his  country,  this 
great  general  had  been  condemned  to  death,  and  afterwards  the  sen- 
tence of  death  was  changed  to  the  paying  of  a  fine. 

Greece,  particularly  Athens,  abounded  with  great  men  about  this 
time.  A  little  tale  or  two  concerning  Themistocles  may  be  interest- 
ing here.  At  a  time  when  he  was  great  in  power,  he  laughingly 
said,  that  "  his  son  was  greater  than  any  man  in  Greece."  "  How  is 
that  ?"  said  a  friend.  "  Why,"  replied  Themistocles,  "  the  Athenians 
govern  Greece,  I  command  the  Athenians,  his  mother  commands 
me,  and  this  boy  commands  his  mother." 

Themistocles  was  an  able  general,  and  saved  his  country  in  one 
instance  or  more.  But  he  was  not  an  amiable  man.  Ambition  was 
his  god.  Plutarch  relates  that  after  the  battle  of  Marathon,  in  which 
Miltiades  gained  so  glorious  a  victory,  Themistocles  was  observed  to 
court  solitude,  and  indulge  in  a  profound  melancholy. 

Upon  inquiry  made  of  him  respecting  the  cause  of  his  mental  de- 
jection, he  replied,  that "  the  trophies  of  Miltiades  would  not  permit 
him  to  sleep."  Indeed  all  his  feelings  and  conduct  showed  how 
completely  ambition  had  gotten  the  mastery  over  him,  and  how  much, 
consequently,  he  wished  to  be  master  of  Athens  and  of  Greece.  Yet 
under  the  ungrateful  treatment,  which  he  afterwards  received  from 
his  countrymen,  he  would  not  betray  the  land  that  gave  him  birth, 
though  he  had  an  opportunity  of  doing  it. 

2.  On  the  death  of  Darius,  his  son  Xerxes  prosecuted  the 
war  against  Greece.  During  the  early  part  of  this  Avar  were 
fought  the  celebrated  battles  of  Thermopylae  and  Plateea  on  land, 
and  those  of  the  straights  of  Salamig  and  Mycale  on  water. 


490—356  B.  c.  7* 

The  battles  of  Thermopylae  and  Solamis  took  place  480 
years  B.  C. ;  and  those  of  Platsea  aKa  Mycale,  479.  Leoni- 
das,  Themis  tocles,  Aristides,  Pausanias,  and  several  others, 
distinguished  themselves  in  the  defence  of  Greece,  and  ac- 
quired lasting-  renown  by  their  achievements. 

Xerxes  brought  over  with  him  2,000,000  of  righting  men, 
besides  vast  numbers  of  women  and  domestics — -the  largest 
army  and  assemblage  of  persons  recorded  in  history.  Thi3 
immense  force  was  effectually  resisted,  during  two  days,  at 
the  pass  of  Thermopylae,  by  6000  Greeks. 

Their  valour,  though  it  could  not  finally  arrest  the  progress 
of  the  Persians,  cost  the  latter  the  lives  of  20,000  warriors. 
Athens  was  soon  reached,  which  the  Persians  pillaged  and 
burnt.  The  women  and  children,  however,  had  been  pre- 
viously conveyed  to  a  place  of  safety,  and  the  men  betook 
themselves  to  their  fleet. 

§  Xerxes  was  a  vain  mortal.  He  ordered  a  passage  to  be  cut 
through,  the  high  mountain  of  Athos,  in  Macedonia,  and  thus  a  canal 
was  made  for  his  ships.  He  is  said  to  have  written  a  letter  to 
Mount  Athos,  in  which  he  "  commanded  it  not  to  put  stones  in  the 
way  of  his  workmen,  or  he  would  cut  it  down  and  throw  it  into  the 
sea,"  and  he  ordered  the  labourers  to  be  chastised  to  make  them  work 
faster. 

When  he  saw,  from  a  high  hill,  the  plain  covered  with  his  soldiers, 
and  the  sea  with  his  ships,  he  at  first,  in  the  pride  of  his  heart,  called 
himself  the  most  favoured  of  mortals ;  but  when  he  reflected,  that  in 
a  hundred  years,  not  one  of  the  many  thousands  whom  he  beheld 
would  be  alive,  he  burst  into  tears  at  the  instability  of  all  human 
things. 

Almost  all  the  small  cities  of  Greece  submitted  to  the  Persian  king 
when  he  sent  to  them,  as  was  the  custom,  for  earth  and  water; 
which  was  the  same  as  to  ask  them,  whether  they  would  receive 
him  as  their  conqueror.  Sparta  and  Athens,  with  the  small  towns 
of  Thespia  and  Plataea,  alone  refused  to  receive  the  heralds  and  to 
send  the  token  of  homage. 

Every  thing  gave  way  before  the  march  of  Xerxes,  until  he  came 
to  the  pass  of  Thermopylae.  On  this  spot  Leonidas,  one  of  the  two 
reigning  kings  of  Sparta,  with  his  6000  of  brave  soldiers,  awaited  his 
coming.  Xerxes,  after  a  weak  attempt  to  corrupt  him,  imperiously 
summoned  him  to  give  up  his  arms.  "Let  him  come  and  take 
them,"  was  the  short  answer  of  this  true  native  of  Laconia. 

The  bravest  of  the  Persian  troops  were  ordered  out  against  Leoni- 
das, but  they  were  always  driven  back  with  disgrace.  At  last  a 
wretch  went  and  informed  the  king  of  a  secret  path,  by  which  he 
could  mount  an  eminence  which  overlooked  the  Grecian  camp. 
The  Persians  gained  this  advantageous  post  during  the  darkness  of 

G2 


78  ANCIENT  HISTORY — PERIOD  VII. 

the  night,  and  the  next  morning  the  Greeks  discovered  that  they  had 
been  betrayed. 

Leonidas  knew  that  it  was  in  vain  to  expect  his  small  army  could 
conquer  the  endless  forces  of  Xerxes ;  he  therefore  sent  away  his 
allies,  and  kept  with  him  only  his  300  Lacedaemonians.  He  had  been 
told  by  the  oracle  that  either  Sparta  or  her  king  must  perish,  and  he 
longed  to  die  for  the  good  of  his  country. 

Xerxes  marched  his  vast  army  against  this  heroic  little  band.  Leo- 
nidas fell  among  the  first,  bravely  fighting,  and  covered  with  wounds. 
Of  the  300  heroes,  only  one  escaped  to  bear  to  Sparta  the  news  that 
her  valiant  warriors  had  died  in  her  defence. 

Xerxes  having  arrived  at  Athens,  found  it  desolate  and  deserted 
He  burnt  down  its  citadel,  and  sent  away  its  finest  pictures  and 
statues  to  Susa,  the  capital  of  Persia.  The  Athenians  having  man- 
ned their  fleet,  soon  attacked  that  of  the  Persians,  and  put  it  to  flight 
after  a  very  short,  but  severe  engagement.  Themistocles  command- 
ed on  this  occasion. 

The  Persian  king  had  seated  himself  on  a  high  mountain,  that  he 
might  see  his  Persians  overcome  the  Greeks,  but  when  he  saw  the 
issue  of  the  battle,  so  contrary  to  his  expectations,  he  hastened  with 
a  part  of  his  army  across  the  Hellespont. 

A  second  overthrow  awaited  his  army  by  land ;  for  Mardonius, 
his  general,  at  the  head  of  300,000  Persians,  was  defeated  with  im- 
mense slaughter,  at  Plataea,  by  the  combined  army  of  Athenians  and 
Lacedaemonians,  amounting  to  a  little  over  100,000  men,  led  by  Pau- 
sanias  and  Aristides. 

On  the  same  day  with  this  battle,  the  Greeks  engaged  and  destroy- 
ed the  remains  of  the  Persian  fleet  at  Mycale.  Thus  gloriously  to 
the  Greeks,  ended  the  celebrated  expedition  of  Xerxes  against  Greece. 

U  3.  From  the  time  of  the  battles  of  Plateea  and  Salamis,  the 
ambitious  schemes  of  Xerxes  were  at  an  end.  He  left  Greece 
suddenly,  and  his  inglorious  life  was  soon  after  terminated 
by  assassination.  The  military  glory  of  the  Greeks  was  now 
at  its  height.  They  were  for  the  most  part  united  in  oppo- 
sing the  common  enemy.  Their  danger  was  the  cause  of 
their  union,  and  their  union  was  the  cause  of  their  prosperity. 

4.  About  10  years  after  the  return  of  Xerxes  into  Asia 
with  a  part  of  his  forces,  Cimon,  son  of  Miltiades,  expelling 
the  Persians  from  Thrace,  destroyed  the  Persian  fleet  at  the 
mouth  of  the  river  Eurymedon,  and  landing  his  troops,  sig- 
nally defeated  their  army  the  same  day. 

Some  years  afterwards  he  destroyed  a  Persian  fleet  of  300 
sail ;  and  landing  in  Cilicia,  completed  his  triumph  by  de- 
feating 300,000  Persians  under  Megabyzes,  460  years  B.  C. 
ArtaxerxeSj  who  had  succeeded  his  father  Xerxes,  soon  sued 
for  peace.  The  terms  were  highly  honourable  to  the  Greeks. 


490—356  B.  c.  79 

§  The  prosperity  and  military  glory  of  the  Greeks  continued  50 
years ;  after  which,  upon  the  return  of  the  peace  with  Persia,  the 
martial  and  the  patriotic  spirit  began  visibly  to  decline  in  Athens. 
Still,  as  will  soon  appear,  the  following  age,  called  the  age  of  Pericles, 
was  an  era  of  the  highest  splendour,  so  far  as  literature,  taste,  and 
the  fine  arts  were  concerned. 

Cimon  was  as  renowned  as  his  father  Miltiades.  He  was  joined 
with  Aristides  at  one  time  in  the  command  of  the  Athenians ;  yet, 
notwithstanding  the  important  services  which  they  rendered  to  their 
country,  they  were  both  punished  by  the  ostracism,*  and  scarcely 
with  any  pretext. 

Before  Cimon  was  banished,  besides  the  victories  he  gained  for 
Athens,  he  had  greatly  improved  the  city;  he  planted  groves  and 
shady  walks ;  he  erected  fine  places  for  exercise  and  public  speak- 
ing. The  celebrated  tragic  poets,  ^Eschylus  and  Sophocles  were 
wont  to  recite  their  pieces  before  him.  Cimon  was  not  less  devoted 
to  his  ungrateful  countrymen  after  his  return  from  banishment.  His 
victories  procured  the  peace  above  mentioned.  In  it,  he  stipulated 
for  the  freedom  of  all  the  Grecian  cities  of  Asia. 

Of  Aristides,  who  was  called  "  the  just,"  many  interesting  anec- 
dotes are  recorded,  but  we  have  room  for  only  two. 

Once  when  he  was  carrying  a  prosecution  against  his  enemy,  and 
sentence  was  about  to  be  pronounced,  before  the  accused  had  spoken, 
Aristides  entreated  that  the  man  might  be  heard  in  his  defence,  and 
even  helped  him  to  make  it. 

On  another  occasion,  when  he  was  judge,  a  trial  came  before  him, 
in  which  one  of  the  parties  thought  to  irritate  him  against  the  other, 
by  declaring  that  the  other  had  said  and  done  many  injurious  things 
against  Aristides.  "Do  not  talk  about  that,"  said  Aristides,  "tell 
me  only  what  harm  he  has  done  to  thee,  it  is  thy  cause  I  am  judg- 


ing." 


5.  The  authority  in  Athens  became  for  a  time  divided  be- 
tween Cimon  and  Pericles.  In  a  few  years,  however,  Peri- 
cles stood  at  the  head  of  the  Athenian  republic.  His  will  had 
almost  the  force  of  law.  He  adorned  Athens  with  the  most 
magnificent  structures,  and  rendered  it  the  seat  of  learning1, 
taste,  and  the  fine  arts.  He  laboured,  however,  under  the  re- 
proach of  having  corrupted  the  manners  of  the  people,  by  his 
luxuries. 

Under  his  administration  commenced  the  Lacedaemonian, 
war,  431  years  B.  C.,  which  lasted  28  years.  He  died  three 
years  after  its  commencement,  and  was  succeeded  in  the 
government  of  Athens  by  Alcibiades,  who  ran  a  similar 
course,  though  with  less  integrity.  Alcibiades  repeatedly  ex 

*See  "  General  Views." 


£0  ANCIENT  HISTORY — PERIOD  VII. 

perienced  the  Ingratitude  of  his  countrymen — a  conduct  which 
he  eagerly  retaliated. 

The  Lacedaemonian  war  ended  in  the  humiliation  and 
submission  of  Athens.  The  Athenians  agreed  to  demolish 
their  port,  to  limit  their  fleet  to  12  ships,  and  to  undertake  for 
the  future,  no  enterprise  in  Avar,  but  under  the  command  of 
the  Spartans,  405  year  B.  C.  Lysander,  the  Spartan  com- 
mander, signalized  himself  in  this  war. 

§  Pericles  was  remarkable  for  the  dignity  of  his  manners,  and  the 
elegance  of  his  speech.  For  40  years  he  secured  an  unbounded  au- 
thority. Athens,  at  this  time,  was  considered  as  in  its  highest  state 
of  refinement  and  knowledge,  and  with  Sparta,  ranked  as  the  first  of 
the  cities  of  Greece. 

When  some  persons  complained  that  Pericles  spent  too  much  ol 
the  public  money  in  beautifying  the  city,  he  went  into  the  assembly  ol 
the  people,  and  asked,  "  whether,  indeed,  they  thought  him  extrava- 
gant ?"  The  people  said.  "  yes."  "  Then  place  the  expense  at  my 
charge  instead  of  yours,"  answered  Pericles,  "  only  let  the  new  build- 
ings be  marked  with  my  name  instead  of  yours." 

The  people  were  either  so  pleased  with  the  spirit  of  his  reply,  or  were 
so  jealous  of  the  fame  which  Pericles  might  acquire,  that  they  cried 
out,  "  he  might  spend  as  much  as  he  pleased  of  the  public  treasures." 

At  a  critical  time  in  the  Peloponnesian  war,  Pericles  was  taken 
off  in  consequence  of  the  ravages  of  a  terrible  plague  which  then 
afflicted  Athens.  That  plague  was  one  of  the  most  malignant  and 
fatal  which  history  relates  to  us. 

Beginning  in  Ethiopia,  it  swept  over  several  countries  in  its  course, 
and  finally  rested  in  Athens.  It  surpassed  the  efforts  of  the  medical 
art  to  cure  it.  Few  or  no  constitutions  could  withstand  its  attacks. 
The  nature  of  the  disease  was  such  that  it  threw  its  victim  into  a 
sort  of  despair,  so  that  he  was  disabled  from  seeking  or  applying 
relief. 

It  was  dangerous  for  friends  to  offer  their  assistance  to  the  diseas- 
ed ;  and  the  situation  of  the  Athenians  was  such,  in  consequence  of 
being  shut  up  by  an  invading  army,  that  the  malignity  of  the  pesti- 
lence was  greatly  increased.  They  fell  down  dead  upon  one  anothei 
as  they  passed  along  the  streets,  and  the  dead  and  the  dying  were 
mingled  together  in  the  utmost  confusion. 

In  this  complication  of  distress,  Pericles  displayed  a  great  soul. 
He  was  able  to  inspire  courage  into  the  drooping' hearts  of  his  coun 
trymen ;  but  after  some  fresh  plans  of  conquest  adopted  during  a 
mitigation  of  the  pestilence,  he  was  himself  cut  off  by  the  plague, 
which  had  broken  out  anew. 

On  his  death  bed  his  friends  attempted  to  console  him,  by  recount- 
ing his  glorious  deeds,  particularly  his  military  successes,  and  the 
monuments  he  erected  to  commemorate  them.  "  Ah,r ' exclaimed  the 
dying  statesman  and  hero,  "  you  have  forgotten  the  most  valuable 
part  of  my  character,  and  now  the  most  pleasant  to  my  mind— that 


490—356  B.  c.  81 

none  of  my  fellow-citizens  have  been  compelled,  through  any  act 
of  mine,  to  put  on  a  mourning  robe." 

The  occasion  of  the  Lacedaemonian  war  was  as  follows: — Corinth 
having  been  included  in  the  last  made  treaty  between  Athens  and 
Sparta,  the  Corinthians  in  waging  war  with  the  people  of  Corcyra, 
an  ancient  colony  of  their  own,  solicited  the  aid  of  Athens,  as  did 
also  the  people  of  Corcyra. 

The  Athenians  took  the  part  of  the  latter— a  measure  which  ex- 
ceedingly displeased  the  Corinthians,  and  was  considered  as  viola- 
ting their  treaty  with  Sparta.  On  this  ground  war  was  declared  be- 
tween Athens  and  LacedaBmon,  each  being  supported  by  its  respec- 
tive allies.  This  war  distracted  and  enfeebled  Greece. 

Alcibiades,  who  bore  a  conspicuous  part  in  it  on  the  Athenian 
side,  during  the  interval  of  a  truce  with  Sparta,  persuaded  his  coun- 
trymen to  try  the  conquest  of  Sicily,  and  was  sent  as  the  general  of 
the  troops.  When  he  was  gone,  his  enemies  raised  an  accusation 
against  him,  and  the  fickle  people  directed  him  immediately  to  re- 
turn. 

Alcibiades,  fearing  to  return  whilst  the  Athenians  were  so  incens- 
ed against  him,  fled  away  secretly,  and  when  he  was  told  that  for 
his  disobedience,  all  his  property  was  confiscated,  and  that  he  him- 
self was  condemned  to  death,  "  I  will  show  them  that  I  am  alive," 
he  exclaimed. 

He  first  fled  to  Argos,  and  next  to  Sparta,  where  he  gained  all 
hearts  by  conforming  to  their  plain  dress  and  simple  food.  But  the 
king  of  Sparta  perceiving  that  Alcibiades  affected  to  appear  what  he 
Was  not,  was  by  no  means  backward  to  disapprove  him,  which  in- 
duced the  Athenian  to  quit  Sparta,  and  seek  protection  in  Persia. 

Athens  was  now  governed  by  a  council  of  400,  and  the  tyranny  of 
these  was  so  great,  that  Alcibiades  was  sent  for  to  assist  in  restoring 
the  liberty  of  the  people.  The  Spartans,  with  some  vessels,  were 
watching  the  city,  to  take  advantage  of  the  confusion  that  prevailed. 
Alcibiades,  with  the  small  fleet  he  had  collected  at  Samos,  attacked 
the  Spartans,  destroyed  their  ships,  and  soon  after  entered  Athens 
in  triumph. 

The  Athenians  being  again  displeased  with  Alcibiades,  he  left  the 
city  to  avoid  their  displeasure.  He  at  length  retired  to  live  in  a 
small  village  in  Phrygia,  with  a  woman  called  Timandra.  The 
Spartans  persuaded  the  Persians  to  destroy  him. 

Accordingly,  a  party  of  soldiers  went  to  his  house,  and  fearing  his 
known  courage,  dared  not  to  enter  it,  but  set  fire  to  the  building. 
Alcibiades  rushed  out,  and  the  barbarians  from  a  distance  (for  they 
feared  to  approach  him)  killed  him  with  darts  and  arrows.  Timan- 
dra buried  the  corpse  decently,  and  was  the  only  mourner  of  this 
once  powerful  man. 

The  defeat  of  the  Athenian  fleet  at  JEgos  Potamos,  by  Lysander, 
was  the  means  of  bringing  the  tedious  Lacedaemonian  war  to  a  close. 
The  taking  and  plundering  of  Athens  were  the  consequence  of  ti. 
Having  gained  possession  of  the  city,  Lysander  burnt  down  the 
houses  and  demolished  the  walls.  It  was  said  that  he  was  so  cruel  aa 


82  ANCIENT  HISTORY PERIOD  VII. 

to  add  insult  to  misfortune,  by  ordering  music  to  be  played  whilst 
the  walls  were  destroyed. 

6.  Lysander,  after  the  reduction  of  Athens,  abolished  the 
popular  form  of  government  in  that  state,  and  substituted  that 
of  the  thirty  tyrants,  which  was  absolute.     Many  of  the  dis- 
tinguished citizens  fled  from  their  country ;  but  Thrasybulus, 
aided  by  a  body  of  patriots,  expelled  the  usurpers,  and  once 
more  re-established  the  government  of  the  people,  403  years 
B.C. 

§  The  thirty  tyrants  were  as  many  Lacedaemonian  captains,  to 
whom  the  government  of  the  Athenians  was  delegated  by  Lysander. 
They  held  their  authority  but  three  years.  To  Lysander,  history 
ascribes  the  first  great  breach  of  his  country's  constitution,  by  the 
introduction  of  gold  into  that  republic. 

7.  The  persecution  and  death  of  Socrates,  the  philosopher, 
took  place  about  this  time,  (401  years  B.  C.)     This  transac- 
tion has  thrown  a   dark  stain  on  the  Athenian  character. 
He  was  destroyed  contrary  to  every  principle  of  reason  and 
justice. 

§  Socrates  was  the  friend  and  tutor  of  Alcibiades.  The  sophists, 
whose  manner  of  reasoning  he  turned  into  ridicule,  represented  him 
as  an  enemy  to  the  religion  of  his  country,  because,  without  con- 
forming to  the  popular  superstitions,  he  led  the  mind  to  a  knowledge 
of  the  Deity,  the  Creator  of  the  universe ;  and  to  the  belief  of  a  fu- 
ture state  of  rewards  and  punishments. 

He  made  a  noble  and  manly  defence,  in  all  the  consciousness  of 
innocence ;  but  in  vain.  He  was  -condemned  to  die  by  his  inimical 
judges.  One  of  his  disciples  lamenting  before  him  that  he  should 
die  innocent,  "  Would  you  have  me  die  guilty  7"  replied  Socrates, 
with  a  smile. 

The  juice  of  hemlock,  or  something  resembling  hemlock,  a  liquor 
which  was  said  to  cause  death,  by  its  coldness,  was  administered  to 
the  philosopher.  He  continued  calmly  conversing  with  his  friends, 
to  the  last  moment  of  his  life. 

8.  In  the  same  year  with  the  death  of  Socrates,  occurred 
the  celebrated  retreat  of  10,000  Greeks,  under  Xenophon, 
from  Babylon  to  the  banks  of  the  Euxine.     This  is  considered 
the  most  remarkable  retreat  on  record.     It  was  accomplished 
in  a  few  months,  the  soldiers  traversing  a  hostile  country  of 
1 600  miles  in  extent,  amidst  incredible  hardships  and  dangers. 
They  lost  only  1500  men. 

§  The  Greeks  came  into  the  situation  above  mentioned,  in  conse- 
quence of  assisting  Cyrus,  a  younger  brother  of  Artaxerxes  Mnemon, 
in  his  attempt  to  dethrone  the  latter.  Cyrus  failed  in  the  attempt, 
in  a  battle  near  Babylon,  and  lost  his  life.  The  Greeks,  who  amount- 
ed to  13,000  at  first,  were  reduced  to  10,000,  and  in  this  situation 


490—356  B.  c.  8P> 

Were  under  the  necessity  either  of  submitting  to  the  enemy,  or  of 
making  good  their  retreat.  s 

The  latter  they  both  chose  and  accomplished.  The  Greeks  were 
led  by  Clearckus  on  this  expedition,  but  he  having  trusted  himself 
among  the  Persians,  was  basely  delivered  up  to  the  king,  by  whose 
order  he  was  beheaded.  In  this  exigency  they  elected  Xenophon,  a 
young  Athenian,  as  their  commander,  under  whom  they  were  to 
effect  their  retreat. 

They  observed  the  greatest  order  and  discipline ;  and  though  in 
the  midst  of  vindictive  enemies,  and  with  deserts,  hills,  mountains, 
rivers,  and  even  the  sea  before  them,  they  arrived  with  an  inconsi 
derable  loss,  at  the  banks  of  the  Euxine.    Xenophon  himself  has 
written  an  admirable  account  of  this  retreat. 

The  Greek  cities  of  Asia  having  taken  a  part  in  this  enterprise  of 
the  Greeks,  Sparta  was  engaged  to  defend  her  countrymen,  and 
consequently  was  involved  in  a  war  with  Persia.  The  disunion  of 
the  Grecian  states,  and  especially  the  hostility  of  Athens  against 
Sparta,  rendered  the  war  disastrous  to  the  Spartans ;  who,  to  avoid 
destruction,  sued  for  peace,  and  obtained  it,  by  the  sacrifice  of  all  her 
Asiatic  colonies,  387  years  B.  C. 

9.  Among  the  Grecian  states,  Thebes  became  particularly 
distinguished  during  the  latter  part  of  the  present  period* 
It  had  been,  comparatively  obscure  before.  The  Thebana 
contending  among  themselves,  the  Spartans  interfered  in  the 
contention,  and  seized  'on  the  Theban  fortress.  This  mea- 
sure brought  on  a  war  between  Sparta  and  Thebes. 

Athens  at  first  united  with  Thebes,  but  at  length  Thebes 
stood  alone  against  Sparta  and  the  league  of  Greece.  Pe- 
lopidas  and  Epaminondas  were  the  Theban  leaders,  who 
greatly  distinguished  themselves  in  this  war.  The  celebra- 
ted battles  of  Leuctra  and  Mantinea  were  gained  by  the  The- 
bans  over  their  enemies,  the  one  371  years  B.  C.,  and  the 
other  8  years  afterwards.  In  the  latter  engagement,  the  great 
Epaminondas  was  slain. 

The  ravages  of  this  contention  among  the  Grecian  states, 
may  be  said  to  have  paved  the  way  for  their  entire  subjugation 

by  a  foreign  power. 

§  The  fortress  at  Thebes,  which  the  Spartans  had  seized,  was  kept 
by  the  latter  during  four  years,  but  the  angry  and  deceived  Thebans 
took  their  revenge.  A  party  of  them,  headed  by  Pelopidas,  putting 
on  women's  clothes  over  their  armour,  entered  among  the  Lacedae- 
monians, at  a  feast  given  to  them,  and  cut  their  principal  officers  to 
pieces. 

Archias,  the  chief  Spartan,  had  that  very  day  received  a  letter  from 
Athens  to  inform  him  of  the  whole  plot,  but  he  had  very  improperly 
thrown  aside  the  letter  without  looking  into  it,  saying,  "  business  to- 
morrow." He  was  the  first  man  killed,  and  thus  lost  his  life  for  a 


84  AKCIENT  HISTORY — PERIOD  VII. 

neglect  of  his  duty,  in  suffering  the  pleasure  he  enjoyed  in  the  com- 
pany of  his  friends,  to  make  him  forget  the  interests  of  his  country, 

Epaminondas,  the  friend  of  Pelopidas,  who  had  acted  with  the  lat- 
ter, was,  upon  the  expulsion  of  the  Spartans  from  the  citadel,  called 
from  a  quiet  and  private  life  to  become  the  general  of  the  Theban 
army.  He  was  as  much  celebrated  for  his  wisdom  and  virtue,  as  for 
his  bravery.  Of  all  the  excellencies  of  his  character,  he  gained  the 
most  respect  for  his  strict  regard  to  truth,  as  he  was  never  known  to 
be  guilty  of  a  falsehood.  In  the  battle  of  Leuctra,  the  Theban  army 
was  much  smaller  than  that  of  Sparta ;  but  the  skill  of  their  general, 
in  disposing  the  force  to  the  best  advantage,  and  the  valour  of  the  sol- 
diers and  officers,  more  than  made  up  for  the  difference  in  numbers. 
Besides,  the  Thebans  were  fighting  for  their  liberty ;  the  Spartans 
only  for  conquest.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  therefore,  that  the 
Thebans  prevailed. 

Pelopidas  shared  the  danger  and  the  glory  of  his  friend ;  yet  when 
these  valiant  generals  returned  to  Thebes,  they  were  both  called  be- 
fore the  tribunal  of  justice  for  the  crime  of  keeping  their  command 
too  long.  Both  were  acquitted ;  yet  the  enemies  of  Epaminondas 
caused  him  to  be  elected  a  city  scavenger,  on  purpose  to  disgrace  and 
vex  him.  But  what  might  have  been  a  disgrace  to  a  mean  person, 
was  no  disgrace  to  this  noble  Theban.  He  accepted  the  office,  saying, 
"If  the  office  will  not  give  me  honour,  I  will  give  honour  to  the  office." 

Epaminondas  fell  in  the  battle  of  Mantinea,  and  in  the  moment  of 
victory.  A  javelin  had  pierced  his  bosom,  and  becoming  disabled,  a 
fierce  contest  arose  between  his  foes  and  friends  for  the  possession  of 
his  person.-  The  Thebans  at  length  bore  him  from  the  field.  Epa- 
minondas, though  in  extreme  agony  from  his  wound,  thought  only 
of  his  country ;  and  when  informed  that  the  Thebans  had  conquered, 
he  said.  "  then  all  is  well." 

He  drew  the  weapon  from  his  bosom,  as  no  one  around  him  had  the 
fortitude  to  do  it,  it  being  understood,  from  the  nature  of  the  wound, 
he  would  expire  as  soon  as  it  was  extricated.  The  glory  of  Thebes 
rose  with  this  man,  and  with  him  it  expired. 

ROMANS. 

10.  In  the  history  of  ROME,  during  this  period,  we  may 
observe  an  additional  change  in  its  constitution  of  govern- 
ment. It  became,  in  effect,  a  democracy  471  years  B.  C. 
The  supreme  authority  passed  from  the  higher  order,  into 
the  hands  of  the  people.  The  popular  character  of  the  go- 
vernment had  been  theoretically  established  before,  but  it  be- 
came now  practically  democratic. 

§  This  change  was  completed  by  Volero,  a  Roman  tribune,  who 
obtained  a  law  for  the  election  of  magistrates,  in  the  comitia  held  by 
the  tribes.  Before  this,  time,  the  comitia,  by  centuries  and  by  curise, 
could  not  be  called  but  in  virtue  of  a  decree  of  the  senate,  after  consult- 
ing the  auspices,  and  in  those  comitia  the  tribunes  had  been  hitherto 
elected.  In  the  comitia  held  by  tribes  these  restraints  were  unknown 


490—356  B.  c.  85 

11.  Soon  afterwards,  (456  B.  C.)  upon  the  invasion  of  the 
/Equi  and  Volsci,  tile  Romans  had  recourse  to  the  despotic 
measure  of  choosing1  a  dictator.   Q,uinctius  Cincinnatus  was 
appointed.     He  was  called  from  the  plough  to  this  office. 
After  having1  rescued  a  Roman  army  from  destruction,  de- 
feated a  powerful  enemy,  and  rendered  other  signal  services 
to  his  country,  he  hastened  to  resign  his  power  at  the  end  of 
16  days,  though  he  might  have  held  it  6  months,  the  term  for 
which  dictators  were  appointed. 

§  Cincinnatus  was  fixed  upon  as  the  wisest  and  bravest  man  be- 
longing to  the  commonwealth.  He  cultivated  a  small  farm  of  four 
acres  with  his  own  hands.  The  deputies  of  the  senate  found  him 
following  his  plough  in  one  of  his  little  fields.  They  begged  him 
to  put  on  his  gown,  and  hear  the  message  from  the  senate. 

Cincinnatus  anxiously  asked,  "if*  all  was  well?"  and  then  desired 
his  wife  Racilia  to  fetch  his  gown  from  their  cottage.  After  wiping 
off  the  dust  and  dirt  with  which  he  was  covered,  he  put  on  his  robe 
and  went  to  the  deputies.  They  saluted  him  dictator,  and  bid  him 
hasten  to  the  city,  which  was  in  the  greatest  peril. 

A  handsome  barge  had  been  sent  to  carry  him  over  the  river,  for  his 
farm  lay  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Tiber.  His  three  sons,  with  his 
friends,  and  several  of  the  senators,  were  ready  to  receive  him  when 
he  landed  at  Rome,  and  to  carry  him  in  a  pompous  procession  to  the 
house  prepared  for  him. 

The  very  next  morning  he  began  to  fortify  the  city,  and  marshal 
the  soldiers  for  battle  ;  and  he  very  soon  gained  a  great  victory,  and 
made  the  officers  of  the  enemy  pass  under  the  yoke.  His  administra- 
tion was  entirely  satisfactory  to  all  parties,  though  the  times  were  ex- 
tremely turbulent.  He  most  probably  saved  Rome  from  destruction, 
by  his  wisdom  and  valour. 

He  was  chosen  dictator  on  another  emergency,  many  years  after- 
wards, in  his  80th  year,  and  then  also  acted  with  vigour  and  wisdom. 

12.  In  451  years  B.  C.  ten  persons  who  were  called  the 
Decemviri,  were  elected  to  frame  a  code  of  laws,  and  were 
invested  with  absolute  power  for  one  year,  during  which  all 
other  magistrates  were  suspended.     They  afterwards  caused 
their  laws  to  be  engraven  on  12  tables,  and  placed  in  the  most 
conspicuous  part  of  the  city. 

These  laws  were  long  preserved  and  acted  upon,  and  are 
to  this  day  respected  in  some  parts  of  Europe.  They  how- 
ever manifested  the  stern  spirit  of  the  people,  and  like  those 
of  Draco,  might  be  said  to  be  written  in  blood.  Nine  crimes* 

*  Parric'"6  v/as  very  properly  included  as  oru  of  those  crimes.  But  to  the 
honour  ci  "Romans  it  should  be  observed,  that  this  crime  was  not  known  to 
be  commiv  ..  ''  ring-  more  than  500  years  from  the  building1  of  the  city  \^m  Qs- 
this  was  the''  wricicte. 


*  11 


ANCIENT  HISTORY — PERIOD  VII. 

of  very  different  complexions  were  punishable  with  death,  one 
of  which  was  nightly  meetings. 

§  The  Romans  had  no  code  of  laws  until  that  which  was  formed  and 
digested  by  the  decemviri*  The  number  of  the  laws  was  increased 
from  time  to  time  by  the  senate  and  people.  Each  decemvir,  by  turn, 
presided  for  a  day,  and  had  the  sovereign  authority,  with  its  insignia, 
the  fasces.  The  nine  others  acted  solely  as  judges  in  the  determina- 
tion of  law-suits,  and  the  correction  of  abuses. 

Their  government  lasted  only  three  years.  Its  dissolution  was 
highly  tragical.  Appius  Claudius,  one  of  the  ten,  fell  in  love  with  the 
beautiful  Virginia;  she  was  engaged  to  marry  Iciliu.s,  formerly  a  tri- 
bune of  the  people,  and  would  not  therefore  listen  to  the  proposals 
of  Appius. 

He  therefore,  to  get  possession  of  the  lovely  virgin,  procured  a  base 
dependant  to  claim  her  as  his  slave.  The  claim  was  made  to  Appiu." 
himself,  who  pronounced  an  infamous  decree,  by  which  she  was  de- 
clared to  be  the  property  of  this  profligate  minion  of  his  own. 

Virginius,  her  father,  who  was  falsely  sworn  to  have  stolen  hei 
from  the  dependant  of  Appius,  was  at  a  distance  with  the  army 
Intelligence,  however,  by  means  of  Jcilius,  was  conveyed  to  him  re- 
specting the  transactions  in  the  city,  and  he  returned  with  all  imagi- 
nable speed. 

Finding,  notwithstanding  his  true  and  simple  tale  that  Virginia 
was  his  daughter,  that  he  could  not  preserve  her  from  the  licentious 
decemvir,  he  now  begged  to  give  her  his  parting  embrace.  His  re- 
quest was  granted.  He  clasped  his  child  in  his  arms,  while  she  clung 
round  his  neck,  and  wet  his  cheeks  with  her  tears. 

As  Virginius  was  tenderly  kissing  her,  before  he  raised  his  head,  he 
suddenly  plunged  a  dagger  into  her  bosom,  saying,  "  Oh  !  my  child, 
by  this  means  only  can  I  give  thee  freedom."  He  then  held  up  the 
bloody  instrument  to  the  now  pale  and  frighted  Claudius,  exclaim- 
ing, "  By  this  innocent  blood,  Appius,  I  devote  thy  head  to  the  infer- 
nal gods." 

All  M^as  now  horror  and  confusion.  Icilius  showed  the  dead  body 
to  the  people  and  roused  their  fury.  Virginius  hasted  to  the  camp 
bearing  with  him  the  dagger  reeking  with  his  daughter's  blood ;  and 
instantly  the  camp  was  in  an  uproar.  The  power  of  the  decemviri 
and  the  senators  could  not  still  the  tumult. 

Appius  woiild  have  been  torn  to  pieces  at  once,  -but  he  found  the 
means  of  escape  aud  voluntary  death.  Public  tranquillity  was  at 
Ir-ngth  restored,  by  the  consent  of  the  senate  to  abolish  the  decemviri. 
The  consuls  were  now  restored,  together  with  the  tribunes  of  the  peo- 
ple, 499  years  B.  C. 

13.  A  law  for  the  intermarriage  of  the  patricians  and  pie 
beians  at  Rome  was  passed  445  years  B.  C.     In  the  same 
year  military  tribunes  were  created.     These  were  in  lieu  of 
the  consuls':  they  were  six  in  number,  three  patricians  and 
three  plebeians.     The  consuls,  however,  were  soon  restored. 


490—356  B.  c.  87 

In  437  years  B.  C.  was  established  the  office  of  censors, 
whose  duty  it  was  to  make  the  census  of  the  people  every 
five  years. 

§  The  people,  in  their  desire  for  still  more  power,  endeavoured  to 
break  down  the  only  two  barriers  that  separated  the  patricians  from 
themselves.  These  were,  one,  the  law  which  prevented  their  inter- 
marriage ;  and  the  other,  the  constitutional  limitation  of  all  the  higher 
offices  to  the  patrician  order. 

.  The  first  point,  after  a  long  contest,  was  conceded — the  other  was 
partially  evaded.  The  senate  sought  a  palliative  in  the  creation  of 
the  military  tribunes  above  mentioned.  This  measure  satisfied  the 
people  for  a  time. 

The  new  magistracy  of  the  censors  was  highly  important.  In 
addition  to  making  the  census,  it  was  incumbent  on  the  censors  to 
inspect  the  morals  and  regulate  the  duties  of  the  citizens.  It  became, 
in  after  times,  the  function  only  of  consular  persons,  and  after  them, 
of  the  emperors. 

14.  The  dissentions  between  the  different  orders  of  the 
people,  raged  with  violence ;  but  the  senate,  not  long  after 
their  concession  to  the  people,  adopted  for  themselves  a  very 
wise  expedient.     This  was  to  give  a  regular  pay  to  the  troops, 
an   expense  defrayed  by   a  moderate  tax  on  the  citizens. 
From  this  period  soldiers  were  to  be  obtained,  and  the  senate 
had  the  army  under  its  control.     Roman  ambition  now  be- 
came systematic,  and  irresistible. 

15.  Veii,  the  rival  of  Rome,  was  besieged  by  the  Romans, 
and  after  a  siege  of  ten  years,  was  taken  by  Camillus,  391 
years  B.  C.     Two  years  after,  Falerii,  the  capital  of  the  Fa- 
lisci,  surrendered  to  the  same  general.     The   dominion  of 
Rome,  confined  hitherto  to  a  territory  of  a  few  miles,  was 
now  rapidly  extended. 

§  The  siege  of  Veii  was  attended  with  much  expense  of  blood  and 
treasure  to  the  Romans.  They  nearly  despaired  of  taking  it ;  but 
upon  the  appointment  of  Camillus  dictator,  things  soon  assumed  a 
different  aspect.  He  secretly  wrought  a  mine  into  the  city,  which 
opened  into  the  midst  of  the  capital. 

Then  giving  his  men  directions  how  to  enter  the  breach,  the  city 
was  instantly  filled  with  his  legions,  to  the  utter  confusion  of  the  be- 
sieged. Thus,  like  a  second  Troy,  was  Veii  taken  after  a  ten  years' 
siege,  and  Camillus,  according  to  the  manner  of  the  Roman  kings, 
enjoyed  the  honour  of  a  triumuph. 

It  is  related,  that  during  the  attack  of  Falerii,  a  schoolmaster  be- 
trayed into  the  hands  of  Camillus  all  his  scholars,  expecting  to  obtain 
a  handsome  reward  for  his  treachery.  The  boys  happened  to  be 
the  sons  of  the  principal  Falisci,  and  the  Roman  general  was  given 


ANCIENT  HISTORY PERIOD  VII. 

to  understand,  that  they  would  probably  deliver  up  their  city  to  re- 
cover their  children. 

The  noble  Roman,  shocked  at  this  perfidious  action,  sent  back  the 
boys  in  safety  to  their  parents,  and  giving  each  of  them  a  rod,  bade 
them  whip  the  traitor  into  town.  This  generous  behaviour  of 
Camillus  accomplished  more  than  his  arms  could  have  done.  The 
place  instantly  submitted,  leaving  to  the  Roman  the  conditions  of  the 
surrender,  which  were  of  course  very  mild. 

The  brave  Camillus,  becoming  at  length  an  object  of  envy  or 
jealousy  with  the  people,  he  was  obliged  to  quit  Rome,  arid  live  at 
Ardea,  a  town  in  its  neighborhood,  but  they  had  reason  afitrwards  to 
be  ashamed  of  their  injustice. 

16.  Soon  after  these  successes,  Rome  experienced  a  terrible 
calamity.  It  was  taken,  devastated,  and  burnt  by  the  Gaul?, 
under  Brennus,  385  years  B.  C.  The  capitol,  however,  was 
preserved.  This  the  barbarians  besieged,  but  they  were  soon 
expelled  the  city  by  Camillus. 

§  The  Gauls  were  a  branch  of  the  great  Celtic  nation,  and  inha- 
bited regions  beyond  the  Alps.  These  they  had  penetrated  at  differ- 
ent periods,  and  a  portion  of  this  people  had  already  settled  in  small 
towns  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains.  This  people,  it  seems,  on  some 
occasion,  had  undertaken  the  siege  of  Clusium,  a  city  of  Etruria. 
The  Clusians,  who  were  not  of  a  warlike  character,  immediately  en 
treated  the  mediation  of  the  Romans. 

The  latter  sent  ambassadors  to  Brennus,  but  without  success. 
These  ambassadors  then  retired  to  Clusium,  where  they  appeared  at 
the  head  of  the  Clusians  in  a  sally  against  the  besiegers.  Upon  this, 
Brennus,  in  great  displeasure,  marched  directly  against  Rome. 

In  this  condition,  an  army  was  drawn  out  to  save  the  city ;  but  the 
numbers  and  impetuosity  of  the  barbarians  were  such,  that  no  ef- 
fectual resistance  was  made.  The  greatest  part  of  the  citizens  fled 
for  protection  to  the  neighbouring  cities ;  the  young  and  brave  men 
entered  into  the  capitol,  resolved  to  hold  out  to  the  last  against  the 
enemy ;  and  the  aged  senators  assembled  in  the  senate-house,  deter 
mined  patiently  to  await  their  fate. 

Soon  after  they  entered  the  city,  Brennus,  and  some  of  his  soldiers, 
went  into  the  senate-house.  The  venerable  appearance  of  these  no- 
ble old  men  rendered  the  Gauls  afraid  or  unwilling  to  harm  them. 
A  soldier  at  last  gently  shaking  the  beard  of  Papyrius,  the  old  Roman 
was  so  offended  at  the  act,  that  he  struck  the  man  on  his  head  with 
an  ivory  staff  he  had  in  his  hand :  this  slight  blow  instantly  aroused 
the  fury  of  the  barbarians ;  they  massacred  the  senators  on  the  spot, 
and  set  fire  to  the  city. 

In  this  season  of  distress,  the  Romans  did  not  give  up  all  for  lost. 
The  little  band,  shut  up  in  the  capitol,  made  every  possible  arrange- 
ment for  defence.  They  were  assaulted  in  vain.  At  this  juncture, 
Camillus,  forgetting  all  his  private  wrongs,  gathered  an  army,  with 
which  he  entered  Rome,  and  immediately  put  the  barbarians  to 
flight. 


490—356  B.  c.  89 

/ 

A  singular  occurrence,  showing  the  providence  of  God  in  the  go- 
vernment of  the  world,  attended  the  siege  of  Rome. 

The  capitol  was  at  one  time  nearly  taken  by  surprise :  a  number 
of  Gauls  h  aving  climbed  up  the  steep  rock  on  which  it  stood,  were  about 
to  kill  the  sentinels  and  make  themselves  masters  of  the  place,  when 
some  geese,  kept  near  the  spot,  being  awakened  by  the  noise,  began 
to  flutter  their  wings,  and  cackle  loudly,  so  as  to  arouse  the  soldiers. 
This  little  circumstance  saved  the  capitol,  and  perhaps  the  Roman 
name  from  extinction. 

17.  The  constitution  of  Home  was  still   farther   altered 
about  tliis  time,  367  years  B.  C.     The  plebeians  obtained  the 
right  of  having  one  of  the  two  consuls  chosen  from  among1 
thorn.     The  military  tribunes  were  abolished  the  next  year. 
From  this  period  the  Roman  power  began  rapidly  to  rise. 

§The  vanity  and  ambition  of  a  young  woman  produced  this  change 
in  the  government  of  Rome.  Fabius  Ambustius,  a  patrician,  had 
married  two  daughters,  one  to  a  plebeian,  and  the  other  to  a  patrician. 
The  wife  of  the  plebeian,  envious  of  the  honours  of  her  sister,  pined 
with  discontent. 

Her  father  and  brother,  learning  the  cause  of  her  unhappincss 
promised  her  the- distinct  ion  which  she  desired.  By  their  joint  en- 
deavours, after  much  tumult  and  contest,  they  succeeded  in  obtain 
ing  for  the  plebeians  the  right  of  admission  into  the  consulate.  Lu- 
cius Sextius  was  the  first  plebeian  consul.  The  husband  of  the  ple- 
beian lady,  viz.  Licinius  Stolo,  was  the  second. 

EGYPT. 

18.  The  kingdom  of  EGYPT,  which  had  been  conquered  by 
Cambyses.  king  of  Persia,  was,  under  Darius  Nothus,  a  dis- 
tant successor,  restored  by  Amyrthaeus,  413  years  B.  C.     It 
continued  independent  for  60  years,  under  eight  kings. 

At  the  expiration  of  this  term  it  was  subjected  again  to  the 
Persian  yoke,  by  Artaxcrxes  Ochus. 

§  No  very  interesting  particulars  occur  in  this  portion  of  the  Egyp- 
tian history.  It  is  necessary  only  to  observe,  that  it  was  by  means 
of  aid  afforded  to  them  by  the  Greeks,  that  the  Egyptians,  after  they 
had  revolted,  under  Amyrthaeus,  were  enabled  to  withstand  the  Per- 
sian force  which  sought  to  reconquer  them.  It  was  under  a  king 
called  Nectanebis  that  Egypt  again  lost  her  independence. 

PERSIA. 

19.  The  history  of  the  PERSIAN  empire,  during  this  period, 
is- mostly  involved  in  that  of  the  Greeks,  with  whom  the  for- 
mer was  so  frequently  at  war.     Darius,  Xerxes,  and  Arta- 
xerxes  II.  as  we  have  seen,  were,  during  most  of  their  lives, 
engaged  in  this  war.     Concerning  the  rest  of  the  Persian 
sovereigns,  there  is  little  interesting  to  be  communicated. 

H2 


90  ANCIENT  HISTORY PERIG^  VII. 

§  Artaxerxes  I.  we  are  told,  killed  his  brother  Darius,  being  tie 
ceived  by  Artabanus,  who  imputed  the  murder  of  Xerxes  to  that 
prince:  but  upon  being  acquainted  with  the  truth,  he  put  Artabanus 
and  all  his  family  to  death.     During  his  reign  the  Egyptians  at- 
tempted to  shake  off  his  yoke,  but  were  soon  obliged  to  submit. 

Xerxes  II.  was  assassinated  by  his  brother,  Sogdianus,  45  days  af- 
ter he  ascended  to  the  throne.  Sogdianus,  who  assumed  the  govern- 

C.J  / 

ment,  enjoyed  the  fruits  of  his  fratricide  only  six  months  and  a 
half,  when  he  was  smothered  in  ashes,  (a  mode  of  torture  invented 
on  this  occasion,  and  afterwards  inflicted  on  great  criminals,)  by  or- 
der of  his  brother  Ochus,  who  took  the  name  of  Darius  Not! HIS. 

Darius  Nothus  was  a  weak  prince,  in  whose  reign  it  was  that  the 
Egyptians  recovered  their  independence.  Artaxerxes  II.  succeeded 
him,  who  was  surnamed  Mnemon,  by  the  Greeks,  on  account  of  his 
prodigious  memory.  He  killed  his  brother  Cyrus,  who  had  taken 
arms  against  him,  in  single  battle.  The  10,000  Greeks  who  retreat- 
ed under  Xenophon,  served  in  the  army  of  this  Cyrus. 

Ochus  succeeded  him,  who  poisoned  his  brother,  and  murdered  all 
the  princes  of  the  royal  family.  He  invaded  Egypt,  plundered  the 
temples,  and  killed  the  priests.  But  his  chief  minister,  enraged  at 
the  ruin  of  his  country,  poisoned  him. 

MACEDON. 

20.  The  kingdom  of  MACEDON,  which  was  governed,  dur- 
ing several  hundred  years,  by  the  descendants  of  Caranus, 
was  comparatively  unknown  till  the  time  of  Philip,  who  was 
also  a  descendant  of  Caranus.     Philip  soon  gave  it  celebrity. 
Previously  to  the  birth  of  his  son  Alexander,  he  had  con 
quered  Thessaly,  Peeonia,  and  Illyricuin.     He  had  also  gain 
ed  a  victory  over  the  Athenians,  at  Mythone,  300  years  B.  C. 

§  Philip  ascended  the  throne  by  popular  choice,  in  violation  of  the 
natural  right  of  the  nearer  heirs  to  the  crown  ;  he  secured  his  power 
by  the  success  of  his  arms  against  the  neighbouring  nations.  He  was 
brave,  artful,  and  accomplished,  and  by  his  intrigues  gained  over,  at 
an  early  period  of  his  career,  many  Greeks  to  favour  his  interests. 

In  his  war  against  the  united  Paeonians,  Illyrians,  &c.  he  met  with  sin- 
gularly good  fortune.  Parrnenio,  his  general,  was  sent  against  the 
Illyrians,  and  he  himself  marched  an  army  intoPaeonia  and  Thrace, 
where  he  was  signally  successful.  On  his  return,  a  messenger  ar- 
rived with  news  of  Parmenio's  victory ;  and  soon  after  came  another, 
informing  him  that  his  horses  had  been  victorious  at  the  Olympic 
games. 

This  was  a  victory  that  he  esteemed  preferable  to  any  other.*  Al- 
most at  the  same  time  came  a  third  messenger,  who  acquainted  him 
that  his  wife,  Olympias,  had  brought  forth  a  son,  at  Pella.  Philip, 
terrified  at  so  signal  a  happiness,  which  the  heathens  generally  con- 
sidered as  a  bad  omen,  exclaimed,  "  Great  Jupiter3  in  return  for  so 
many  blessings,  send  me  a  slight  misfortune." 


490— -356  B.  c.  91 

Distinguished  Characters  in  Period  VII. 

1.  Confucius j  the  great  Chinese  philosopher. 

2.  Herodotus,  a  Greek,  the  father  of  profane  history. 

3.  Pindar,  the  chief  of  the  Grecian  lyric  poets. 

4.  Phidias,  a  Greek,  the  most  famous  sculptor  of  antiquity, 

5.  Euripides,  an  eminent  tragic  poet  of  Greece. 

6.  Sophpclesr  an  eminent  tragic  poet  of  Greece. 

7.  Socrates,  the  greatest  of  heathen  moralists-. 

8.  Thucydides,  an  eminent  Greek  historian. 

9.  Hippocrates,  the  father  of  medicine, 

10.  Xenophon,  a  celebrated  general,  historian,  and  phifo 
gopher. 

§  1.  Confucius  was  born  in  the  kingdom  of  Lt,,  which  is  now  the 
province  of  Chan  Long,  551  years  B.  C.  He  was  a  man  of  great 
knowledge  and  extensive  wisdom,  was  beloved  on  account  of  his  vir- 
tues— rendered  great  service  to  his  country  by  his  moral  maxims, 
and  possessed  much  influence  even  with  kingsy  as  well  as  with  his 
countrymen  in  general.  He  died  in  the  73d  year  of  his  age. 

2.  Herodotus  was  born  at  Halicarnassus.     His  history  describes 
the  wars  of  the  Greeks  against  the  Persians,  from  the  age  of  Cyrus 
to  the  battle  of  Mycale.    This  he  publicly  repeated  at  the  Olympic 
games,  when  the  names  of  the  Muses  were  given  to  his  nine  books, 

This  celebrated  work,  which  has  procured  its  author  the  title  of 
father  of  history,  is  written  in  the  Ionic  dialect.  Herodotus  is  among 
the  historians,  what  Homer  is  among  the  poets.  His  style  abounds 
with  elegance,  ease,  and  sweetness.  He  also  wrote  a  history  of  As- 
syria and  Arabia,  but  this  is  not  extant. 

3.  Pindar  was  a  native  of  Thebes.    His  compositions  were  courted 
by  statesmen  and  princes,  and  his  hymns  were  repealed  in  the  tem- 
ples, at  the  celebration  of  the  festivals.    Some  of  his  odes  are  extant, 
greatly  admired  for  grandeur  of  expression,  magnificence  of  style, 
boldness  of  metaphors,  and  harmony  of  numbers. 

Horace  calls  him  inimitable ;  and  this  eulogium  is  probably  not 
undeserved.  After  his  death,  his  statue  was  erected  at  Thebes,  in  the 
public  place  where  the  games  were  exhibited,  and  six  centuries  after- 
wards it  was  viewed  with  pleasure  and  admiration  by  the  geogra- 
pher Pausanias.  He  died  B.  C.  435,  at  the  age,  as  some  say,  of  86. 

4.  Phidias  was  an  Athenian.     He  died  B.  C.  432.    His  statue  of 
Jupiter  Olympius  passed  for  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  world.  That 
of  Minerva,  in  the  Pantheon  of  Athens,  measured  39  feet  in  height, 
and  was  made  of  gold  and  ivory. 

5.  Euripides  was  born  at  Salamis.  He  was  the  rival  of  Sophocles. 
The  jealousy  between  these  great  poets,  was  made  the  subject  of  suc- 
cessful ridicule  by  the  comic  poet  Aristophanes.     It  is  said  that  he 
used  to  shut  himself  up  in  a  gloomy  cave,  near  Salamis,  in  which  he 
Composed  some  of  his  best  tragedies. 

During  the  representation  of  one  of  his  pieces,  the  audience,  dis 


92  ANCIENT  HISTORY PERIOD  VII. 

pleased  with  some  lines  in  the  composition,  desired  the  writer  to 
strike  them  off.  Euripides  heard  the  reproof  with  indignation,  and 
advancing  forward  on  the  stage,  he  told  the  spectators,  that  he  came 
there  to  instruct  them,  and  not  to  receive  instruction. 

The  ridicule  and  envy  to  which  lie  was  exposed  in  Athens  induced 
him  to  retire  to  the  court  of  Archelaus,  king  of  Macedonia,  where  he 
was  entertained  with  the  greatest  munificence.  He  was  here  how- 
ever destined  to  meet  a  terrible  end.  It  is  said  the  hounds  of  the  king 
attacking  him,  in  one  of  his  solitary  walks,  tore  his  body  to  pieces. 
407  B.  C.  in  the  78th  year  of  his  age. 

As  a  poet  he  is  peculiarly  happy  in  expressing  the  passions  of  love, 
especially  the  more  tender  and  animated.  He  is  also  sublime,  and  the 
most  common  expressions  have  received  a  most  perfect  polish  from 
his  pen.  His  productions  abound  with  moral  reflections,  and  philo- 
sophical aphorisms. 

The  poet  was  such  an  enemy  to  the  fair  sex,  that  some  have  called 
him  the  woman  hater.  In  spite  of  his  antipathy  he  married  twice ; 
but  his  connexions  were  so  injudicious,  that  he  was  compelled  to  di- 
vorce both  his  wives.  From  this  cause  may  have  arisen  his  erro- 
neons  conceptions  of  the  female  character.  Of  75  tragedies,  only  19 
remain. 

6.  Sophocles  was  born  about  497  B.  C.  He  was  distinguished  not 
only  a?  a  poet,  but  as  a  statesman  and  general,  and  filled  the  office  of 
archon  with  applause. 

Twenty  times  he  obtained  the  prize  of  poetry  from  his  competi- 
tors. Of  one  hundred  and  twenty  tragedies  which  he  wrote,  seven 
only  are  extant,  but  these  prove  him  to  have  carried  the  drama 
almost  to  perfection. 

Accused  of  insanity  by  his  children,  who  wished  to  obtain  his  pos- 
sessions, the  poet  composed  and  read  his  traged}^  of  CEdipns,  at  Co- 
lonos.  Asking  his  judges  whether  the  author  of  such  a  performance 
could  be  insane,  he  was  at  once  acquitted,  to  the  confusion  of  his  un- 
grateful offspring. 

He  died  in  his  91st  year,  through  excess  of  joy,  at  hearing  of  hie 
having  obtained  a  poetical  prize  at  the  Olympic  Games., 

7.  Socrates  was  a  native  of  Athens.    He  followed  the  occupation 
of  his  father,  who  was  a  statuary,  for  some  time ;  and  some  have  men- 
tioned the  statues  of  the  Graces,  admired  for  their  simplicity  and  ele- 
gance, as  the  work  of  his  own  hands.  He  was  called  away  from  this 
meaner  employment,  for  which,  however,  he  never  blushed,  by  a 
friend  ;  and  philosophy  soon  became  his  study. 

He  appeared  like  the  rest  of  his  countrymen  in  the  field  of  battle, 
and  he  fought  with  boldness  and  intrepidity.  But  his  character  ap- 
pears more  conspicuous  as  a  philosopher  and  moralist,  than  as  a 
warrior.  He  was  fond  of  labour,  bore  injuries  with  patience,  and 
acquired  that  serenity  of  mind  and  firmness  of  countenance  which 
the  most  alarming  dangers  could  never  destroy,  or  the  most  sudden 
calamities  alter. 

He  was  attended  by  a  number  of  illustrious  pupils,  whom  he  in- 
structed by  his  exemplary  life,  as  well  as  by  his  doctrines.  He  spoke 


490—356  B.  c.  93 

with  freedom  on  every  subject,  religious  as  well  as  civil.  This  inde- 
pendence of  spirit,  and  that  visible  superiority  of  mind  and  genius 
over  the  rest  of  his  countrymen,  created  many  enemies  to  him,  ana 
at  length  they  condemned  him  to  death,  on  the  false  accusation  01 
corrupting  the  Athenian  youth,  of  making  innovations  in  the  religion 
of  the  Greeks,  and  of  ridiculing  the  gods  which  the  Athenians  wor- 
shipped. He  drank  the  juice  of  the  hemlock  in  the  70th  year  of  his 
age,  and  died  401  B.  C. 

Socrates  believed  the  divine  origin  of  dreams  and  omens,  and  was 
a  supporter  of  the  doctrine  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul.  From  hv* 
principles,  enforced  by  his  example,  the  celebrated  sects  of  the  Pia- 
tonists,  Stoics,  Peripatetics,  &c.  soon  after  rose. 

8.  Thucydides  was  born  at  Athens.     He  early  appeared  in  the 
Athenian  armies,  but  being  unsuccessful  in  some  expedition,  he  was 
banished  Athens,  in  the  8th  year  of  the  Peloponnesian  war.  He  then 
wrote   his  history  of  the  important  events  of  that  war,  to  its  21si 
year. 

So  deeply  was  Thucydides  inspired  by  the  muse  of  history,  that 
he  shed  tears  when  he  heard  Herodotus  repeat  his  history  of  the 
Persian  wars,  at  the  public  festivals  of  Greece ;  the  character  of  his 
interesting  work  is  well  known.  He  is  considered  highly  authentic 
and  impartial,  and  stands  unrivalled  for  the  fire,  conciseness,  and 
energy  of  his  narrative. 

Thucydides  died  at  Athens,  where  he  had  been  recalled  from  exile, 
in  his  80th  year,  391  B.  C. 

9.  Hippocrates  was  born  in  the  island  of  Cos,  B.  C.  408.    He  im- 
proved himself  by  reading  in  the  tablets  of  the  temples,  the  diseases, 
and  means  of  recovery  of  individuals.     He  was  skilful,  and  devoted 
his  whole  time  to  medical  applications  and  professional  duties.  Some 
say  he  delivered  Athens  from  a  dreadful  plague. 

According  to  Galen,  his  opinions  were  respected  as  oracular.  His 
memory  is  still  venerated,  and  his  writings,  few  of  which  remain, 
procured  him  the  epithet  of  divine.  He  died  in  the  99th  year  of  his 
age,  361  B.  C.,  free  from  all  disorder  of  the  mind  and  body,  and  after 
death,  received  the  highest  honours. 

10.  Xenophon  was  an  Athenian.     He  was  bred  in  the  school  of 
Socrates,  and  acquired  great  literary  distinction.    He  served  in  the 
army  of  Cyrus  the  younger,  and  chiefly  superintended  the  retreat  of 
the  10,000,  after  the  battle  of  the  Cunaxa.    He  afterward  followed 
the  fortunes  of  Agesilaus,  and  acquired  riches  in  his  expeditions. 

In  his  subsequent  retirement  he  composed  and  wrote  for  the  in- 
formation of  posterity,  and  died  at  Corinth,  in  his  90th  year,  359 
B.  C.  He  continued  the  history  of  Thucydides,  wrote  a  life  of  Cy- 
rus the  Great,  and  collected  Memorabilia  of  Socrates.  The  simpli- 
city and  elegance  of  Xenophon's  style  have  procured  him  the  name 
of  the  Athenian  muse,  and  the  bee  of  Greece. 


94  ANCIENT  HISTORY — PERIOD  VI I L 


PERIOD  VIII. 

The  period  of  Roman  Military  Renown,  extending  from 
thn  Birth  of  Alexander •,  356  years  B.  C.  to  the  destruc- 
tion of  Carthage,  146  years  B.  C. 

GREECE. 

SECT.  1.  At  the  commencement  of  this  period,  the  GREEKS 
were  greatly  embroiled  in  domestic  dissensions,  and  were  fast 
falling  from  the  enviable  height  to  which  their  arms  and  na- 
tional spirit  had  formerly  raised  them.  They  were  no  longer 
the  people  they  had  been,  and  were  preparing  \  o  receive  the 
yoke  of  a  master.  From  that  time  their  history  is  connected 
with  that  of  the  Macedonian  monarchy. 

An  attempt  of  the  Phocians  to  plunder  the  temple  of  Del- 
phos,  excited  the  sacred  war,  in  which  almost  all  the  states  be- 
came involved.  The  assistance  of  Philip  being  solicited  by 
the  Thebans  and  Thessalians,  he  commenced  hostilities  by 
invading  Phocis,  the  key  to  Attica.  The  eloquence  of  De- 
mosthenes roused  the  Athenians  to  arms.  But  their  struggle 
was  unsuccessful. 

Philip  met  them  at  Cheronaea,  gained  a  complete  victory, 
and  Greece  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  conqueror.  This  event 
is  dated  338  years  B.  C.  He  however  chose  not  to  treat  them 
as  a  conquered  people.  The  separate  governments  retained 
their  independence,  subject  only,  in  their  national  acts,  to  the 
control  of  Philip.  After  his  death  they  hoped  to  recover  their 
liberty,  but  they  only  changed  masters. 

§  The  sacrilege  of  the  Phocians  in  robbing  the  temple  of  Delphos, 
subjected  them  to  a  summons  to  appear  before  the  Amphictyonic 
council,  to  answer  for  their  crime.  A  fine  being  imposed,  disputes 
arose,  which  could  be  settled  only  by  arms.  The  war  continued  10 
years. 

The  interference  of  Philip  at  this  juncture  was,  as  might  have 
been  expected,  fatal  to  the  liberties  of  Greece.  He  contrived  to  have 
the  Phocians  expelled  from  the  Amphictyonic  council,  and  to  be  him- 
self chosen  in  their  place. 

The  eloquence  of  Demosthenes  delayed  for  a  time  the  fate  of 
Gveece.  He  was  ever  stirring  up  the  Athenians  against  Philip  and 
satirizing  that  king.  His  speeches  were  called  Philippics,  since  they 
wore  directed  against  Philip,  and  hence  Philippics  has  been  a  term 
signifying  "  speeches  against  any  person." 

Demosthenes,  it  is  well  known,  had  to  contend  against  many  na 


356— -146  B.  c.  95 

tural  impediments,  in  attaining  the  art  of  addressing  a  popular  assem- 
bly. As  a  proof  of  his  triumphant  success,  it  is  recorded,  that 
^Eschines,  a  rival  orator,  once  repeated  a  speech  of  his  own,  and  one 
of  Demosthenes.  His  own  was  much  applauded,  but  that  of  Demos- 
thenes applauded  much  more.  "  Ah  !"  said  the  generous  ^Eschines, 
"  how  would  you  have  applauded  it,  had  you  heard  Demosthenes 
speak  it." 

Soon  after  the  battle  of  Cheronsea,  Philip,  calling  a  general  coun- 
cil of  the  states  was  appointed  commander  in  chief  of  the  forces  of 
Greece  ;  but  on  the  eve  of  attempting  the  conquest  of  Persia,  he  was 
assassinated  by  Pausanias,  a  captain  of  his  guards,  from  private  re- 
sentment. The  hopes  inspired  by  his  death  proved  abortive,  as  the 
Greeks  soon  came  under  the  yoke  of  his  successor. 

2.  Greece  was  entered  by  Alexander,  son  of  Philip,  336 
years  B.  C.  He  obliged  the  Athenians  to  submit,  burnt 
Thebes,  and  was  declared  commander  in  chief  of  the  Grecian 
forces,  in  the  expedition  against  Persia,  which  he  began  the 

next  year. 

§  Alexander  was  20  years  old,  when  the  death  of  Philip  raised  him 
to  the  throne.  The  celebrated  Aristotle  was  his  teacher,  and  under 
him,  the  youthful  prince  early  desired  to  distinguish  himself.  He 
read  much ;  Homer's  Iliad  he  especially  studied. 

\Mien  very  young,  he  managed  the  fiery  war-horse  Bucephalus, 
which  no  one  else  dared  to  mount.  In  honour  of  this  steed,  he  af- 
terwards built  a  city  which  he  called  Bucephala.  When  he  attended 
his  father  to  battle,  he  manifested  not  only  valour,  but  skill ;  and  once 
had  the  happiness  to  save  his  parent's-  iife,  when  it  was  in  great  dan- 
ger from  an  enemy. 

At  Corinth  he  saw  Diogenes,  named  the  Cynic,  because  he  affect- 
ed great  dislike  to  wealth  and  rank,  and  lived  in  a  strange,  rude  man- 
ner. Alexander  asked  him  whether  he  wanted  any  thing.  "  Yes," 
said  Diogenes,  "  I  want  you  to  stand  out  of  my  sunshine,  and  not  to 
take  from  me,  \vhat  yon  cannot  give  me." 

Alexander  admired  this  speech,  and  directly  remarked,  "Were  I 
not  Alexander,  I  would  be  Diogenes."  As  if  he  had  said,  "  Had  I  not 
all  things  as  Alexander,  I  would  desire  to  scorn  all  things  as  Dio- 
genes." 

Before  his  expedition  into  Asia,  which  will  soon  be  mentioned,  he 
was  resolved  to  consult  the  oracle  at  Delphos ;  but  as  he  visited  the 
temple  on  a  day  on  which  it  was  forbidden  to  ask  the  oracle,  the 
priestess  refused  to  go  into  the  temple.  Alexander,  unaccustomed  to 
denial,  seized  her  by  the  arm  and  drew  her  forwards.  "  Ah,  my  son, 
you  are  irresistible !"  exclaimed  the  priestess.  "  These  words,"  he 
observed,  "  are  a  sufficient  answer." 

The  Grecian  states  had  revolted  after  the  death  of  Philip ;  but 
Alexander,  in  a  few  successful  battles,  brought  them  into  subjection. 
In  an  assembly  of  the  deputies  of  the  nation  at  Corinth,  he  commu- 
nicated to  them  his  resolution  of  undertaking  the  conqtiest  of  Persia, 
agreeably  to  the  designs  of  his  father  Philip. 


96  ANCIENT  HISTORY PERIOD  VIII. 

3.  Alexander,  at  the  head  of  the  Grecian  forces,  invaded 
Persia  335  years  B.  C.  He  was  then  not  22  years  of  age. 
He  took  with  him  only  35,000  men,  and  with  this  small  force, 
he  conquered  not  only  Persia,  but  Syria,  Egypt,  India,  and 
several  other  countries,  and  meditated  the  design  of  proceed- 
ing to  the  Eastern  ocean,  which,  however,  he  was  obliged  to 
relinquish. 

He  accomplished  his  immense  undertaking  within  the 
short  space  of  six  years.  On  his  return  home,  while  he  tar- 
ried at  Babylon,  he  died  suddenly  in  a  fit  of  debauch,  as  some 
have  maintained,  in  the  33d  year  of  his  age,  and  the  13th  of 
his  reign.  Alexander  was  not  destitute  of  some  traits  which 
we  love  in  human  beings ;  but  in  a  moral  point  of  view,  he 
must  be  regarded  as  a  mighty  murderer,  and  enemy  of  hu- 
man happiness. 

§  The  first  exploit  of  Alexander  in  this  expedition,  was  the  passage 
of  the  Granicus,  which  he  effected  notwithstanding  the  opposition  of 
the  Persians,  who  lost  20,000  men  in  the  conflict.  The  fruit  of  this 
victory  was  the  submission  of  all  Asia  Minor. 

The  next  encounter  between  the  Macedonians  or  Greeks,  and  the 
Persians,  was  in  333  B.  C.,  near  the  town  of  Issus,  in  which  the  lat- 
ter lost  100,000  men  ;  and  the  mother,  wife,  and  children  of  Darius, 
the  Persian  monarch,  fell  into  the  hands  of  Alexander. 

After  this  victory  he  overrun  all  Syria,  took  Damascus,  where  he 
found  the  treasures  of  Darius,  destroyed  Tyre,  entered  Jerusalem, 
stormed  Gaza,  subjugated  Egypt,  and  visited  the  temple  of  Jupiter 
Ammon,  in  the  Lybian  desert,  where  he  caused  himself  to  be  pro- 
claimed the  son  of  that  fictitious  deity ;  on  his  return  he  built  the 
city  of  Alexandria. 

Returning  from  Egypt  he  found  Darius  with  his  forces  concentra- 
ted on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Tigris  ;  a  battle  ensued  at  Arbela,  331 
years  B.  C.,  in  which  300.000  Persians  were  slain,  or  as  some,  with 
greater  probability,  say,  40,000,  and  but  500  Macedonians.  Darius  be- 
took himself  to  flight,  and  was  slain  by  Bessus,  one  of  his  lieutenants. 
Babylon,  Suza,  and  Persepolis,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  conqueror, 
who  set  fire  to  the  last,  at  the  instigation  of  the  courtezan  Thais. 

Having  finished  the  conquest  of  Assyria,  Persia,  and  Media- 
Alexander  crossed  the  mountains  of  Caucasus,  entered  llyrcania,  and 
subdued  all  the  nations  south  of  the  Oxus.  He  then,  passing  into 
Sogdiana,  overtook  the  perfidious  Bessus,  and  put  him  to  death. 
While  in  Sogdiana,  he  killed  the  veteran  Clitus,  his  friend,  in  a  fit  01 
intoxication/ 

In  328  B.  (X  he  projected  the  conquest  of  India.  Penetrating  be- 
yond the  Hydaspes,  he  defeated  Porus,  a  king  of  that  country.  He 
still  continued  his  course  to  the  East ;  but  when  he  arrived  at  the 
banks  of  the  GangeSj  his  soldiery  seeing  no  end  to  their  toils. 


356—146  B.  c.  97 

^5&f 

go  no  farther.    He  returned  to  the  Indus,  and  pursuing  hfs  course 
southward  by  that  river,  he  arrived  at  the  ocean,  whence  he  des 
patched  his  fleet  to  the  Persian  Gulf. 

After  his  arrival  at  Babylon,  he  gave  himself  up  to  much  intempe- 
rance, but  was  still  projecting  new  conquests,  when  death  suddenly 
put  an  end  to  his  career.  Alexander  possessed  some  generosity  of 
nature,  but  his  vicious  habits  often  overpowered  it.  Intoxication  and 
the  love  of  conquest  render  his  name  odious  to  a  good  man. 

One  or  two  instances  of  amiable  native  feeling,  will  show  what  h 
might  have  been,  could  he  have  controlled  his  violent  passions. 

He  conducted  himself  very  dutifully  towards  his  mother,  listened 
to  her  reproofs  with  mildness  and  patience,  and  when  Antipater,  whom 
he  left  to  govern  Macedonia  in  his  absence,  wrote  a  long  letter  com- 
plaining of  Olympias,  the  king  said,  with  a  smile,  "  Antipater  does 
not  know  that  one  tear  shed  by  a  mother,  will  obliterate  ten  such 
letters  as  this." 

When  he  conquered  Porus,  who  was  seven  and  a  half  high,  this  sin- 
gularly tall  man,  as  he  was  introduced  to  Alexander,  was  asked  by  him 
how  he  would  be  treated,  "  Like  a  king,"  replied  Porus.  Alexander 
was  so  much  pleased  with  this  answer,  that  he  restored  his  kingdom  to 
him,  and  ever  afterwards  treated  him  with  kindness  and  respect. 

4.  The  conquests  and  acquisitions  of  Alexander  were  divi- 
ded, soon  after  his  death,  among  thirty-three  of  his  principal 
officers.  Four,  however,  of  his  generals,  at  length  obtained 
the  whole,  312  years  B.  C.  having  partitioned  the  empire 
among  themselves.  It  then  constituted  four  considerable 
monarchies. 

The  names  of  these  generals  were  Ptolemy,  Lysimachus, 
Cassander,  and  Seleucus.  Egypt,  Lybia,  Arabia,  and  Pales- 
tine, were  assigned  to  Ptolemy ;  Macedonia  and  Greece  to 
Cassander ;  Bithynia  and  Thrace  to  Lysimachus ;  but  the 
remaining  territories  in  Asia,  as  far  as  the  river  Indus,  which 
were  called  the  kingdom  of  Syria,  to  Seleucus. 

The  most  powerful  of  these  divisions  was  that  of  Syria, 
under  Seleucus  and  his  descendants,  and  that  of  Egypt  under 
the  Ptolemies.  Only  Ptolemy  and  Seleucus  transmitted  their 
empires  to  their  children. 

§  Alexander  nominated  no  successor.  He  had  a  son,  called  Her- 
cules, by  one  of  his  wives,  named  Barsine.  He  also  left  a  brother, 
Aridaeus.  Aridams,  and  another  son  of  Alexander,  born  subsequent- 
ly to  the  conqueror's  death,  and  called  after  his  own  name,  were 
soon  destroyed.  Hercules  and  Barsine,  and  Cleopatra,  the  only  sis- 
ter of  Alexander,  shared  the  same  fate,  not  long  afterwards. 

Thus  his  whole  family  became  extinct.  Of  this  destruction,  the 
contentions  of  his  generals  were  the  cause,  and  the  cause  of  those 
contentions  was  the  neglect  of  appointing  a  successor.  The  vanity  of 

* 


98  ANCIENT  HISTORY — PERIOD  VIII. 

human  grandeur,  in  this  instance,  appears  peculiarly  striking.  Of  the 
wars  and  intrigues  of  these  generals  among  themselves,  we  need 
give  no  account,  as  they  are  not  interesting.  Some  subsequent 
events,  relating  to  them  or  their  sovereignties,  will  be  mentioned  in 
the  proper  place. 

5.  From  the  period  of  Alexander's  death,  the  history  of  the 
Grecian  states,  to  the  time  of  their  subjugation  by  the  Romans, 
presents  only  a  series  of  uninteresting   revolutions.     This 
people  had  lost  their  political  distinction.   The  last  effort  made 
to  revive  the  expiring  spirit  of  liberty,  was  the  formation  of 
the  Achaean  league,  which  was  a  union  of  12  of  the  smaller 
states,  for  this  object. 

This  took  place  281  years  B.  C.,  but  it  effected  little.. 

§  Immediately  after  Alexander's  death,  Demosthenes  made  one 
more  effort  to  vindicate  the  national  freedom,  and  to  rouse  his  coun- 
trymen to  shake  of  the  yoke  of  Macedon  ;  but  it  was  too  late.  The 
pacific  counsels  of  Phocion,  suited  far  better  the  timi'd  or  languid 
spirit  of  the  people.  Antipater,  who  governed  Greece  a  short  time 
after  Alexander's  death,  demanded  that  Demosthenes  should  be  de  • 
livered  up  to  him.  But  Demosthenes  prevented  this  by  committing 
suicide. 

Phocion,  though  he  opposed  Demosthenes,  was  one  of  the  most 
eminent  men  of  Greece.  He  recommended  peace :  inasmuch  as  he 
was  honest  himself,  he  did  not  suspect  the  cunning  of  the  enemy  of 
his  country.  After  having  been  chosen  general  45  times,  and  after 
having  performed  the  greatest  services  for  his  country,  he  was  con- 
demned to  die  by  the  ungrateful  Athenians. 

When  about  to  swallow  the  dose  of  hemlock,  that  was  to  poison 
him,  he  was  asked  what  message  he  would  send  to  his  son.  "  Tell 
him,"  said  this  virtuous  old  man,  "  that  I  desire  he  will  not  remember 
the  injustice  of  the  Athenians." 

The  government  of  the  Achaean  league  was  committed  to  Aratus, 
of  Sicyon,  wkh  the  title  of  Praetor,  a  young  man  of  great  ambition, 
who  immediately  conceived  the  idea  of  freeing  the  whole  country 
from  the  Macedonian  dominion.  But  this  plan  was  defeated  by  the 
jealousy  of  the  greater  states. 

Sparta  refused  to  follow  the  guidance  of  the  Praetor  of  Achaia,  and 
Aratus,  forgetful  at  once  of  the  interests  of  his  country,  thought  of 
nothing  but  to  wreak  his  vengeance  against  Sparta.  For  this  purpose 
he  solicited  the  a^d  even  of  the  Macedonians  themselves. 

6.  Macedonia  and  Greece  were  now  preparing  to  follow 
the  fate  of  ail  the  nations  within  the  grasp  of  Roman  ambi- 
tion.    Their   period  of  conquest  was   ended ;   that  of  their 
subjugation  was  at  hand.     The  Romans,  as  we  shah1  soon 
learn,  had  become  the  most  powerful  of  the  contemporary  na- 
tions. 


356—146  B.  c.  99 

An  occasion  was  offered  for  the  interference  of  the  Romans 
in  the  affairs  of  Macedonia  and  Greece — an  occasion  which 
was  eagerly  embraced.  Macedonia,  with  its  last  king,  Per- 
seus, first  fell,  167  years  B.  0.  Twenty-one  years  afterwards, 
Greece  surrendered  its  independence  to  Rome,  whose  legions 
were  led  by  the  consul  Mummius.  This  event  was  hastened 
by  the  dissensions  which  the  Romans  fomented  between  the 
different  states  of  Greece. 

An  insult,  said  to  have  been  received  by  the  deputies  of 
Rome  from  the  Achaeans,  furnished  the  pretext  for  an  attack 
on  Greece.  From  this  time,  Greece  became  a  province  of 
Rome,  under  the  name  of  Achaia. 

§  The  occasion  of  the  introduction  of  the  Romans  into  Greece,  was 
an  invitation  from  the  JEtolians,  to  assist  them  in  repelling  an  attack 
by  Macedonia.  Nothing  could  have  better  suited  the  wishes  of  the 
Romans.  Perseus,  a  successor  of  Alexander  in  the  part  of  his  em- 
pire which  fell  to  Cassander,  was  then  kin*. 

He  persuaded  the  Acha3ans  to  join  him  in  his  preparations  againsl 
Rome.  After  being  sometimes  the  conqueror,  and  sometimes  the 
conquered,  he  was  at  last  vanquished  by  Paulus  ^Emilius,  at  Pydna, 
and  himself  and  all  his  family  taken  prisoners.  They  were  carried 
to  Rome,  and  served  to  swell  the  train  of  the  conqueror.  Perseus 
starved  himself  to  death,  and  Macedonia  became  a  province  of  Rome. 

The  Romans  had,  in  effect,  conquered  Greece,  by  their  arts,  before 
they  made  use  of  their  arms.  They  had  corrupted  many  of  the 
principal  Greeks ;  and,  on  the  pretence  above  mentioned,  they  marched 
their  legions  against  this  once  renowned  people.  Metellus,  the  con- 
sul, began  the  war,  which  Mummius  completed. 

Corinth,  in  which  the  Greeks  made  a  last  stand,  was  razed  and 
burnt  to  the  ground.  Diaeus,  who  commanded  the  Greeks  in  this 
city,  killed  his  wife,  to  prevent  her  from  falling  into  the  hands  of  the 
enemy,  and  then  took  poison,  of  which  he  died.  Corinth  was  de- 
strqyed  the  same  year  which  witnessed  the  destruction  of  Carthage, 
146  B.  C.,  which  latter  event  we  have  referred  to  the  beginning  of  the 
next  period, — having  anticipated  this  item  of  the  Grecian  history. 

Some  time  previously  to  the  subjugation  of  Greece,  Philopcemen 
was  selected  to  command  the  forces  of  the  Achaean  cities.  He  was 
an  admirable  man ;  but,  in  one  instance,  he  stained  his  character  by 
his  conduct  towards  the  Spartans,  numbers  of  whom  he  cruelly 
butchered,  when  that  city  was  taken  by  him. 

He  was,  however,  called  to  suffer  in  his  turn ;  for,  at  70  years  ol 
age,  he  was  taken  prisoner,  when  besieging  Messena.  The  Messe- 
nians  were  so  delighted  to  possess  this  illustrious  man  in  bondage, 
that  they  dragged  him  in  chains  to  the  public  theatre,  for  crowds  to 
gaze  upon  him. 

At  night,  he  was  put  into  a  dungeon,  and  the  jailor  carried  to  him 
a  dose  of  poison.  He  calmly  received  the  cup,  and,  having  heard 


100  ANCIENT  HISTORY PERIOD  VIII. 

that  most  ol  his  friends  had  escaped  by  flight,  he  said,  "  then  I  find 
we  are  not  entirely  unfortunate,"  and,  drinking  off  the  fatal  draught, 
without  one  murmur,  laid  himself  down  and  expired. 

About  this  same  time,  Sparta  had  a  king  called  Nabis,  who  was 
notorious  for  his  cruelty  and  avarice.  Most  of  the  wealthy  citizens 
he  banished  from  Sparta,  that  he  might  seize  their  riches,  and  many 
he  caused  to  be  assassinated.  He  had  received  Argos  from  Philip,  in 
pledge  for  some  money  which  he  had  lent  that  monarch.  He  there 
practised  the  most  shocking  cruelties. 

He  had  invented  a  machine,  in  the  form  of  a  statue,  resembling  his 
wife,  the  breast,  arms,  and  hands  of  which  were  full  of  pegs  of  iron, 
covered  with  magnificent  garments.  If  any  one  refused  to  give  him 
money,  he  was  introduced  to  this  machine,  which,  by  means  of  cer- 
tain springs,  caught  fast  hold  of  him,  and,  that  he  might  deliver 
himself  from  this  exquisite  torture,  he  readily  granted  whatever  Na- 
bis desired. 

ROME. 

7.  ROME,  at  the  commencement  of  this   period,  under  cir- 
cumstances more  favourable  for  conquest  than  it  ever  had  been 
before,  was  not  long  in  subduing  the  petty  nations  within  a 
moderate  distance  of  its  territory.     The  name  of  "  Gauls"  still 
inspired  some  terror,  but  the  Romans  soon  began  to  despise 
them,  after  they  had  repressed  one  or  two  invasions. 

8.  Having  subdued  all  their  neighbours,  such  as  the  Her- 
iiici,  the  ./Equi,  the  Volci,  &c.  the  Romans  began  to  look  for 
greater  conquests.    They  soon  found  an  occasion  against  the 
Samnites,  a  numerous  and  warlike  people  inhabiting  the  south 
of  Italy,  with  whom  they  were  engaged  in  war  71  years. 
This  war  commenced  343  years  B.  C.     A  war  with  the  La- 
tins commenced  three  years  afterwards.     The  Latins  were 
soon  subjugated. 

§  The  Samnites  possessed  that  tract  of  country,  which  at  this  day 
constitutes  a  considerable  part  of  the  kingdom  of  Naples.  They 
were  a  far  more  formidable  enemy,  both  as  to  numbers  and  disci- 
pline, than  the  Romans  had  hitherto  contended  with.  Two  consuls 
were  at  first  sent  against  them.  The  fortune  of  Rome  attended  one 
of  them  ;  but  th?  other,  Cornelius,  was  involved  in  difficulty. 
,  Having  been  surrounded  by  the  Samnites,  his  army  must  have  per- 
ished had  not  the  tribune  Decius,  with  400  men,  made  a  diversion 
in  his  favour.  Decius  advanced  to  seize  a  hill  in  the  midst  of  the 
enemy.  This  bold  attempt  cost  the  life  of  every  one  of  his  soldiers. 
Decius  alone  escaped,  but  he  preserved  the  army  of  the  consul. 

In  the  war  with  the  Latins,  at  this  time  a  distinct  nation,  again 
Titus  Manlius,  who  was  consul,  gave  a  most  remarkable  instance  of 
well  meant,  but  mistaken  severity.  He  had  ordered  the  Roman  sol- 
diers not  to  quit  their  ranks,  without  permission,  on  pain  of  death. 


35G— 146  B.  c.  101 

A  son  of  the  consul  happened,  with  his  detachment,  to  meet  a  troop 
of  Latins,  headed  by  Metius. 

Metius  scoffingly  addressed  the  Romans,  and  at  last  dared  their 
young  commander  to  fight  him.  The  son,  forgetful  of  the  orders  of 
his  father,  or  regardless  of  them,  in  his  indignation,  sprang  forward 
to  the  encounter,  and  soon  conquered  the  Latin.  Then  gathering  to- 
gether the  arms  of  the  fallen  foe,  he  ran  to  his  father's  tent,  and 
throwing  them  at  his  feet,  told  his  story. 

But  tragical  was  the  issue.  The  consul  turned  from  him,  and  or 
dering  the  troops  to  be  assembled,  thus  addressed  him  in  their  pro 
sence. 

"Titus  Manlius  !  you  this  day  dared  to  disobey  the  command  oi 
your  consul,  and  the  orders  of  your  father ;  you  have  thus  done  an 
injury  to  discipline  and  military  government,  and  must,  by  youi 
death,  expiate  your  fault.  Your  courage  has  endeared  you  to  me,  bul 
I  must  be  just ;  and  if  you  have  a  drop  of  my  blood  in  your  veins 
you  will  not  refuse  to  die,  when  justice  demands  it.  Go,  lictor,  and  tie 
him  to  the  stake." 

The  astonished  young  man  showsd  his  noble  spirit  to  the  last,  and 
as  calmly  knelt  down  beneath  the  axe,  as  he  had  bravely  wielded  his 
sword  against  the  enemies  of  his  country.  The  whole  Roman  armies 
mourned  his  early  death.  How  unnatural  were  even  the  virtues  of 
the  Romans,  in  many  instances ! 

9.  The  Avar  with  the  Samnites  continued  with  occasional 
suspensions,  but  was  destined  to  end  only  with  their  ruin. 
The  Romans  were  generally  successful  in  their  battles, 
though,  in  one  instance,  a  Roman  army  experienced  a  signal 
mortification,  in  being  obliged  to  pass  under  the  yoke. 

The  Tarentincs,  having  become  the  allies  of  the  Samnites, 
shared  their  fate.  The  Samnites  were  completely  subdued, 
272  years  B.  C.,  although,  in  the  mean  time,  the  Romans  had 
on  hand  a  war  with  some  other  states,  as  will  be  soon  men- 
tioned. 

§  During  the  war  with  the  Samnites,  their  general,  Pontius,  de- 
coyed the  Romans  into  a  defile,  in  which  they  were  wholly  in  the 
power  of  their  enemies.  Rejecting  the  advice  of  his  father,  which 
was  either  to  put  them  all  to  death,  or  honourably  to  free  them,  he 
chose  a  middle  course,  and  determined  to  disgrace  them. 

For  that  purpose,  he  obliged  the  Roman  soldiers,  with  their  officers 
leading  the  way,  to  pass  half  naked  under  the  yoke— a  sort  of  gal- 
iows  made  of  three  spears,  two  being  fixed  firmly  in  the  ground,  and 
one  laid  across  on  the  top  of  the  others.  This  was  considered  an  in- 
sufferable disgrace. 

The  Romans  keenly  felt  the  indignity,  and  not  having  their  power 
in  the  least  crippled  by  this  means,  only  became  the  more  impatient 
to  subdue  their  rivals.  They  had  soon  an  opportunity  of  inflicting 
upon  the  Samnites  a  similar  odium,  and  of  obliging  them  at  length  to 
sue  for  peace. 

12 


102  ANCIENT  HISTORY — PERIOD  VIII. 

10.  The  Romans  had  a  short  contention  with  the  Tus- 
cans, 312  B.  C.  Daring  two  successive  years,  they  were  de- 
feated,— in  the  last  by  Fabius.  But  the  most  important  war, 
about  this  time,  was  that  in  w  hich  they  were  engaged  with 
Pyrrhus,  king  of  Epirus. 

The  aid  of  this  celebrated  general  had  been  sought  by  the 
Tarentines.  as  allies  with  the  Samnites,  in  their  united  con- 
test with  Rome.  He  landed  in  Italy  with  30,000  men,  and  a 
train  of  elephants,  and  commenced  an  attack  on  the  Romans. 

After  various  turns  of  fortune,  he  was  at  last  totally -defeat- 
ed, with  the  loss  of  26,000  men,  and  returned  with  haste  to 
Lis  dominions.  From  this  time,  the  hostile  states,  left  to  bear 
alone  the  Aveight  of  the  Roman  power,  were  no  longer  for- 
midable, and  all  Italy  submitted  to  Rome,  about  270  years 
B.  C. 

§  Pyrrhus  was  born  to  be  a  warrior  ;  but  warriors  make  themselves 
miserable.  When  he  was  preparing  to  comply  with  the  invitations  of 
the  Tarentines,  Cineas,  a  wise  and  good  man,  asked  him  what  were 
his  intentions  and  expectations  ? 

"  To  conquer  Rome,"  said  Pyrrhus. 

"  And  what  will  you  do  next,  my  lord  ?" 

"  Next,  I  will  conquer  Italy." 

"  And  what  after  that  ?" 

"  We  will  subdue  Carthage,  Macedonia,  all  Africa,  and  Greece." 

"  And  when  we  have  conquered  all  we  can,  what  shall  we  do  ?" 

"Do  !  then  we  will  sit  down,  and  spend  our  time  in  comfort." 

"  Ah !  my  lord !"  said  the  reasonable  Cineas,  "  what  prevents  our 
being  in  peace  and  comfort  now  ?" 

Having  arrived  in  Italy,  he  speedily  conquered  the  Romans  under 
their  consul  Laevinius.  This  victory  was  thought  to  have  been  gain- 
ed by  the  effect  produced  by  the  elephants  of  Pyrrhus's  army,  the 
Roman  horses  taking  fright  at  the  sight  of  these  huge  animals.  Pyr- 
rhus was  surprised  at  the  valiant  and  skilful  conduct  of  the  Romans, 
for,  at  that  time,  all  people,  except  those  of  one's  own  nation,  were 
considered  barbarians,  rude  and  unknowing. 

After  the  first  battle,  observing  the  noble  and  stern  countenances 
of  his  enemies,  as  they  lay  dead  on  the  field,  Pyrrhus,  awed  into  re- 
spect, cried  out,  in  the  true  spirit  of  military  ambition,  "  O  with  what 
ease  could  I  conquer  the  world,  had  I  the  Romans  for  soldiers,  and 
had  they  me  for  their  king !"  He  gained  a  second  victory,  but  after 
that  he  found  himself  losing  ground  daily,  and  was  glad  to  leave 
Italy  before  he  was  entirely  conquered.  The  people  of  Sicily  had 
sent  to  him  for  assistance  ;  thither  he  went. 

In  Sicily,  he  also  experienced  a  change  of  fortune,  at  first  prospe- 
rous, and  then  adverse.  So  that  he  once  more  returned  to  Italy,  being 
almost  driven  from  Syracuse  by  the  Carthaginians.  The  Romans 


356—146  B.  c.  103 

fell  before  him  again ;  but  at  last,  they  terribly  defeated  him,  and  he 
was  obliged  to  return  with  haste  to  his  own  country. 

An  anecdote,  illustrating  the  generosity  of  the  Romans  and  of  Pyr- 
rhus,  and  shewing  that  this  was  the  age  of  Roman  virtue,  is  worth  re- 
cording. One  of  the  physicians  of  Pyrrhus  told  the  Romans,  that 
he  would  poison  his  master,  if  they  would  give  him  a  large  reward. 
Fabricius,  the  Roman  general,  was  shocked  at  this  treachery,  and  di- 
rectly informed  Pyrrhus  of  it,  sending  away  the  physician  with 
scorn ;  "  for,"  said  the  general,  "  we  should  be  honourable  even  to 
our  enemies."  Pyrrhus  would  not  be  outdone  in  generosity,  and  ex- 
pressed his  gratitude  by  sending  to  Rome  all  his  prisoners  without 
ransom,  and  by  desiring  to  negotiate  a  peace. 

11.  The  different  states  of  Italy  had  now  lost  their  inde- 
pendence ;  but  after  their  conquest,  they  did  not  all  bear  the 
same  relation  to  Rome.  Their  privileges  were  unequal,  va- 
rying according  to  the  different  terms  granted  to  the  con- 
quered, and  afterwards  modified  according  to  their  fidelity 
to  the  parent  state.  Some  were  entirely  subjected  to  the  Ro- 
man laws ;  others  were  allowed  to  live  under  the  original  in- 
stitutions ;  and  some  were  tributary,  and  others  allies. 

The  success  of  the  war  with  Pyrrhus,  gave  the  Romans 
reputation  abroad.  They  now  seemed  to  themselves  to  be 
equal  to  any  enterprise.  They  had  long  been  jealous  of  the 
growing  power  of  Carthage,  and  easily  found  a  pretext  for 
declaring  war  against  that  republic.  It  was  alleged  that 
Carthage  had  rendered  assistance  to  the  enemies  of  Rome. 

Thus  commenced  what  is  commonly  called  the  first  Punic 
War,  264  years  B.  C.  It  lasted  23  years.  The  Romans 
were  in  general  victorious,  though  they  were  once,  under  Re- 
gulus,  severely  beaten  before  the  gates  of  Carthage.  Their 
first  attempts  in  naval  warfare  were  made  during  this  conten- 
tion. They  were  highly  successful  in  them,  although  the  Car- 
thaginians had  been  long  celebrated  for  their  enterprise  and 
courage  on  the  ocean. 

The  Romans  won  several  naval  battles,  and  took  the 
strongest  of  the  Sicilian  towns,  Sicily  being  the  principal 
scene  of  the  war.  The  i/1  success  of  the  Carthaginians,  re- 
duced them  to  the  necessicy  of  making  peace  on  very  humili- 
ating terms.  They  were  required  to  quit  Sicily,  return  all  the 
prisoners  they  had  taken,  and  pay  3,200  talents  of  silver. 

§  The  Mamertines,  who  inhabited  a  small  section  of  the  island  of 
Sicily,  had  put  themselves  under  the  protection  of  Rome,  with  a  view 
to  ward  off  impending  ruin,  with  which  the  Carthaginians  threatened 
them,  as  allies  of  Hiero,  king  of  Syracuse.  The  Romans,  too  prouOi 


104  ANCIENT   HISTORY — PERIOD   VIII, 

to  dignify  the  Mamertines  with  the  name  of  allies,  instead  of  pro- 
fessing to  assist  them,  boldly  declared  war  against  Carthage,  alleging 
as  a  reason,  the  assistance  not  long  before  rendered  by  Carthage  to 
the  southern  parts  of  Italy,  against  the  Romans. 

Such  was  the  frivolous  pretext  for  this  sanguinary  war.  It  was  the 
object,  both  of  Carthage  and  Rome  respectively,  to  reduce  Sicily  en- 
tirely to  its  sway.  The  Carthaginians  had  already  possessed  them- 
selves of  a  considerable  part  of  it.  The  Syracusans  at  first  having 
confederated  with  the  Carthaginians,  at  length  turned  against  them. 

Agrigentum  was  taken  from  the  Carthaginians,  after  a  long  siege; 
and  a  fleet  of  the  Romans,  the  first  they  ever  possessed,  and  which 
they  had  equipped  in  a  few  weeks,  defeated  that  of  Carthage,  in  a 
most  signal  manner.  A  second  naval  engagement  soon  followed,  at- 
tended with  like  success,  the  Carthaginians,  under  Hanno  and  Hamil 
car,  losing  60  ships  of  war. 

These  victories  so  much  encouraged  the  Romans,  that  they  boldly 
crossed  the  Mediterranean  sea,  and  landing  in  Africa,  took  the  small 
town  of  Clypea.  Regulus,  the  leader,  was  ordered  to  remain  there, 
and  continue,  as  pro-consul,  to  command  the  troops ;  but  he  earnestly 
requested  to  return  home,  as  he  had  a  small  estate  of  seven  acres 
which  required  his  care. 

A  person  was  directed  to  perform  this  service,  and  then  Regulus, 
satisfied  that  his  wife  and  children  would  have  food,  willingly  devo- 
ted himself  to  his  public  duties.  The  Carthaginians  had  procured 
forces  from  Sparta  under  Xantippus,  and  thus  supported,  defeated 
the  Romans,  and  took  Regulus  prisoner. 

Regulus  having  been  kept  in  prison  several  years,  was  then  sent  to 
Rome  to  propose  peace,  and  an  exchange  of  prisoners.  He  was  first 
obliged  to  take  an  oath  that  he  would  return  to  Carthage,  if  he  did 
not  succeed  in  his  proposals.  When  this  noble  Roman  made  his  ap- 
pearance among  his  countrymen,  they  were  all  touched  by  his  mis- 
fortunes, and  were  willing  to  purchase  his  freedom,  by  granting  the 
request  of  his  enemies. 

But  he  would  not  allow  his  country  to  suffer  for  his  sake,  and, 
though  he  knew  that  torture  and  death  awaited  him  at  Carthage,  he 
besought  the  Romans  to  send  him  back,  and  to  refuse  the  Carthagi- 
nians their  prisoners.  The  senate,  with  the  utmost  pain,  consented 
to  this  disinterested  advice ;  and,  in  spite  of  the  tears  of  his  wife,  the 
embraces  of  his  children,  and  the  entreaties  of  his  friends,  Regulus 
returned  to  Carthage. 

The  sequel  may  be  easily  conjectured.  As  soon  as  the  Carthagi- 
nians saw  him  come  back  with  a  denial,  they  put  him  to  every  kind 
of  suffering  they  could  invent — to  the  most  barbarous  tortures,  all  of 
which  he  bore  with  patient  silence.  He  died  as  heroically  as  he  had 
lived. 

After  various  successes  on  both  sides,  the  Romans  gained  two  na- 
val battles,  and  thus  so  effectually  crippled  the  strength  of  the  Car- 
thaginians on  their  own  element,  that  they  sought  a  peace  by  great 
sacrifices.  The  isl  and  of  Sicily  was  now  declared  a  Roman  province, 
though  Syracuse  maintained  her  independent  government. 


356—146  B.  c.  105 

i 

12.  A  peace  of  twenty-three  years'  continuance  subsisted 
between  Rome  and  Carthage,  during  which  time  the  Ro- 
mans had  two  short  contentions — first  with  the  Illyrians,  and 
next  with  the  Gauls.     Over  both  of  these  nations  the  Roman 
arms  triumphed.     The  temple  of  Janus,  which  was  never 
shut  during  a  time  of  war,  was  now  shut  for  the  second  time, 
since  the  foundation  of  the  city,  235  B.  C.     The  Romans, 
at  this  era,  began  to  cultivate  the  arts  of  peace,  and  to  acquire 
a  taste  for  literature.  ' 

§  The.  war  with  the  Illyrians  was  owing  to  depredations  committed 
by  them,  on  the  trading  subjects  of  Rome.  Redress  being  refused, 
the  consuls  marched  against  them,  and  most  of  the  Illyrian  towns 
were  obliged  to  surrender.  The  war  with  the  Gauls  was  occasioned 
by  the  irruption  of  these  barbarians  upon  Italy.  The  Romans  oppo- 
sed them,  with  such  success,  that  they  lost  two  kings,  and  in  one  bat- 
tle alone  40,000  men  killed  and  10,000  taken  prisoners. 

13.  The  peace  between  the  Romans  and  Carthaginians  was 
rather  a  matter  of  policy  than  of  inclination.    The  Carthagi- 
nians particularly  had  improved  the  time  in  preparing  for  re- 
venge.   They  began  the  aggression  in  the  second  Punic  war, 
by  laying   siege  to  Saguntum,  a  city  of  Spain,  in  alliance 
with  Rome.  Their  leader  in  this  war  was  the  celebrated  Han- 
nibal, son  of  Hamilcar,  under  whom  the  first  Punic  war  was 
principally  conducted.  The  son  inherited  the  father's  enmity 
fo  the  Romans,  and  was  greatly  superior  to  him  in  talents. 

The  war  commenced  218  years  B.  C.,  and  lasted  17  years. 
It  was  at  first  highly  favourable  to  the  Carthaginians,  and 
Rome  was  thrown  into  imminent  danger,  and  great  distress, 
by  the  victories  of  Hannibal,  who  had  carried  the  war  into 
Italy.  But  the  Roman  fortune  began  at  length  to  prevail, 
and  Hannibal  was  recalled  to  save  Carthage  itself,  inas- 
much as  Scipio  the  Roman  general,  who  triumphed  in  Spain, 
had  passed  over  into  Africa,  and  spread  terror  to  the  gates  of 
Carthage. 

Hannibal  and  Scipio  met  at  Zama;  the  battle  of  that 
place  decided  the  fate  of  the  war,  and  the  Carthaginians  sued 
for  peace,  which  they  obtained  only  by  abandoning  Spain, 
Sicily,  and  all  the  islands — by  surrendering  all  their  prisoners, 
and  nearly  the  whole  of  their  fleet,  by  paying  10,000  talents, 
and  by  engaging  to  undertake  no  war  without  the  consent  of 
Rome. 

§  Of  Hannibal  it  is  recordedj  that  when  only  nine  years  of  age,  at 


106  ANCIENT  HISTORY PERIOD  VIM. 

the  instance  of  his  father,  he  took  a  solemn  oath  at  the  altar,  decla 
ring  himself  the  eternal  enemy  of  the  Romans ;  and  never  had  they 
so  terrible  a  foe.    Like  most  other  great  soldiers,  he  was  capable  of 
bearing  fatigue  and  hardship,  heat  and  cold,  good  and  bad  fortune  in 
the  extreme,  with  entire  equanimity,  and  without  shrinking. 

He  was  simple  in  dress,  rigid  in  self-government — he  ate,  drank 
and  slept  only  so  much  as  to  support  his  body,  jind  give  him  strength 
to  perform  the  intentions  of  his  great  mind.  If,  however,  we  are  to 
believe  the  accounts  of  his  enemies,  he  was  not  without  striking 
moral  defects — being  cruel,  negligent  of  his  truth  and  honour,  and  a 
scorner  of  the  religion  of  his  country. 

Hannibal  crossing  the  sea  from  Africa  to  Europe,  and  taking  Sa- 
guntum,  in  Spain  marched  through  Spain,  and  over  the  Pyrennean 
hills  into  Gaul,  along  the  coast  of  that  country,  and  over  the  lofty 
Alps  crowned  with  snow,  to  Italy — a  land  journey  of  1000  miles. 
Such  an  exploit  had  never  been  done  before.  The  difficulties  of  the 
way  would  have  disheartened  any  other  man.  In  addition  to  this  he 
passed  through  various  barbarous  tribes,  with  most  of  whom  he  was 
obliged  to  fight  for  a  passage ;  the  Gauls  among  the  rest  attempting 
to  oppose  his  progress. 

He  arrived  in  Italy  with  only  20,000  foot  and  6000  horse.  When 
he  began  this  wonderful  enterprise  he  was  only  26  years  old. 
Several  Roman  generals  of  approved  talent  and  valour  opposed  him, 
yet  he  was  on  the  point  of  making  himself  master  of  proud  Rome.  In 
the  first  engagement  near  the  Ticinus,  the  Romans  were  defeated, 
and  they  Lost  two  other  important  battles  at  the  Trebia  and  the  lake 
Thrasymenus. 

Advancing  to  Cannae,  the  Carthaginians  were  opposed  by  the 
whole  force  of  Rome ;  but  in  vain.  Their  fine  army  under  their 
consuls  was  totally  routed.  Varro  gave  orders  for  the  battle  against 
the  wish  of  his  colleague  Paulus  ./Emilius  ;  but  the  encounter  once 
begun,  ^Gmilius  fought  with  the  utmost  skill  and  bravery,  and  died 
covered  with  wounds. 

Just  before  his  death  he  was  found  sitting  on  a  stone,  faint  and 
streaming  with  blood.  The  soldier  who  discovered  him,  besought 
him  to  mount  his  horse,  and  put  himself  under  his  protection.  "  No,33 
said  ^Emilius  with  gratitude,  "  I  will  not  clog  you  with  my  sinking 
frame ;  go  hasten  to  Rome,  and  tell  the  senate  of  this  day's  disaster, 
and  bid  them  fortify  the  city,  for  the  enemy  is  approaching  it.  I  will 
die  with  my  slaughtered  soldiers,  that  I  may  neither  suffer  the  in- 
dignation of  Rome  myself,  nor  be  called  upon  to  give  testimony 
against  my  colleague,  to  prove  my  own  innocence." 

It  is  an  opinion  generally  entertained,  though  by  no  means  certain, 
that  if  Hannibal  had  marched  directly  to  Rome,  after  the  battle  of 
Cannae,  the  fate  of  the  republic  wrould  have  been  inevitable.  But 
this  he  did  not  see  fit  to  attempt.  The  tide  of  success  now  began  to 
turn  against  him.  Wintering  his  troops  in  the  luxurious  city  of  Cap- 
ua, they  lost  much  of  their  virtue. 

The  Romans  concentrated  all  their  strength,  even  the  slaves,  arm- 
ed in  the  common  cause  j  and  victory  once  more  attended  the  stan 


356—146  B.  c.  107 

dards  of  Rome.  Hannibal  retreated  before  the  brave  Marcelltis. 
The  forces  of  the  king  of  Macedon,  who  had  joined  the  Carthaginians, 
were  also  defeated  at  this  juncture. 

While  Fabius,  who  was  now  opposed  to  Hannibal,  conducted  the 
war  prosperously,  by  always  avoiding  a  general  engagement,  the 
younger  Scipio  accomplished  the  entire  reduction  of  Spain.  Asdrubal 
was  sent  into  Italy  after  a  long  delay,  to  the  assistance  of  his  brother 
Hannibal,  but  was  defeated  by  the  consul  Claudius,  and  slain  in  battle. 

Scipio,  having  triumphed  in  Spain,  passed  over  into  Africa,  where 
his  path  was  marked  with  terror  and  victory.  This  policy  he  had 
himself  suggested  to  the  Roman  senate,  as  the  only  probable  means 
of  driving  the  Carthaginians  from  Italy.  According  to  his  expecta- 
tions, when  Carthage  perceived  the  danger  to  which  itself  was  ex- 
posed, Hannibal  was  recalled  to  protect  his  native  land.  He  had  beeu 
absent  16  years. 

Scipio  was  an  antagonist  worthy  of  Hannibal.  When  he  was 
very  young,  he  saved  the  life  of  his  father  in  a  battle ;  and  after  the 
fatal  overthrow  at  Cannae,  hearing  of  some  young  men  who  thought 
of  abandoning  their  country,  he,  with  a  few  other  resolute  spirits, 
suddenly  entered  the  room  where  they  were  deliberating,  and  fiercely 
drew  his  sword  and  exclaimed,  "whoever  is  against  Rome,  this  sword 
is  against  him."  The  young  men,  intimidated  by  his  resolution,  or 
inspired  by  his  spirit^  took  a  vow  with  him  and  his  companions,  to 
fight  for  their  country  whilst  a  drop  of  blood  remained  in  their  veins. 

The  meeting  at  Zama,  in  Africa,  between  Hannibal  and  Scipio,  the 
two  greatest  warriors  in  the  world,  was  highly  interesting.  They  gazed 
on  each  other  with  mutual  awe  and  admiration.  Hannibal  in  vain  strove 
to  procure  honourable  terms  of  peace.  The  youthful  Roman,  however, 
answered  him  with  pride  and  disdain ;  and  the  armies  prepared  for  battle. 

The  contest  was  dreadful ;  but  the  superior  vigour  of  the  Romans, 
notwithstanding  the  skill  of  the  Carthaginians,  prevailed.  The  latter 
lost  40,000  men  in  killed  and  in  prisoners,  and  were  thus  obliged  to 
conclude  a  fatal  peace.  Carthage  was  nearly  ruined.  As  to  Hanni- 
bal, he  survived  this  battle  several  years ;  but  being  hated  and  hunted 
by  the  Romans  from  place  to  place,  he  committed  the  unjustifiable  act 
of  suicide,  so  common  in  ancient  times. 

"Let  us  relieve  the  Romans  of  their  fears,"  said  he,  "by  closing 
the  existence  of  a  feeble  old  man."  He  died  at  70  years  of  age,  at  the 
court  of  Prussias,  king  of  Bythynia.  The  second  Punic  war  ended 
with  the  battle  at  Zama,  B.  C.  201. 

14.  The  Roman  dominion  now  rapidly  extended.  Other 
victories  over  other  enemies  attended  the  arms  of  the  republic. 
Philip  king  of  Macedon  was  defeated  by  the  Romans  under 
Flaminius  in  Thessaly,  197  years  B.  C.  The  Gauls  received 
some  signal  overthrows. 

§  The  war  with  Philip  is  called  the  first  Macedonian  war,  and  was  ter- 
minated by  the  request  of  Philip  for  peace,  which  the  senate  granted 
the  second  year  of  the  contest.  The  second  Macedonian  war,  which 
terminated  the  monarchy,  as  also  that  vhich  put  a  period  to  Grecian 


108  ANCIENT  HISTORY — PERIOD  VIII. 

liberty,  have  already  been  narrated  in  the  history  of  Macedonia  and 
Greece. 

15.  Five  years  afterwards,  or  192  years  B.  C.,  commenced 
the  Syrian  war,  under  Antiochus  the  Great.     This  ended  in 
his  entire  defeat,  and  in  the  cession  to  the  Romans  of  all 
Asia  Minor.     The  pretext  of  this  war  was,  that  Antiochus 
Jiad  made  encroachments  on  the  Grecian  states,  who  were 
then  called  the  allies  of  Rome.     These  successes,  by  pouring 
wealth  into  Rome,  began  to  corrupt  the  simplicity  of  the  an 
cient  manners. 

SICILY. 

16.  The  history  of  SICILY  is  considerably  included  in  that 
of  Rome  and  other  nations,  but  a  few  particulars  may  deserve 
a  separate  notice.     In  early  times  the  government  was  a 
monarchy,  but  it  afterwards  became  a  republic,  and  continued 
such,  except  at  Syracuse,  the  monarchy  of  which,  after  60 
years,  was  re-established  in  the  person  of  Dionysius  the  Elder. 

The  Sicilians  were  frequently  engaged  in  wars  with  the 
Carthaginians,  and  the  latter,  in  the  course  of  time,  possessed 
themselves  of  a  considerable  part  of  the  island.  It  was  the 
scene  and  the  object  of  the  first  Punic  war;  and  in  the  se- 
cond, the  whole  of  it  was  brought  under  the  sway  of  Rome, 
by  the  consul  Marcellus,  212  years  B.  C. 

§  This  important  island  in  the  Mediterranean  sea,  the  granary  of 
Italy,  was  settled  in  an  early  age  of  the  world,  though  the  exact  pe- 
riod is  unknown.  The  Phoenicians  had  sent  colonies  thither  before 
the  Trojan  war.  The  Greeks  at  later  periods  made  considerable  set- 
tlements in  the  island.  The  Corinthians  founded  Syracuse,  which 
became  the  most  renowned  of  the  Greek  cities  of  Sicily. 

The  regal  government  exercised  in  the  various  parts  of  the  island, 
having  become  excessively  tyrannical,  was  the  cause  of  its  being 
abolished  in  all  the  cities  held  there  by  the  Greeks.  Dionysius,  how- 
ever, a  person  of  mean  birth,  but  great  talents,  found  the  means  of 
reviving  the  monarchy  at  Syracuse,  and  though  thrice  expelled  on 
account  of  his  tyranny,  he  re-assumed  the  sceptre,  which  he  transmit- 
ed  to  his  son,  Dionysius  the  Younger. 

This  weak  and  detestable  tyrant  had  been  well  educated  by  the 
great  Plato ;  but  he  soon  forgot  all  the  good  that  had  been  taught 
him.  He  so  provoked  his  virtuous  brother-in-law  Dion,  (whom  the 
jealousy  of  the  nobles  had  banished,)  by  marrying  Dion's  wife  to  one 
of  his  courtiers,  that  the  latter  led  an  army  to  Syracuse,  drove  the 
tyrant  from  his  throne,  and  recovered  his  wife.  In  the  hands  of  Dion 
the  government  was  administered  with  much  moderation  and  ability , 
but  this  excellent  sovereign  was  at  last  cruelly  murdered 


356—146  B.  c.  109 

i 

At  his  death  Dionysius  again  ascended  the  throne,  and  was  again 
driven  from  it ;  and  after  all  his  various  fortunes,  it  is  said  he  became 
a  school-master  at  Corinth.  The  brave  and  humane  Timoleon,  a 
Greek,  was  the  person  who  accomplished  the  second  banishment  of 
this  tyrant.  Timoleon  was  sent;  for  to  assist  the  Syracusans  against 
the  Carthaginians,  and  having  defeated  them,  he  entered  Syracuse  in 
triumph. 

Dionysius,  being  unfit  to  rule,  surrendered  himself  and  his  citadel 
into  his  hancls,  and  was  sent  to  Corinth.  Timoleon  again  defeated 
the  Carthaginians  under  Asdrubal  and  Amilcar,  and  at  length  sub- 
dued all  the  enemies  of  Syracuse.  After  having  served  Syracuse 
and  the  whole  island  to  the  extent  of  his  power,  he  gave  up  his 
authority,  and  lived  the  rest  of  his  days  in  tranquil  retirement. 

A  few  years  after  the  battle  of  Cannae,  Marcellus  the  Roman  con- 
sul, laid  siege  to  Syracuse ;  and  in  spite  of  the  wonderful  machines 
constructed  and  employed  by  Archimedes,  he  finally  took  it.  Mar- 
cellus, who  was  acquainted  with  the  extraordinary  abilities  of  this 
man,  when  the  city  had  fallen  into  his  hands,  gave  orders,  that 
Archimedes  should  be  conducted  to  him  in  safety. 

When  the  city  was  taken,  this  philosopher  was  so  absorbed  in 
study,  that  he  was  not  aware  of  the  event,  until  a  soldier,  rushing  into 
his  apartment,  bade  him  rise  and  follow  him.  Archimedes  desired  him 
to  wait  a  moment  until  he  had  solved  the  problem  that  he  was  work- 
ing. The  soldier,  not  understanding  what  he  was  talking  about,  arid 
provoked  at  his  disobedience,  drew  his  sword  and  killed  him  on  the 
spot.  Marcellus  was  greatly  disappointed  at  this  event. 

SYRIA. 

17.  During  the  present  period  the  kingdom  of  Syria,  or 
Syro-Medio,  rose  into  importance  under  its  founder  Seleucug 
Nicator,  or  the  Conqueror,  312  years  B.  C.    In  the  first  divi- 
sion of  Alexander's  empire,  the  country  anciently  called  Syria, 
fell  to  the  lot  of  Antigonus.     But  Seleucus,  a  distinguished 
and  able  officer  in  the  empire,  revolted,  and  made  war  upon 
Antigonusj  who  being  slain  at  the  battle  of  Ipsus,  Seleucus 
remained  possessor  of  his  dominions.    The  sovereigns  of  this 
new  kingdom,  after  him,  were  known  under  the  name  of  Se- 
leucidee. 

§  Syria  was  first  inhabited  by  the  posterity  of  Aram,  the  youngest 
son  of  Shem.  The  kings  of  this  country  were  little  known  till  the  time 
of  Alexander  the  Great,  except  what  is  related  of  them  in  the  Bible. 
Hadadezer  made  an  unsuccessful  war  against  David.  Benhadad  was 
three  times  defeated  by  Ahab  and  Ahaziah.  A  few  other  particulars 
are  related  of  the  Syrian  kings,  till  Syria  was  made  a  province  of 
the  Assyrian  Empire  by  Tiglath-Pileser,  who  defeated  and  slew  Re- 
zin,  the  king  of  Syria,  in  battle. 

18.  The  second  and  last  division  of  Alexander's  empire 
was  formerly  mentioned.     Seleucus  who  retained  Syria  to 

K 


110  ANCIENT  HISTORY — PERIOD  VIII. 

which  other  possessions  were  added,  made  war  upon  I  ^ysi- 
machus,  who  had  reduced  Macedonia  under  his  sway.    Lysi 
machus  was  lolled,  and  Seleucus  seized  on  his  kingdom.  But 
the  conqueror  was  assassinated  the  same  year,  by  Ptolemy 
Ceraunus,  who  afterwards  reigned  at  Macedon. 

§  Of  the  Seleucidae,  or  successors  of  Seleucus,  to  the  end  of  this 
period,  the  following  epitome  may  be  given.  Antiochus  Soter,  or  the 
saviour,  succeeded  the  conqueror.  Of  this  Antiochus  it  is  recorded, 
that  when  a  young  man,  he  fell  in  love  with  one  of  his  father's  wives, 
a  young  and  beautiful  woman,  to  such  a  degree,  as  to  be  nearly  re- 
duced to  death. 

His  physician  discovering,  from  the  agitation  of  his  pulse  at  the 
sight  of  Stratonice,  (the  name  of  the  object  of  his  passion,)  the  true 
cause  of  his  disease,  made  it  known  to  Seleucus  the  father.  From 
affection  to  the  son  he  renounced  Stratonice,  and  gave  her  to  him  in 
marriage,  280  B.  C. 

Antiochus  Theos,  or  the  God,  invaded  Egypt.  During  his  ab- 
sence the  provinces  of  the  East  were  entered  by  the  Parthians,  who 
founded  a  new  kingdom.  The  Bactrians  also  became  independent. 
He  made  peace  with  Ptolemy  Philadelphus,  and  married  his  daugh- 
ter Berenice,  after  repudiating  his  wife.  The  king  of  Egypt  being 
dead,  he  took  back  his  former  wife,  who  poisoned  him,  Berenice,  and 
her  son,  261  B.  C. 

After  the  reigns  of  Seleucus  Callinicus,  and  Seleucus  Ceraunus,  re 
specting  whom  nothing  remarkable  took  place,  Antiochus  the  Great, 
ascended  the  throne.     He  was  at  first  engaged  in  subduing  some  of 
his  revolted  governors.  Afterwards  he  invaded  Media,  Parthia,  Ffyr- 
cania,  Bactria,  and  even  India,  223  B.  C. 

Having  planned  the  conquest  of  Asia  Minor,  and  taken  some  places 
there,  an  embassy  was  sent  by  the  Romans,  desiring  him  to  desist. 
This  brought  on  the  war  with  the  Romans  which  has  been  partici 
larly  detailed.  In  this  attempt  he  first  conquered  a  part  of  Greece. 
Here  the  Romans  defeated  him,  and  being  closely  pursued  by  Scipio 
Asiaticus,  he  was  beaten  again  in  Asia.  Among  one  of  the  conditions 
of  peace  was  the  delivery  of  his  son  Antiochus,  as  a  hostage  to  the 
Romans. 

Seleucus  Philopater,  who  was  left  by  his  father  to  govern  Syria, 
during  his  absence,  next  ascended  the  throne,  187  years  B.  C.     His 
general  Heliodorus,  in  attempting  to  rob  the  temple  of  Jerusalem  of 
its  treasures,  was  repulsed  by  the  hand  of  God,  and  rigorously  ehas 
tised.  He  poisoned  Seleucus  after  his  return. 

Antiochus  Epiphanes,  the  son  who  was  delivered  as  a  hostage  tc 
the  Romans,  and  exchanged,  after  chastising  Heliodorus,  gained  pos 
session  of  the  throne,  175  years  B.  C.  In  attempting  to  reduce  Egypt 
under  his  dominion,  he  was  stopped  by  a  Roman  ambassador,  who 
obliged  him  to  return. 

Incensed  at  this,  he  vented  his  rage  against  the  Jews,  took  Jerusa- 
lem, slaughtered  40,000  persons,  and  made  as  man}''  prisoners.  The 
Jews,  however,  revolted,  and  under  Judas  Maccabceus  defeated  seve- 


356— 146  B.C.  Ill 

ral  of  his  generals.  These  wars  will  be  detailed  in  the  history  of  the 
Jews.  Antiochus,  in  attempting  to  exterminate  the  Jews,  perished  in 
great  torments. 

Antiochus  Eupator  and  Demetrius  Soter  continued  the  war  with 
the  Jews,  and  Alexander  Balas,  the  last  sovereign,  during  this  period, 
abandoned  himself  to  a  life  of  debauchery. 

JEWS. 

20.  In  the  history  of  the  Jews  at  the  commencement  of 
this  period,  we  have  to  notice  the  favour  which  was  mani 
fested  towards  them  by  Alexander  the  Great,  who  granted  to 
them  the  freedom  of  their  country,  laws,  and  religion,  and  ex- 
empted them  from  paying  tribute  every  seventh  year. 

In  thek  dependent  state,  they  had  continued  to  enjoy  a  de- 
gree of  prosperity  under  the  sovereigns  of  Persia,  even  after  the 
time  of  Cyrus.  His  successors,  down  to  the  era  of  Alexander, 
had,  in  general,  treated  them  with  much  kindness.  But  with 
the  latter  expired  the  prosperous  state  of  Judea,  324  years 
B.  C. 

§  Darius,  son  of  Cyrus,  favoured  the  Jews  during  his  long  reign. 
Xerxes  confirmed  their  privileges.  Under  Artaxerxes  they  were  still 
more  favoured  through  the  influence  of  his  queen  Esther,  a  Jewess. 
From  this  prince,  Ezra  obtained  very  liberal  donations  to  be  applied 
to  the  service  of  the  temple,  and  authority  to  re-establish  the  govern- 
ment according  to  the  divine  constitution,  480  years  B.  C. 

Several  years  afterwards,  under  the  same  prince,  Nehemiah  his 
cup-bearer,  obtained  leave  to  go  to  Jerusalem  and  rebuild  its  walls. 
He  and  Joiada  the  high  priest  reformed  many  abuses  respecting 
tithes,  the-  observation  of  the  sabbath,  and  the  marrying  of  strange 
wives. 

In  the  latter  period,  to  which  our  accounts  more  particularly  refer, 
it  is  recorded  that  Jaddus,  the  high  priest,  in  his  priestly  attire,  met 
Alexander  the  Great,  and  shewed  him  the  prophecy  of  Daniel,  ID 
which  his  conquest  was  foretold. 

21.  From  this  time,  323  years  B.  C.,  Judea  was  succes 
sively  invaded  and  subdued  by  the  Egyptians  and  Syrians, 
and  the  inhabitants  were  reduced   to  bondage.     In  conse- 
quence of  an  invasion  by  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  about  170 
years  B.  C.  the  sacrifices  ceased  among  the  Jews,  and  there 
scarcely  existed   any  external  signs  of  their  peculiar  civil  or 
religious  polity. 

Such  persecutions  roused  the  Jews  to  drive  the  Syrians 
from  Judea,  which  they  gloriously  achieved  under  Judas 
Maccabseus,  166  years  B.  U. 

§  Under  the  priesthood  of  Onias  I.,  Ptolemy,  governor  of  Egypt 
taking  advantage  of  the  circumstance  that  the  Jews  would  not  fight 


1  12  ANCIENT  HISTORY — PERIOD  V1I1. 

on  the  sabbath,  captured  Jerusalem  on  that  day,  and  carried  off 
100,000  persons,  whom,  however,  he  afterwards  treated  kindly. 

When  Eleazer  was  high  priest,  he  sent  to  Ptolemy  Philadelphia 
six  men  of  every  tribe,  to  translate  the  sacred  scriptures  into  Greek. 
This  translation  is  the  celebrated  one  called  the  Septuaoint,  277 
B.C. 

Jason,  170  B.  C.,  on  false  reports  of  Antiochus'  death,  raised  great 
disturbances  in  Jerusalem,  with  a  view  to  recover  the  high  priest- 
hood. Antiochus  (Epiphanes)  irritated  by  the  frequent  revolts  of 
the  Jews,  marched  to  Jerusalem,  slew  80,000  people,  took  40,000 
captives,  and  then  entered  the  temple  and  plundered  the  treasures. 

Antiochus  having  commanded  the  Jews  to  observe  the  rites  of  the 
heathen,  and  to  eat  of  the  sacrifices,  some  of  the  more  conscientious 
among  them  chose  rather  the  loss  of  life ;  among  whom  were  a  mo- 
ther and  her  seven  sons,  who  expired  in  dreadful  tortures.  The  same 
year  the  king's  commissioner,  who  was  entrusted  with  this  iniquitous 
business,  was  killed  by  Mattathias  and  his  five  sons,  who  thereupon 
fled  into  the  wilderness. 

Judas  Maccabeus,  at  the  head  of  those  who  fled  into  the  wilder- 
ness, made  war  against  Antiochus,  and  defeated  several  of  his  gene- 
rals. The  king  hearing  of  the  deieat  of  his  troops  in  Judea,  took  an 
oath,  that  he  would  destroy  the  whole  nation.  As  he  hastened  to 
Jerusalem,  he  fell  from  his  chariot,  and  died  miserably. 

In  a  battle  with  a  general  of  one  of  his  successors,  Judas  was  killed. 
Jonathan  his  brother  succeeded,  and  was  made  high  priest,  153  years 
B.  C.  A  younger  brother  had  been  previously  killed.  The  remain- 
der of  the  history  of  the  Maccabees  is  to  be  pursued  in  the  next  suc- 
ceeding period.  " 

EGYPT. 

22.  EGYPT,  having  been  in  subjection  30  years  since  it 
was  last  brought  under  the  Persian  yoke,  was  subdued  by 
Alexander  the  Great,  332  years  B.  C.  He  appointed  Ptol- 
emy Lagus  its  governor,  who.  after  the  conqueror's  death,  be- 
gan a  new  dynasty  of  kings,  called  Ptolemseans  or  Lagidse 
323  years  B.  C. 

This  dynasty  lasted  294  years,  and  ended  in  Cleopatra. 
Of  the  sovereigns  that  belong  to  the  period  now  treated  of,  we 
find  the  names  of  six  of  various  characters. 

Ptolemy  Lagus,  called  also  Soter  or  Saviour,  was  a  man  of  great 
bilities,  and  endeavoured  to  restore  Egypt  to  its  ancient  splendour. 
He  erected  the  famous  library  at  Alexandria.    He  subdued  Syria, 
Phoenicia,  Cyprus,  and  Jerusalem. 

Ptolemy  Philadelphus,  or  Lover  of  his  brother,  pursued  the  steps 
of  his  father  in  a  great  measure.  He  protected  commerce,  arts,  and 
sciences,  and  erected  magnificent  buildings.  Ptolemy  Evergetes,  or 
th«  Benefactor,  was  not  only  a  lover  of  science,  but  an  author.  He 
S]  9 red  no  pains  to  enrich  his  library. 

Ptolemy  Philopater,  or  Lover  of  his  father,  a  surname  probably 


356— 14bB.  r.  113 

^  /ven  him  m  derision,  being  suspected  to  have  put  his  father  to  death, 
was  a  cruel  prince.  He  slew  his  brother,  murdered  his  queen,  and 
ordered  all  the  Jews  within  his  dominions  to  abjure  their  religion, 
which  however  they  refused  to  do. 

Ptolemy  Epiphanes,  or  the  Illustrious,  w'as  famous  only  for  his 
vices.  He  suffered  every  thing  to  fall  into  disorder,  and  was  at  last 
poisoned  by  his  subjects. 

Ptolemy  Philometer,  or  Lover  of  his  mother,  engaged  in  an  un- 
successful war  against  Syria,  in  which  he  was  taken  prisoner,  and 
the  crown  given  to  his  brother  Physcon ;  but  after  Philometer  re 
gained  his  liberty,  they  reigned  jointly. 

PARTHIA. 

23.  The  history  of  PARTHIA  begins  at  this  era.    Arsacea, 
a   nobleman,   descended    as   some  think   from   Artaxerxea 
Mncmon,  king  of  Persia,  revolted   from  Antiochus   Theos, 
king  of  Syria  (256  B.  C.)  and  founded  the  new  kingdom  of 
Parthia,  which  at  first  consisted  only  of  the  province  so  called, 
From  him  his  successors  are  called  Arsacidee. 

§  The  single  province  of  Parthia  was  not  large ;  but  the  Parthian 
empire  included  not  only  Parthia,  but  Hyrcania,  Sogdiana,  Bactria, 
Persia,  Media,  and  several  other  regions.  Parthia  was  first  sub- 
ject to  the  Medes,  afterwards  to  the  Persians,  and  lastly  to  Alexander 
the  Great :  upon  whose  death,  it  fell  to  the  share  of  Seleucus  Nicator ; 
and  his  successors  held  it  till  the  reign  of  Antiochus  Theos. 

They  were  a  warlike  people,  and  the  best  horsemen  and  archers  in 
the  world.  For  the  sake  of  war,  they  neglected  agriculture,  trade, 
and  all  other  callings. 

24.  The  Arsacidse  were  in  general  conquerors,  and  greatly 
extended  their  dominions  from  time  to  time.     Mithridates  I. 
the  fifth  from  Arsaces,  was  a  man  of  uncommon  wisdom  and 
courage.     He  reduced  the   Bactrians,  Persians,  Medes,  and 
Elymaeans,  and  extended  his  dominions  into  India,  beyond 
the  boundaries  of  Alexander's  conquests. 

CHINA. 

25.  The  third  dynasty  of  the  emperors  of  CHINA,  which 
commenced   1110   years   B.   C.,  ended  during  this  period 
viz.  246  years  B.  C.     It  included  35  emperors.     It  is  called 
the  dynasty  of  Tcheou. 

The  fourth  dynasty,  which  began  at  the  latter  date,  lasted 
43  years,  terminating  203  years  B.  C.  It  included  four  em- 
perors. It  is  called  the  dynasty  of  Tsin. 

§  Chaus  the  fourth  emperor  of  the  third  dynasty  was  excessively 
fond  of  hunting.  In  the  pursuit  of  that  sport,  he  did  incalculable 
damage  to  the  crops  of  his  subjects.  Their  remonstrances  being  un- 
heeded, they  determined  to  destroy  him.  For  this  purpose,  as  he 


114  ANCIENT  HISTORY — PERIOD  VIII. 

was  wont  to  pass  a  large  river,  on  his  return  from  the  chase,  in  a 
boat  which  waited  for  him,  they  caused  one  to  be  built  of  such  con- 
struction as  to  break  in  pieces  before  it  reached  the  opposite  shore. 
Entering  his  boat,  he  and  his  attendants  soon  went  to  the  bottom. 

Ching,  the  second  emperor  of  the  fourth  dynasty,  left  a  monument 
of  his  power,  which  still  astonishes  those  that  behold  it,  viz.  the  fa- 
mous wall,  500  leagues  long,  which  separates  China  from  its  north- 
ern neighbours.  He  suppressed  the  tributary  kingdoms,  and  reduced 
them  to  their  former  state  of  provinces. 

Elated  with  his  success,  he  became  ambitious  of  being  thought  the 
first  sovereign  of  China.  With  this  view  he  ordered  all  the  historical 
writings  and  public  records  to  be  burned,  and  many  of  the  learned 
men  to  be  buried  alive,  that  past  events  might  not  be  transmitted 
to  posterity. 

Distinguished  Characters  in  Period  VIII. 

1.  Plato,   an   eminent   Grecian    philosopher,   caUed    the 
Divine. 

2.  Apelles,  the  greatest  of  the  painters  of  antiquity. 

3.  Alexander  the  Great,  conqueror  of  most  of  the  world 
known  to  the  ancients. 

4.  Demosthenes,  the  prince  of  orators. 

5.  Aristotle,  the  ablest  logician  and  philosopher  of  antiquity. 

6.  Euclid,  the  greatest  master  of  mathematical  science. 

7.  Theocritus,  the  father  of  pastoral  poetry. 

8.  Zeno,  the  founder  of  the  Stoic  school  of  philosophy. 

9.  Archimedes,  a  famous  geometrician  of  Syracuse. 

1.  Plato  was  born  about  429  years  B.  C.  His  name,  Aristocles,  was 
changed  to  Plato,  from  the  largeness  of  his  shoulders.    He  was  8 
years  the  pupil  of  Socrates,  after  whose   death,  he  travelled  into 
foreign  countries.   When  he  had  finished  these,  he  retired  to  the 
groves  of  Academus,  where  he  was  attended  by  a  crowd  of  noble  and 
illustrious  pupils. 

His  learning  and  virtues  were  topics  of  conversation  in  every  part 
of  Greece ;  he  was  elegant  in  his  manners,  and  partook  of  innocent 
pleasures  and  amusements.  He  died  in  his  81st  year,  about  348  B.  C. 

The  works  of  Plato  are  numerous ;  they  are  all  in  the  form  of  a 
dialogue,  except  twelve  letters.  The  ancients  and  even  the  learned 
moderns  have  highly  respected  and  admired  the  writings  of  this  great 
philosopher.  They  display  unusual  depth  of  thought,  and  singular 
elegance,  melody,  and  sweetness  of  expression.  Among  other  truihs,  he 
maintained  by  many  powerful  arguments  the  immortality  of  the  soul. 

2.  Apelles  was  born  in  the  island  of  Cos,  and  lived  contemporary 
with  Alexander,  who  would  suffer  no  other  to  draw  his  picture.   His 
Venus  rising  out  of  the  sea,  was  purchased  by  Augustus,  and  placed 
in  a  temple  at  Rome.    The  lower  part  had  sustained  some  injury 
which  no  artist  could  repair.    He  wrote  some  pieces  which  were 
extant  in  the  age  of  Pliny 


356—- 146  B.  c.  115 

One  of  his  pictures  of  Alexander  exhibited  the  conqueror  with  a 
thunderbolt  in  his  hand.  The  piece  was  finished  with  so  much  skill 
and  dexterity,  that  it  used  to  be  said  that  there  were  two  Alexanders : 
one  invincible,  the  son  of  Philip  :  the  other  inimitable,  the  produc- 
tion of  Apelles.  The  date  of  his  death  does  not  appear. 

3.  Alexander  was  born  at  Pella  in  Macedonia,  355  B.  C.     At  the 
age  often  years  he  was  delivered  to  the  tuition  of  Aristotle,  and  early 
followed  his  father  to  the  field.    When  he  came  to  the  throne,  he  in- 
vaded Asia,  as  has  been  already  described,  defeating  Darius  in  three 
great  battles,  reducing  Egypt,  Media,  Syria,  and  Persia,  and  spread- 
ing his  conquests  over  a  part  of  India. 

On  his  return  from  India  he  stopped  at  Babylon,  where  he  died  in 
his  32d  year,  from  excess  in  drinking,  or  as  some  think,  from  poison. 
He  aspired  to  be  thought  a  demigod,  but  was  humane,  liberal;  and  a 
patron  of  learning.  With  many  valuable  qualities,  much  is  it  to  be 
regretted  that  he  should  have  been  the  scourge,  by  being  the  conqueroi 
of  the  world. 

His  tender  treatment  of  the  wife  and  mother  of  Darius,  who  were 
taken  prisoners,  has  been  greatly  praised.  The  latter,  who  had  sur- 
vived the  death  of  her  son,  killed  herself  when  she  heard  that  Alex- 
ander was  dead.  He  was  guilty  of  many  extravagant  and  profligate 
actions  ;  yet  amidst  them  all  fre  was  fond  of  candour  and  truth,  and 
after  any  act  of  wickedness,  appeared  to  be  stung  with  grief  and  re- 
morse. 

When  one  of  his  officers  read  to  him  as  he  sailed  on  the  Hydaspes, 
a  history  which  the  officer  had  composed  of  his  wars  with  Porus, 
and  in  which  he  had  too  liberally  praised  him,  Alexander  snatched 
the  book  from  his  hand,  and  threw  it  into  the  river  saying,  "  What 
need  is  there  of  such  flattery  ?  Are  not  the  exploits  of  Alexander  suf- 
ficiently meritorious  in  themselves,  without  the  colouring  of  false- 
hood ?" 

The  death  of  his  friend  Clitus.  of  which  he  was  the  author,  while 
it  might  be  in  a  degree  palliated,  shewed  how  capable  he  was  of  re- 
gret for  a  wrong  action.  Clitus  had  greatly  abused  Alexander ;  they 
were  both  heated  with  wine  and  passion.  The  monarch  after  bear- 
ing the  abuse  for  some  time,  ordered  Clitus  to  be  carried  out  of  his 
presence. 

The  latter,  however,  soon  returned,  and  renewed  his  invectives. 
Alexander  giving  loose  to  his  indignation,  stabbed  the  veteran ;  but 
was  so  immediately  shocked  with  what  he  had  done,  that  he  was 
about  to  kill  himself  on  the  spot,  and  was  only  prevented  by  his 
friends. 

4.  Demosthenes  was  only  seven  years  old  when  his  father  died, 
and  his  guardians,  proving  unfaithful  to  their  trust,  squandered  his 
property,  and  neglected  his  education.     He  was  therefore  indebted 
to  his  own  industry  and  application,  for  the  discipline  of  his  mind. 

By  unwearied  efforts,  and  by  overcoming  the  greatest  obstacles, 
such  as  weakness  of  the  lungs,  difficulty  of  pronunciation,  and  un- 
couth habits  of  body,  he  became  the  greatest  orator  in  the  world. 
That  he  might  devote  himself  the  more  closely  to  his  studies,  he  con- 


116  ANCIENT  HISTORY PERIOD  VIII. 

fined  himself  to  a  retired  cave,  and  shaved  half  of  his  head,  so  thai 
he  could  not  decently  appear  in  public. 

His  abilities  as  an  orator  soon  placed  him  at  the  head  of  the  go- 
vernment, and  in  this  capacity  he  roused  and  animated  his  country- 
men against  the  ambitious  designs  of  Philip.  He  also  opposed  Alex- 
ander, and  made  every  effort  to  save  his  country.  When  the  gene- 
rals of  Alexander  approached  Athens,  he  fled  for  safety  to  the  temple 
of  Neptune,  and  there  took  poison  to  prevent  himself  from  falling 
into  their  hands,  in  his  60th  year,  B.  C.  322. 

5.  Aristotle  possessed  one  of  the  keenest  and  most  inventive  ori- 
ginal intellects  ever  known.  His  writings  treat  of  almost  every  branch 
of  knowledge  in  his  time  ; — moral  and  natural  philosophy,  metaphy- 
sics, mechanics,  grammar,  criticism,  and  politics,  all  occupied  his  pen. 

His  eloquence  also  was  remarkable.  He  was  moderate  in  his  meals, 
slept  little,  and  was  indefatigably  industrious.  That  he  might  not 
oversleep  himself,  Diogenes  Laertius  tells  us,  that  he  lay  always  with 
one  hand  out  of  the  bed,  holding  in  it  a  ball  of  brass,  which,  by  its 
falling  into  a  basin  of  the  same  metal,  awaked  him. 

Though  educated  in  the  school  of  Plato,  he  differed  from  his  mas- 
ter, and  at  length  formed  a  new  school.  He  taught  in  the  Lyceum.  He 
had  a  deformed  countenance,  but  his  genius  was  an  ample  compensa- 
tion for  all  his  personal  defects.  As  he  expired,  he  is  said  to  have  ut- 
tered the  following  sentiment.  "  I  entered  this  world  in  impurity,  I 
have  lived  in  anxiety,  I  depart  in  perturbation.  Cause  of  causes, 
pity  rne !"  If  he  lived  in  scepticism,  as  is  affirmed,  he  hardly  died 
in  it.  His  death  occurred  in  his  63d  year. 

6.  Euclid  was  a  mathematician  of  Alexandria.  He  flourished  about 
300  years  B.  C.     He  distinguished  himself  by  his  writings  on  music 
and  geometry,  but  particularly  by  15  books  on  the  elements  of  mathe- 
matics, which  consist  of  problems  and  theorems,  with  demonstrations. 
His  elements  have  gone  through  innumerable  editions.     He  was 
greatly  respected  by  antiquity,  and  his  school,  which  he  established 
at  Alexandria,  became  the  most  famous  in  the  world,  for  mathe- 
matics. 

7.  Theocritus  flourished  at  Syracuse  in  Sicily,  282  years  B.  C.  He 
distinguished  himself  by  his  poetical  compositions,  of  which  30  Idy- 
lia,  and  some  epigrams,  are  extant,  written  in  the  Doric  dialect,  and 
admired  for  their  beauty,  elegance,  and  simplicity. 

He  excelled  in  pastorals.  He  clothes  his  peasants  with  all  the  rusti- 
city of  nature,  though  sometimes  speaking  on  exalted  subjects.  It  is 
said  he  wrote  some  invectives  against  Hiero,  king  of  Syracuse,  who 
ordered  him  to  be  strangled. 

8.  Zeno  was  a  native  of  Cyprus.  In  early  life  he  followed  commer- 
cial pursuits  ;  but  having  been  shipwrecked,  to  divert  his  melancholy, 
he  took  up  a  book  to  read.  The  book  was  written  by  Xenophon,  and 
so  captivated  was  he,  that  from  this  time  he  devoted  himself  to  phi- 
losophy. 

Becoming  perfect  in  every  branch  of  knowledge,  he  at  length 
opened  a  school  in  Athens,  and  delivered  his  instructions  in  a  porch, 
in  Greek  called  stoa.  He  was  austere  in  his  manners,  but  his  life  was 


146-^80  B.C.  117 

an  example  of  moderation  and  sobriety.  He  taught  philosophy  48 
years,  and  died  in  his  98th  year,  B.  C.  264.  A  stranger  to  diseases  and 
indisposition,  virtue  was  his  chief  good. 

9.  Archimedes  was  born  at  Syracuse.  At  the  siege,  by  Marcellus, 
he  constructed  machines  which  sunk  some  of  the  Roman  ships,  and 
others  he  set  on  fire  with  burning  glasses.  These  glasses  are  supposed 
to  have  been  reflectors  made  of  metal,  and  capable  of  producing  their 
effect  at  the  distance  of  a  bow  shot. 

He  was  killed  at  the  taking  of  the  place,  208  B.  C.  by  a  soldier,  who 
was  ignorant  of  his  character,  and  while  the  philosopher  was  enga- 
ged in  his  studies.  Some  of  his  works  are  extant. 


PERIOD  IX. 

The  period  of  the  civil  war  between  Marius  and  Sylla, 
extending  from  the  destruction  of  Carthage,  146  years 
JB.  C.  to  the  first  campaign  of  Julius  Ccesar,  80  years 
B.  C. 

ROME. 

SECT.  1.  This  period,  as  well  as  that  which  follows,  pro- 
perly begins  with  the  affairs  of  the  ROMANS — a  people, 
already  possessing  vast  power  and  resources,  and  destined  to 
become  in  a  short  time,  the  conquerors  of  the  whole  civilized 
portion  of  the  human  family. 

Following  the  course  of  their  victories,  we  next  light  upon 
their  final  conquest  and  destruction  of  Carthage,  the  most 
formidable  rival  Rome  ever  possessed.  That  city  fell  under 
the  hands  of  the  conquerors  146  years  B.  C.  The  war,  of 
which  this  was  the  result,  had  commenced  four  years  before. 
The  Romans  were  the  aggressors,  having  invaded  Africa  at 
a  favourable  juncture,  when  the  Carthaginians  were  engaged 
in  a  war  with  another  power. 

Carthage  fell,  notwithstanding  the  desperate  efforts  of  its 
inhabitants,  and  was  converted  into  a  pile  of  ruins,  with  the 
extinction  of  the  Carthaginian  name. 

§  When  the  indications  of  Roman  hostility  appeared,  the  Cartha- 
ginians, who  had  suffered  so  severely  in  the  last  war,  recoiled  at  the 
idea  of  another  contest  with  the  conquering  Romans.  They  therefore 
sent  a  deputation  to  Rome  to  settle  the  matter  pacifically,  If  possible. 
The  Senate  gave  no  decisive  answer. 

A  second  deputation  followed,  but  it  sought  in  vain  to  avert  the 
threatened  evil.  The  demands  made  upon  the  Carthaginians  were 
in  the  highest  degree  disgraceful  to  Rome.  They  were  commanded 


118  ANCIENT  HISTORY PERIOD  IX. 

to  promise  implicit  obedience,  and  to  send  300  hostages  as  a  security 
for  their  future  good  conduct.  The  promise  was  given,  and  the 
Carthaginians  yielded  up  their  children,  as  the  required  hostages. 

They  were  next  ordered  to  give  up  all  their  arms  ;  this  order  was 
also  obeyed :  and  to  consummate  their  degradation  and  the  cruelty  of 
the  Romans,  they  were  required  to  quit  their  beloved  city,  and  allov 
it  to  be  levelled  to  the  ground.    The  Carthaginians,  as  might  hav 
been  expected,  were  fired  with  indignation,  and  resolved  unani 
mously  that  if  they  could  not  save  their  capital,  they  would  perish 
with  it. 

Despoiled,  however,  of  their  arms,  they  could  at  first  effect  but 
little,  although  they  exerted  every  nerve,  in  meeting  the  foe.  Their 
women  cut  off  their  long  fine  hair  to  be  twisted  into  cords  for  bows , 
they  brought  out  all  their  gold  and  silver  vessels  to  be  converted  into 
arms,  for  these  were  the  only  metals  they  had  left. 

The  Romans  were  astonished  at  the  resistance  they  experienced } 
many  times  were  they  repulsed  from  the  walls,  and  many  were  the 
soldiers  slain  in  the  various  attacks.  Indeed,  it  is  thought  by  some, 
that  Carthage  would  not  finally  have  been  taken,  had  not  one  of  her 
own  officers  basely  gone  over  to  the  enemy.  The  affairs  of  the 
Carthaginians  declined  from  that  time. 

Scipio  ^Emilianus  cut  off  their  supplies  of  food,  and  blocked  up 
the  haven.  The  persevering  citizens  cut  out  a  new  passage  into  the 
sea.  He  next  attacked  and  cut  to  pieces  the  army  they  had  station- 
ed without  the  walls,  killing  70,000  men,  and  taking  10,000  prison- 
ers. After  this  he  broke  through  the  walls,  and  entered  the  city, 
pulling  or  burning  down  houses  and  temples,  and  public  buildings, 
with  indiscriminate  fury. 

Asdrubal,  the  Carthaginian  general,  delivered  himself  and  citadel 
to  the  conquerors  ;  but  his  wife  and  children,  with  numbers  of  the 
citizens,  set  fire  to  the  temples,  and  rushing  into  them,  perished  in 
the  flames.  So  completely  was  this  once  beautiful  city  destroyed, 
that  the  place  on  which  it  stood  cannot  be  discovered ;  it  was  burning 
17  days,  and  was  24  miles  in  circumference. 

All  the  cities  which  befriended  Carthage,  shared  her  fate ;  and  the 
Romans  gave  away  the  lands  to  their  friends. 

2.  Soon  after  the  ruin  of  Carthage,  viz,  137  years  B.  C. 
the  Numantines,  a  people  of  Spain,  overcame  the  Romans  in 
battle  ;  but  three  years  after  this  defeat,  Numantia,  the  finest 
and  largest  city  in  Spain,  was  taken  by  the  Romans,  and 
he  inhabitants,  to  escape  falling1  irto  the  hands  of  these  cruel 
conquerors,  set  fire  to  their  city,  and  all  of  them  perished  in 
the  flames.  Thus  Spain  became  a  province  of  Rome  134 
years  B.  C. 

§  Previously  to  the  defeat  of  the  Romans  by  the  Numantines,  there 
had  been  a  war  between  the  Romans  and  Spain,  which  lasted  9  years. 
Fabius,  who  was  sent  to  manage  this  war,  gained  a  victory  over  one 


146--- SO  B.  c,  119 

of  the  leaders  of  the  Spanish  forces,  who  was  obliged  to  retire  into 
Lusitania. 

The  reverse  which  the  Romans  met  with  in  the  contest  with  Numan- 
tia,  was  highly  disgraceful  to  them.  Thirty  thousand  of  the.ir  num- 
ber were  conquered  by  4000  Numantines.  The  consul,  Mancinus,  was 
recalled,  and  Scipio  was  sent  into  Spain,  who  restored  the  discipline 
of  the  troops.  He  soon  defeated  the  Numantines,  who,  being  reduced 
to  the  last  extremity,  perished  as  above  described. 

3.  Rome  at  this  time,  (133  B.  C.)  was  beginning1  to  be 
greatly  disturbed  by  internal  dissensions.  Attains,  king  of 
Pergamus,  having,  by  his  last  will,  made  the  Romans  his 
heirs,  Tiberius  Gracchus,  a  tribune  of  the  people,  proposed 
that  the  money  should  be  divided  among  the  poor.  This 
caused  a  great  disturbance,  during  which  Gracchus  was 
killed. 

About  twelve  years  afterwards,  Gains  Gracchus,  brother  to 
Tiberius,  having  opposed  the  senate,  and  become  popular  and 
powerful,  exposed  himself  to  the  resentment  of  the  nobles, 
who  marked  him  out  for  destruction.  In  consequence  of  some 
riots,  the  consul  Opimius  pursued  him  so  closely,  that  to  avoid 
falling  into  his  hands,  he  accomplished  his  own  death,  by  the 
assistance  of  a  servant. 

§  The  Gracchi  were  sons  of  Cornelia,  the  daughter  of  Scipio  Afri- 
canus,  the  conqueror  of  Hannibal.  She  was  left  a  widow  with  twelve 
children.  The  following  circumstance  places  her  character  in  a  very 
favourable  light.  A  lady  once  came  to  visit  her,  who  prided  herself 
much  on  her  jewels,  and  after  shewing  them  to  Cornelia,  asked  to 
see  hers  in  return.  Cornelia  waited  till  her  sons  came  home  from 
school,  and  then  presenting  them  to  her  guest,  said,  "  Behold,  madam, 
these  are  my  jewels." 

The  interference  of  Tiberius,  her  elder  son,  in  behalf  of  the  poor, 
had  given  great  offence  to  the  rich.  At  a  public  meeting  he  chanced 
to  put  his  hand  to  his  head,  and  those  who  wished  his  downfall  im- 
mediately said  that  he  was  desirous  of  a  crown,  and  in  the  uproar 
that  ensued,  he  lost  his  life. 

At  his  death,  the  populace  placed  his  younger  brother  at  their 
head.  Caius  Gracchus  was  only  21  at  this  time,  and  had  lived  a  life 
of  great  retirement,  yet  he  did  much  good,  and  caused  many  useful 
acts  to  be  passed.  He  was  temperate  and  simple  in  his  food,  and  of 
an  active  and  industrious  disposition.  His  love  and  respect  for  his 
mother  were  remarkable.  At  her  request  he  withdrew  a  law  he  much 
desired  to  have  passed  :  and  so  much  was  he  esteemed,  that  a  statue 
was  erected  to  the  memory  of  his  mother,  with  this  inscription, 

Cornelia,  the  mother  of  the  Gracchi,"  a  tribute  honourable  to  both 
parent  and  children. 

The  tumults  attending  the  attempts  of  the  Gracchi  to  remove  the 
corruptions  of  the  higher  orders  at  their  expense,  were  a  prelude  to 


120  ANCIENT  HISTORY — PERIOD  IX. 

• 

those  civil  disorders,  which  now  rapidly  followed  to  the  end  oi  ihe 
commonwealth . 

4.  The  Romans,  though  corrupt  at  home,  still  displayed 
their  valour  abroad.  Besides  some  small  states  which  they 
had  acquired  on  the  north  and  east,  they  defeated  Jugurtha, 
king  of  Numidia,  about  this  time.  The  war  with  him  com- 
menced 111  years  B.  C.,  and  was  finished  under  Marius  108 
B.  C.  The  consequence  to  Jugurtha  was  the  loss  of  his  king- 
dom arid  life. 

After  an  engagement  in  which  90,000  of  the  Numidian 
army  were  slain,  he  was  betrayed  and  made  prisoner,  and 
the  senate  finally  condemned  him  to  be  starved  to  death  in 
a  dungeon.  Jugurtha' s  own  conduct  occasioned  his  calamity, 
though  the  senate  of  Rome  acted  with  singular  cruelty. 

In  this  war  Metellus  the  consul  was  leader  at  first,  but 
Marius  found  means  to  supplant  him,  and  to  succeed  in 
command. 

§  Jugurtha,  who  was  grandson  of  the  famous  Massinissa,  that 
sided  against  Hannibal,  sought  to  usurp  the  crown  of  Numidia,  by 
destroying  his  cousins,  the  sons  of  the  late  king.  He  succeeded  in 
murdering  the  elder  brother  ;  and  the  younger,  applying  for  aid  to 
Rome,  failed  of  success,  since  Jugurtha  bribed  the  senate,  who  de- 
creed to  him  the  sovereignty  of  half  the  kingdom. 

He  then  made  war  upon  his  cousin,  and  finally  put  him  also  to 
death.  The  displeasure  of  the  Roman  people  being  excited  by  this 
conduct,  the  senate  were  constrained  to  summon  him  to  Rome,  to 
answer  for  his  perfidy.  He  accordingly  went  thither,  and  pleading 
his  own  cause  in  person,  he  again,  by  bribery,  secured  the  favour  of 
the  senate. 

A  repetition  of  his  base  conduct  in  reference  to  his  cousin,  drew 
upon  him,  however,  the  vengeance  of  the  Romans.  Metellus  was 
sent  against  himj  and  in  the  space  of  two  years,  Jugurtha  was  over- 
thrown in  several  battles,  so  that  he  was  forced  to  negociate  a  peace. 
The  negociation,  however,  was  soon  laid  aside. 

Metellus  had  very  much  broken  the  strength  of  the  Numidian 
king,  before  Marius  succeeded  to  the  command.  Having  by  his  arts 
obtained  the  consulship,  Marius  enjoyed  the  reputation  of  putting  an 
end  to  the  war.  This  man  was  the  glory  and  the  scourge  of  Rome. 
He  was  born  of  poor  parents,  and  inured  from  infancy  to  penury 
and  toil.  His  manners  were  as  rude  as  his  countenance  was  forbid- 
ding. 

He  was  thus  prepared,  however,  to  become  a  great  general.  His 
stature  was  extraordinary,  his  strength  incomparable,  and  his  bravery 
undaunted.  When  he  entered  the  country  of  Jugurtha,  he  quickly 
made  himself  master  of  the  cities  that  yet  remained  to  the  latter. 

liocchus,  king  of  Mauritania,  at  first  assisted  this  prince,  but  fear- 
ing at  length  for  his  own  crown,  and  understanding  that  the  Romans 


146—80  B.  c.  121 

would  be  satisfied  with  the  delivery  of  Jugurthainto  their  hands,  he 
resorted  to  this  treacherous  measure,  and  the  Numidian,  dragged  in 
chains  to  Rome,  experienced  the  fate  above  recorded. 

5.  After  a  short  war  with  the  Teutones  and  Cimbri,  of 
whom  several  hundred  thousands  were  slain  under  Marius, 
the  Romans  fell  into  a  contention  with  the  allied  states  of 
Italy.    This  was  called  the  Social  War,  and  was  entered  into 
OP  the  part  of  the  states,  with  a  view  to  obtain  the  rights  of 
citizenship,  91  years  B.  C. 

This  war  ended  in  an  allowance  of  those  rights,  to  such  of 
the  allies  as  should  return  to  their  allegiance.  It  cost  the 
lives  of  300,000  of  the  flower  of  Italy,  and  was  conducted  by 
the  ablest  generals,  on  both  sides. 

6.  Following  this  was  the  commencement  of  theMithridatic 
War,  89  years  B.  0.   Sylla,  who  had  distinguished  himself  in 
the  social  war,  was  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  expe- 
dition against  Mitliridates,  to  the  great  disappointment  of  Ma- 
rius.    This  measure  was  the  foundation  of  those   dreadful 
dissensions  by  which  Rome  became  soon  distracted. 

Within  the  space  of  three  years,  Sylla  greatly  humbled  the 
power  of  Mithridates,  and  at  the  expiration  of  that  time  re- 
turned to  Rome,  burning  with  revenge  against  his  enemies, — 
Marius  and  his  accomplices. 

§  Mithridates  was  a  powerful  and  warlike  monarch,  whose  dominion 
at  this  time  extended  over  Cappadocia,  Bithynia,  Thrace,  Macedon, 
and  all  Greece.  He  was  able  to  bring  250,000  infantry  into  the  field, 
and  50,000  horse.  He  had  also  a  vast  number  of  armed  chariots, 
and  in  his  port  400  ships  of  war. 

The  Romans  desired  to  attack  him,  and  they  wanted  no  other  pre 
tence,  than  his  having  invaded  some  of  those  states  that  were  under 
the  protection  of  Rome.     Sylla  entered  with  spirit  on  the  war,  and 
soon  had  an  oppotunity  to  acquire  glory  by  his  arms. 

This  general  who  now  began  to  take  the  lead  in  the  commonwealth, 
belonged  to  one  of  the  most  illustrious  families  in  Rome.  His  person 
was  elegant,  his  air  noble,  his  manners  easy  and  apparently  sincere  , 
he  loved  pleasure,  but  glory  still  more  ;  and  fond  of  popularity,  he  de- 
sired to  please  all  the  world.  He  rose  by  degrees  into  office,  and 
,  >on  eclipsed  every  other  commander.  On  this  account  he  received 
the  present  appointment,  in  opposition  to  the  claims  of  Marius. 

In  the  course  of  the  war,  which  had  now  commenced  in  earnest. 
Mithridates  having  caused  150,000  Romans,  who  were  in  his  domin- 
ions, to  be  slain  in  cold  blood,  next  sent  his  general  Archelaus  to  op- 
pose Sylia.  Archolaus,  however,  was  defeated  near  Athens,  with  the 
loss  of  an  incredible  number  of  his  forces. 

Another  battle  followed,  by  which  the  Roman  general  recovered 
all  the  countries  that  had  been  usurped  by  Mithridates ;  so  that  both 


122  ANCIENT  HISTORY — PERIOD  IX. 

parties  desired  a  cessation  of  arms,  Mithridates  on  account  of  his 
losses,  and  Sylla  on  account  of  his  designs  against  Marius. 

7.  Before  much  progress  was  made  in  the  Mithridatic  war, 
the  contention  between  Marius  and  Sylla  had  begun,  88  years 
B.  C.    Sylla  having  been  recalled  from  Asia,  refused  to  obey 
the  mandate  of  the  senate,  and  found  his  army  well  disposed 
to  support  him.     They  required  their  leader  to  march  them 
to  Rome.     He  accordingly  led  them  on,  and  they  entered  the 
city  sword  in  hand. 

Marius  and  his  partisans,  after  some  resistance,  fled  from  the 
city,  and  Sylla  ruled  for  a  time  in  triumph.  He  soon  returned, 
however,  into  Asia,  to  finish  the  war  he  had  undertaken.  In 
the  mean  time,  the  party  of  Marius  recovered  strength,  and  he 
returning  to  Italy,  and  joining  his  forces  to  those  of  China,  his 
zealous  partizan,  laid  siege  to  Rome.  The  city  he  compelled 
to  absolute  submission. 

After  putting  to  death  all  whom  they  considered  their  ene- 
mies, they  assumed  the  consulship.  But  Marius,  in  a  fit  of 
debauch,  died  a  few  days  after  ;  and  Cinna  at  no  great  inter 
val  followed,  having  been  privately  assassinated. 

§  After  Sylla  had  entered  Rome  in  arms,  his  object,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  a  few  vindictive  measures,  seemed  to  be  to  give  peace  to  the  city, 
and  it  was  not  until  he  had  effected  this  object,  as  he  supposed,  that 
he  departed  upon  his  expediton  against  Mithridates.  By  confining 
his  efforts  solely  against  Marius,  tie  had,  however,  overlooked  a  for- 
midable rising  opponent  in  Cornelius  Cinna. 

This  man,  who  was  of  noble  extraction,  ambitious,  bold,  and  enter 
prising,  had  sufficient  influence  to  raise  an  army  with  a  view  to  con- 
tend against  the  supporters  of  Sylla.  Just  at  this  juncture,  Marius, 
having  escaped  a  thousand  perils  during  his  absence,  returned,  with 
his  son,  to  the  gates  of  Rome.  An  army  of  veterans  and  slaves,  the 
latter  of  whom  he  had  promised  liberty,  flocked  to  his  standard,  and 
burning  with  revenge,  he  entered  Rome,  having  previously  received 
the  submission  of  the  senate. 

Tragical  occurrences  followed  ;  for  senators  of  the  first  rank  were 
butchered  in  the  streets,  and  every  personal  enemy  which  Marius  or 
Cinna  had,  that  could  be  found,  was  put  to  death.  In  a  month  Mari- 
us died,  having  satisfied  his  two  prevailing  passions  of  ambition  anc" 
revenge  ;  and  while  Cinna  was  preparing  to  meet  Sylla  in  arms,  he 
perished  in  a  mutiny  of  his  own  soldiers,  by  an  unknown  hand. 

8.  Sylla  soon  returned  to  Italy,  victorious  over  his  foreign 
enemy,  and  joined  by  Cethegus,  Pompey,  and  other  leaders, 
gave  battle  to  those  Romans  who  had  been  opposed  to  hii 
and  entirely  defeated  them.     Rome  now  for  the  first  time  re- 
ceived a  native  master.     A  most  dreadful  massacre  and  pro- 


146—80  B.  c.  123 

scriptioii  followed,  in  which  Sylla  designed   to  exterminate 
every  enemy  he  had  in  Italy. 

§  The  army  opposed  to  Sylla  was  headed  by  young  Marius,  son  of 
Cains,  and  although  it  was  more  numerous  than  that  of  Sylla,  it  was 
less  united  and  disciplined.  Several  misfortunes,  however,  happen- 
ing to  the  forces  of  Marius,  they  soon  yielded. 

A  large  body  of  the  Samnites,  who,  at  this  time,  were.in  the  interest 
of  Mur^is,  had  carried  the  war  to  the  gate  of  Rome.  They  were  on  the 
point  of  success,  when  Sylla  met  them,  and  a  most  obstinate  contest 
ensued.  Sylla  found  himself  victorious.  On  the  field  of  battle  50,000 
of  the  vanquished  and  the  victors  lay  promiscuously  in  death.  Sylla 
now  became  undisputed  master  of  his  country,  and  entered  Rome  at 
the  heau  <_H  ^L*  army. 

But  he  entered  it  to  accomplish  the  purposes  of  the  direst  revenge. 
A  long  list  of  senators,  and  Roman  knights,  together  with  an  unnum 
bered  multitude  of  the  citizens,  he  caused  to  be  put  to  death.  This 
work  of  destruction  he  extended  throughout  the  principal  towns  of 
Italy.  He  permitted  his  soldiers  to  revenge  their  private  injuries, 
and  thus  almost  indiscriminate  massacres  took  place. 

9.  Such  violence,  however,  could  be  supported  only  by  an 
increase  of  power.  Accordingly  Sylia  invested  himself  with 
the  Dictatorship,  thus  designing  to  give  an  air  of  justice  to  his 
monstrous  oppressions.  This  dictatorship  commenced  82  years 
B.  C.,  and  lasted  not  quite  three  years.  Rome  was  now  be- 
ginning to  settle  into  a  despotism,  having  passed  through  all 
the  forms  of  monarchy,  aristocracy,  and  democracy.  From 
this  time,  though  nominally  a  republic  for  a  number  of  years, 
it  never  freed  itself  from  the  yoke  of  despotism. 

Sylla,  as  perpetual  dictator,- was  without  a  rival  in  authority, 
and  absolute  master  of  the  government.  Every  thing  was 
done  as  he  exacted.  The  least  opposition  aroused  his  ven- 
geance. The  people  saw  nothing  before  them  but  the  pros- 
pect of  hopeless  slavery,  for,  while  they  were  amused  with  the 
show  of  their  former  government,  Sylla  took  care  that  none 
but  his  own  creatures  should  be  elected  to  any  office. 

It  was  at  this  crisis,  however,  that,  contrary  to  all  expecta- 
tion, Sylla  laid  down  the  dictatorship.  The  step  was  unac- 
countable, and  the  reasons  of 'it  have  ever  remained  hidden 
from  mankind. 

§  He  retired  in  safety.  Of  all  that  great  multitude  which  he  had  so 
often  insulted  and  terrified,  none  were  found  hardy  enough  to  reproach 
or  accuse  him,  except  one  young  man  who  pursued  him,  with  bitter 
invectives,  to  his  own  door. 

Sylla,  without  replying  to  so  low  an  adversary,  turning  to  those 
who  followed,  observed,  "  That  this  fellow's  insolence  would,  for  the 


124  ANCIENT  HISTORY PERIOD  IX. 

future,  prevent  any  man's  laying  down  an  office  of  such  supreme 
authority." 

•/ 

Retiring  into  the  country,  in  order  to  enjoy  the  pleasures  of  tran- 
quillity and  social  happiness,  if  such  a  wretch  could  enjoy  either,  he 
did  not  long  survive  his  abdication,  dying  of  a  most  filthy  disease — a 
loathsome  and  mortifying  object  to  human  ambition. 

A  little  before  his  death  he  made  his  own  epitaph,  the  tenor  of 
which  was,  "  that  no  man  had  ever  exceeded  him  in  doing  good  to  his 
friends,  or  injuries  to  his  enemies." 

SYRIA. 

10.  The  affairs  of  SYRIA,  under  the  Seleucidse,  or  succes- 
sors of  Seleucus,  to  the  end  of  this  period,  were  in  a  very  un- 
prosperous  state.  A  succession  of  massacres  and  usurpations 
took  place,  till  the  time  of  Tigranes,  king  of  Armenia,  whom 
the  Syrians  invited  to  reign  over  them,  85  years  B.  C.  Indeed 
Syria  existed  in  independence  but  a  few  years  after  the  pre- 
sent period,  having  been  made  a  province  of  Rome  soon  after 
the  commencement  of  the  next  succeeding  period,  viz.  64 
years  B.  C. 

§  The  following  are  the  names  of  some  of  the  Seleueiclae  of  the  pre- 
sent era.  The  first  was  Demetrius  Nicator,  or  the  conqueror,  who 
reigned  five  years,  but  was  then  confined  to  his  palace  for  a  long 
time.  He  afterwards  recovered  his  dominions,  and  reigned  four 
years. 

After  him  Tryphon  usurped  the  sceptre,  and  reigned  four  years. 
He  was  at  length  killed  by  his  own  soldiers. 

Antiochus  Sidetes,  the  second  son  of  Demetrius  Soter,  next  ascend- 
ed the  throne  of  his  ancestors.  He  made  war  against  Jerusalem,  and 
obliged  it  to  capitulate,  but  he  granted  the  Jews  a  peace  upon  reason- 
able conditions. 

In  attempting  to  recover  all  the  provinces  that  belonged  to  the  Sy- 
rian empire,  of  which  Parthia  was  one,  he  made  war  against  Phraates, 
king  of  Parthia,  but  being  obliged  to  separate  his  troops  and  put 
them  into  winter  quarters,  the  inhabitants  of  the  country  resolved  on 
their  destruction,  and  massacred  them  all  in  one  day.  Including  at- 
tendants, they  amounted  to  400,000  persons. 

After  this  prince  were  Seleucus  V.  Antiochus  Gryphus,  who  reign- 
ed 29  years,  Antiochus  IX.  who  was  slain  by  a  son  of  Gryphus;  and 
one  or  two  others  whose  names  need  not  be  mentioned. 

The  Syrians  having  suffered  so  long,  and  so  severely,  under  the 
turbulent  princes  of  the  race  of  Seleucus,  resolved  to  exclude  them 
from  the  throne.  This  they  accomplished  by  sending  an  embassy  to 
Tigranes,  and  inviting  him  to  accept  of  the  sovereignty. 

Tigranes  complied  with  their  request,  and  swayed  the  Syrian 
sceptre  18  years  in  perfect  peace.  Engaging  afterwards  in  a  war 
the  Romans,  Lucullus  the  consul  defeated  him,  and  took  the  city 
Tigranocerta,  69  years  B.  C. 


U6—80  B.  c.  U5 

After  this,  Antiochus  Asiaticus,  a  son  of  one  of  the  former  kings  of 
Syria,  was  acknowledged  as  king  by  Lucullus,  and  reigned  peace- 
ably for  the  space  of  four  years  ;  but  at  the  expiration  of  that  time 
he  was  driven  from  the  throne  by  Pompey,  and  Syria  was  reduced 
to  a  Roman  province. 

JEWS. 

11.  Pursuing  the  history  of  the  Jews  under  the  Maccabees 
it  appears,  that  the  brothers  of  Judas  Maccabseus  availed 
themselves  of  their  advantages  with  perseverance  and  suc- 
cess. By  their  exertions  they  established  the  independence  cf 
their  country,  and  changed  its  republican  government  to  a  vi- 
gorous monarchy. 

John  Hyrcanus,  son  of  Simon  Maccabeeus,  uniting  in  his 
person  the  offices  of  high  priest  and  generalissimo  of  the 
army,  subdued  the  enemies  of  bis  country,  ceased  to  pay  ho- 
mage to  the  kings  of  Syria,  firmly  established  his  govern- 
ment, and  is  celeb  rated  for  his  many  valuable  qualities,  135 
H.  C.  He  reigned  28  years. 

His  sons  assumed  the  title  as  well  as  the  power  of  kings  ; 
and  the  high-priesthood  remained  in  his  family,  though  not 
in  the  person  of  the  monarch.  His  descendants  are  distin- 
guished in  the  history  of  the  Jewish  nation,  by  the  appella- 
tion of  the  Asmonean  dynasty,  which  continued  about  126 
V«in.rs.  The  independence  of  Judea  was,  hoAvever,  drawing 
uoar  to  its  close,  an  event  which  will  be  noticed  in  the  suc- 
iin^  period. 

§  Concerning  Hrycanus  it  may  be  further  recorded,  that  he  seized 
on  several  of  the  defenceless  cities  of  Syria,  and  thus  accomplished 
a  complete  deliverance  of  his  nation  from  the  oppression  of  Syria. 
He  also  made  some  conquests,  both  in  Arabia  and  Phoenicia,  turned 
nis  victorious  arms  against  the  Samaritans,  and  subdued  Idumea.  At 
the  time  of  his  death  he  had  raised  his  nation  to  a  considerable  de- 
gree of  wealth,  prosperity,  and  happiness. 

Of  Aristobulus,  one  of  the  sons  that  reigned  after  Hyrcanus,  it  is 
recorded  that  he  caused  his  brother  Antigonus  to  be  killed  on  suspi- 
cion of  disloyalty ;  that  his  mother  .claiming  a  right  to  the  sove- 
reignty by  virtue  of  Hyrcanus'  will,  was  barbarously  starved  to 
death, — and  that  her  other  sons  were  kept  in  close  confinement. 

This  tyrannical  persecutor  assumed  the  royal  diadem,  which  had 
not  been  worn  by  any  of  his  predecessors,  and  effected  the  conquest 
of  Iturea.  His  successes,  however,  were  soon  interrupted  by  sick- 
ness ;  and  the  deep  remorse  he  felt  on  account  of  the  treatment  o*  his 
mother,  produced  a  vomiting  of  blood,  which  speedily  close*'  his 
wicked  life  and  reign. 

L2 


126  ANCIENT  HISTORY—  PERIOD  IX. 

EGYPT. 

12.  Egypt,  during  this  period,  continued  under  the  rule 
of  the  Ptolemsean  dynasty.     The  nation  increased  in  mag- 
nificence and  consequence  during  the  reigns  of  the  Ptolemies. 
Their  reigns,  however,  were  disturbed  by  many  plots  and  in- 
surrections, which  arose  between  the   different  states  over 
which  the  princes  had  dominion. 

These  states  were  so  numerous,  as  at  one  time  to  include 
33,333  well  peopled  cities. 

§  Of  the  first  Ptolemy  in  this  period,  viz.  Physcon,  we  remark,  that 
he  was  so  called  on  account  of  his  corpulency;  but  the  name  which 
he  assumed  was  Evergetes,  or  the  Benefactor.  This  was  changed  by 
his  subjects  into  Kakergetes,  or  the  Evil  Doer,  for  he  was  the  most 
cruel,  wicked,  and  despicable  of  the  Ptolemies  who  swayed  the  Egyp- 
tian sceptre. 

He  murdered  the  child  of  his  wife  Cleopatra  in  his  mother's  arms. 
He  caused  all  persons  to  be  put  to  death  who  had  lamented  the  fate 
of  the  young  prince,  and  gave  free  permission  to  the  foreigners  who 
composed  his  guard,  to  plunder  and  massacre  the  inhabitants  of 
Alexandria.  That  wealthy  city  was  accordingly  stript  of  its  inhabi- 
tants, and  repeopled  by  strangers  whom  lie  had  invited  thither. 

These,  and  many  other  enormities,  rank  him  among  the  most  bru- 
tal of  mankind.  Ptolemy  Lathyrus  succeeded  Physcon.  His  moth';  r 
Cleopatra,  however,  contrived  to  dethrone  him,  and  to  place  his  bro- 
ther Alexander  on  the  throne.  The  latter  retained  the  title  of  kino 
18  years.  After  his  death,  Lathyrus  re-assumed  the  government. 

To  Lathyrus  a  most  inhuman  action  is  attributed,  in  his  war  with 
the  Jews,  on  a  certain  occasion.  Having  taken  up  his  quarters  aftci 
a  victorious  battle,  in  the  neighbouring  villages  of  Judea,  he  caused 
Jill  the  female  and  infant  inhabitants  to  he  murdered,  and  their  muti- 
lated limbs  to  be  put  into  boiling  caldrons,  as  if  he  designed  to  make 
a  repast  for  his  army.  He  wished  to  inspire  the  Jews  with  terror  by 
representing  their  enemies  as  cannibals. 

PARTHIA. 

13.  Parthia  continued,  during  this  period,  to  be  governec 
by  the  Arsacidee,  or  descendants  of  Arsaces.     This  empire, 
which  was  greatly  extended  at  one  time,  and  which  undei 
Mithridates  I.  enjoyed  the  height  of  its  grandeur,  was  soon 
afterwards  considerably  abridged.     The  principal  sovereigns 
during  this  peroid,  were  Phraates  II.  Artabanus  II.  and  Mi- 
thridates II. 

§  Phraates  II.  when  preparing  to  invade  Syria  at  a  certain  time, 
found  himself  under  the  necessity  of  fighting  the  Scythians,  whom 
he  had  called  to  his  assistance  against  Antiochus,  and  to  whom  he 
refused  to  pay  the  promised  sum,  on  account  of  their  not  arriving 
before  the  defeat  of  the  Syrians 


146—80  B.  c.  127 

In  order  to  strengthen  his  army  he  enlisted  all  the  Greek  merce- 
naries, who,  following  Antiochus,  were  prisoners  ;  but  these  Greeks 
having  been  treated  with  cruelty  during  their  captivity,  resolved  to 
have  revenge ;  and  in  the  first  engagement  deserted  to  the  Scythians, 
and  in  conjunction  with  them  attacked  the  Parthians,  cut  their  army 
to  pieces,  killed  the  king,  and  ravaged  their  country.  In  this  battJe 
the  Chinese  also  assisted  the  Scythians,  which  is  their  first  appear- 
ance abroad,  which  history  records.  They  had  previously  been  con- 
fined to  their  own  country  in  their  wars  and  transactions. 

Distinguished  Characters  in  Period  IX. 

1 .  Polybius,  a  learned  historian,  who  wrote  the  history  of  the 
Greeks  and  Romans. 

2.  Apollodorus,  a  Greek  grammarian. 

3.  Lucilius,  an  early  Roman  poet. 

4.  Marius,  a  celebrated  Roman  general  and  consul. 

5.  Sylla,  an  able  general,  eminent  for  his  success  and  cru- 
elty in  war. 

6.  John  Hyrcamis,  a  liberator  of  the  Jews,  and  father  of  the 
Asmonean  dynasty. 

§  1.  Polybius  was  a  native  of  Arcadia,  in  Greece.  He  was  initiated 
in  the  duties,  and  made  acquainted  with  the  qualifications  of  a  states- 
man, liy  his  father,  the  instructer  of  Philopcemen.  He  fought  against 
the  Romans  in  the  war  of  Perseus,  but  was  taken  and  brought  pri- 
soner to  Rome,  where  he  was  befriended  by  the  younger  Scipio. 

Polybius  acquired  an  intimacy  with  the  powerful  Romans,  and 
was  present  at  the  taking  of  Carthage  and  Numantia.  After  the  death 
of  Scipio,  he  retired  to  Megalopolis,  where  he  died  in  his  82d  year, 
about  124  years  B.  C.  He  wrote  a  universal  history  in  Greek,  divi- 
ded into  40  books,  which  began  with  the  first  Punic  war,  arid  finished 
with  the  conquest  of  Macedonia,  by  Paulus. 

The  greatest  part  of  this  valuable  history  is  lost.  Five  books,  and 
numerous  fragments,  remain.  It  is  highly  authentic  and  accurate. 

2.  Apollodorus  flourished  about  115  years  B.  C.     He  wrote  a  his- 
tory of  Athens,  besides  other  works.    But  of  all  his  compositions  no- 
thing is  extant,  except  his  Bibliotheca,  a  valuable  work,  divided  into 
three  books. 

3.  Lucilius  was  a  Roman  knight,  born  at  Aurunca,  and  distinguished 
by  his  virtuous  and  inoffensive  character.     He  is  considered  as  the 
first  great  satirical  writer  among  the  Romans,   and  indeed  as  the 
founder  of  satire.     He  was  superior  to  his  poetical  predecessors  at 
Rome ;  he  wrote  with  great  roughness  and  inelegance,  but  with  much 
facility,  and  he  gained  many  admirers. 

Blackwell  says,  that  he  was  "  a  writer  of  such  keennes  of  temper 
and  flowing  wit,  as  fitted  him  to  strike  out  a  new  road,  never  trod  by 
poet  before."    Some,  however,  admired  him  beyond  his  real  merits. 
Of  30  satires  which  he  wrote,  nothing  but  a  few  verses  remains.    H 
died  at  Naples  in  the  46th  year  of  his  age. 


128  ANCIENT  HISTORY PERIOD  X. 

4.  Harms  was  born  of  obscure  and  illiterate  parents,  but  became 
one  of  the  most  powerful  and  cruel  tyrants,  that  Rome  ever  beheld 
during  her  consular  government.     He  became  seven  times  consul. 
He  destroyed  the  Ambrones,  Teutones,  and  Cimbri,  who  were  pre' 
paring  to  invade  Italy,  and  raised  a  civil  war,  to  oppose  the  power  ol 
Sylla,  as  has  been  narrated  in  this  History.     He  died  B.  C.  86,  after 
he  had  filled  all  Rome  with  blood. 

Among  the  instances  which  are  mentioned  of  his  firmness,  this 
may  be  recorded.  A  swelling  in  the  leg  obliged  him  to  apply  to 
a  physician,  who  urged  the  necessity  of  cutting  it  off.  Marius  gave 
it,  and  saw  the  operation  performed  without  a  distortion  of  the  face, 
and  without  a  groan.  The  physician  asked  the  other,  and  Marius 
gave  it  with  equal  composure. 

5.  Sylla  was  the  inveterate  enemy  of  Marius,  between  wh®m.  as 
we  have  seen,  the  most  bloody  wars  were  waged.    He  was  descended 
from  a  noble  family,  but  was  poor  in  early  life.     He  afterwards  be- 
came immensely  rich.     He  first  entered  the  army  under  Marius,  as 
qurestor,  in  Numidia.     He  afterwards  had  the  administration  of  the 
Mithridatic  war. 

In  his  wars  with  Marius,  Sylla  acted  the  tyrant  to  a  terrible  ex- 
tent, and  t\ie  streets  of  Rome  he  filled  with  devastation  and  blood. 
As  perpetual  dictator,  he  exercised  the  most  absolute  authority ;  but 
at  length  abdicated  and  died  at  Puteoli  of  a  most  loathsome  disease, 
in  his  60th  year,  78  B.  C.  Mankind  have  never  understood  the  cause 
of  his  abdication.  He  and  Marius  both  sought  in  their  last  sickness 
to  drown  the  stings  of  conscience  by  continual  intoxication. 

6.  John  Hyrcanus  was  prince  and  high-priest  of  the  Jews,  after 
his  father.     He  restored  his  nation  to  independence,  from  the  power 
of  Antiochus,  king  of  Syria,  and  died  106  years  B.  CL    He  was  illus- 
trious by  his  virtues,  as  well  as  by  being  the  father  of  a  race  of  princes. 
He  was  succeeded  on  the  throne  of Judea  by  a  son  of  the  same  name. 


PERIOD  X. 

TJie  period  of  RornanLiterature,  extending  front  the  first 
campaign  of  Julius  Cccsar,  80  years  B.  C.  to  the  nativity 
of  Jesus  Christ,  or  the  commencement  of  the  Christian  era, 

ROME. 

SECT.  I.  ROME,  at  the  commencement  of  this  period,  had 
greatly  extended  its  dominions,  and  was  fast  becoming  a  uni- 
versal empire.  Abroad  the  Romans  triumphed — hut  at  home 
their  affairs  were  in  a  melancholy  and  distracted  state.  The 
form  of  public  liberty  remained,  but  the  reality  had  principally 
departed.  The  civil  dissensions  of  Marius  and  Sylla  had  pros- 
trated many  of  their  most  valuable  institutions. 


80  B.  c.  129 

Before  these  dissensions  were  brought  to  a  close,  a  man  be- 
gan to  appear  011  the  stage,  who*  was  destined  to  destroy  the 
last  remnant  of  the  liberties  of  his  country.  This  man  was 
Julius  Csesar.  In  his  first  military  enterprise,  80  years  B.  C., 
in  the  siege  of  Mytilene,  under  Thermus,  the  praetor  of  Asia, 
his  bravery  and  talents  were  rewarded  with  a  civic  crown. 

Soon  after  this  he  returned  to  Rome  to  prosecute  his  studied, 
and  for  a  time  refused  all  interference  in  the  feuds  which  were 
then  prevailing.  Before  he  had  finished  his  studies,  however, 
he  raised  troops  to  repress  the  incursions  of  Mithridates,  and 
was  successful  in  saving  or  rescuing  several  of  the  eastern 
provinces  from  his  grasp. 

§From  this  time  his  ambitious  views  were  too  apparent,  and  in  seek- 
ing office  and  popularity,  he  was  but  too  successful.  He  had  escaped 
with  difficulty  the  proscriptions  of  Sylla,  who  was  persuaded  to  let 
him  live,  though  that  tyrant  dreaded  Caesar's  abilities. 

Csesar  was  descended  from  one  of  the  first  families  in  Rome,  and 
had  married  a  daughter  of  China.  His  powerful  name  and  connex- 
ions he  strengthened,  by  arts  of  the  most  consummate  policy  and  ad- 
dress. His  powers  of  mind  were  of  the  highest  order,  and  he  excelled 
in  whatever  branch  of  pursuit  ne  engaged. 

He  was  in  person  slender,  tall,  and  delicate,  and  was  reputed  to  be 
the  handsomest  man  in  Rome.  He  had  a  habit  of  running  his  fingei 
under  the  nicely  adjusted  curls  of  his  head,  when  he  appeared  in  pub- 
lic assemblies :  this  led  Cicero  to  remark,  "  that  one  would  hardly 
imagine  that  under  such  a  fine  exterior,  there  was  hatching  the  de- 
struction of  the  liberties  of  Rome/' 

Of  his  feats  in  war,  and  the  important  part  he  acted  in  the  common- 
wealth, we  shall  have  occasion  to  speak,  in  following  the  order  of 
events. 

2.  After  the  death  of  Sylla,  contention  broke  out  anew ; 
for  the  terror  of  his  power  had  created  a  short  interval  of  a 
dreadful  repose. 

Catulus  and  Lepidus  settled  their  difficulties  only  by  arms — 
and  the  War  of  Sertorious,  and  the  Servile  War  ensued.  These, 
however,  were  safely  terminated  after  a  few  years.  The  war 
of  Sertorius  commenced  77  years  B.  C.  The  Servile  War 
commenced  73  years  B.  C.  , 

§  Lepidus,  who  was  consul,  wishing  to  annul  all  the  acts  of  Sylla, 
was  opposed  by  his  colleague  Catulus.  To  carry  his  point  he  found 
it  necessary  to  use  force,  and  accordingly  he  raised  an  army  in  his 
government  of  Gaul,  with  which  he  approached,  in  hostile  array,  to- 
wards Rome^ 

Catulus,  to  whom  Pompey  and  his  forces  were  joined,  met  him  at 
the  Milvian  Bridge,  two  miles  from  Rome,  and  gave  him  battle.  Le- 


13O  ANCIENT  HISTORY PERIOD  X. 

pidns  was  entirely  defeated,  and  escaping  into  Sardinia,  soon  died  of 
grief.  His  party,  however,  did  not  expire  with  him. 

A  more  dangerous  enemy  still  remained  in  Spain.  This  was  Ser- 
torius,  a  veteran  soldier,  who  had  been  bred  under  Marius,  his  equal 
m  courage— his  superior  in  virtue.  Banished  from  Rome  by  Sylla, 
he  had  found  a  refuge  in  Spain,  whither  all,  who  fled  from  Sylia's 
cruelty,  resorted  to  him.  Having  gained  the  affections  of  its  warlike 
nhabitants,  he  resisted,  during  eight  years,  the  Roman  power. 

Metellus,  and  afterwards  Pompey,  were  sent  to  bring  him  to  sub- 
mission, but  he  often  came  off  victorious,  and  was  even  threatening 
to  invade  Italy,  when  he  was  suddenly  destroyed  by  the  treachery 
of  one  of  his  lieutenants-.  The  revolted  provinces  of  Spain  quickly 
submitted  to  Pompey. 

The  Servile  War  took  its  rise  from  a  few  gladiators,  who  broke 

*— '  7 

from  their  fencing-school  at  Capua,  and  having  drawn  a  number  of 
slaves  after  them,  overthrew  the  force  that  was  sent  against  them, 
and  from  this  success,  their  number  soon  increased  to  an  army  of 
40,000  men. 

With  this  strength,  and  headed  by  Sparlacus,  their  general,  they 
sustained  a  vigorous  war  of  three  years  in  the  very  heart  of  Italy, 
and  even  talked  of  attacking  Rome ;  but  Crassus,  having  assembled 
all  the  forces  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  capital,  destroyed  the 
greatest  part  of  them,  and  among  them  Spartacus,  fighting  bravely 
to  the  last. 

3.  The  War  which  had  been  carried  on  against  Mithrida- 
tes,  and  which  Sylla  had  suspended  by  means  of  a  peace, 
was  renewed  about  this  time,  72  years  B.  C.  This  was  one 
of  the  most  important  wars  which  the  Romans  ever  waged. 
Mithridates  defeated  the  successor  of  Sylla,  and  contracting 
an  alliance  with  Tigranes,  king  of  Armenia,  began  to  be  quite 
formidable  to  the  power  of  Rome. 

Lucullus,  however,  an  experienced  general,  was  sent  against 
him,  and  defeated  him  in  several  engagements,  with  immense 
loss.  Tigranes  also  felt  the  weight  of  the  Roman  arm  ;  and 
both,  doubtless,  would  have  been  obliged  soon  to  sue  for  peace, 
had  not  Lucullus,  by  means  of  intrigue,  been  deposed  from 
his  command,  and  Glabrio  appointed  in  his  stead. 

After  this,  Mithridates  met  with  success  again,  till  Pompey 
was  appointed  to  take  the  command  against  this  powerful 
enemy  of  Rome.  Under  the  auspices  of  this  great  general. 
the  Roman  arms  were  completely  victorious,  and  the  wai 
terminated  about  63  years  B.  C.,  with  the  death  of  Mithri- 
dates. 

§  Mithridates  was  the  undaunted  enemy  of  Rome  during  25  years. 
His  resources  in  wealth  and  soldiers  were  great,  and  his  bravery  and 
talents  were  equal  to  his  resources.  The  Roman  general  with  whom 


80  B.  c.  131 

lc  had  finally  to  contend,  was  an  antagonist  worthy  of  him,  in  every 
respect.  Pompey  had  already  become  a  favourite  hero  of  the  Ro- 
man people. 

He  had  generally  been  successful  in  his  military  enterprises,  and 
in  the  commission  which  he  had  recently  received  of  managing  the 
war  against  the  pirates  of  the  Mediterranean,  he  had  shewn  equal 
intrepidity  and  skill.  Pleased  with  his  success,  the  people  had  en- 
trusted to  him  the  sole  management  of  the  Mithridatic  war,  with  an 
almost  unlimited  authority. 

His  power  would  have  rendered  him  extremely  dangerous  to  the 
liberties  of  his  country,  had  he  been  an  enemy  to  those  liberties.  But 
though  highly  ambitious,  he  was  desirous  rather  of  glory  than  of  do- 
minion. He  wished  to  be  the  first  man  in  the  state,  and  for  this  rea- 
son entered  into  a  contest  with  Crassus  for  the  favour  of  the  people, 
as  he  afterwards  fought  against  Ca?sar,  in  behalf  of  the  republic. 

In  the  Mithridatic  war  he  manifested  his  qualities  as  a  general. 
He  first  proposed  terms  of  accommodation  to  Mithridates.  But 
these  were  refused ;  and  the  king,  collecting  an  army  from  the  wrecks 
of  his  former  power,  was  about  to  carry  the  war  into  Armenia.  In 
this  project,  however,  he  was  disappointed,  and  was  obliged  to  flee. 

Pompey,  nevertheless,  overtook  him  before  he  had  time  to  pass  the 
Euphrates.    It  was  then  night,  but  being  compelled  to  engage,  it  is 
said  the  moon,  shining  from  behind  the  Roman  army,  lengthened 
their  shadows  so  much,  that  the  archers  of  Mithridates  shot  their  ar 
rows  at  these,  mistaking  the  shadow  for  the  substance. 

He  was  overthrown  with  great  loss ;  but  he  broke  through  the  Ro- 
man army  with  a  few  hundred  horse,  and  escaped.  Here,  after  wan- 
dering through  the  forests  several  days,  leading  his  horse,  and  sub- 
sisting on  fruits  which  were  found  in  his  way,  he  met  with  a  few 
thousand  of  his  troops  that  had  survived  the  engagement,  who  con- 
ducted him  to  one  of  his  magazines,  containing  the  treasures  deposi- 
ted to  support  the  war. 

After  this  he  sought  aid  from  several  princes ;  but  though  he  failed 
in  this  attempt,  and  though  he  was  betrayed  by  his  unnatural  son,  he 
still  aimed  at  great  designs,  and  even  in  the  heart  of  Asia,  he  pro- 
jected the  invasion  of  the  Roman  empire.  Upon  being  apprized  of 
his  intentions,  a  mutiny  ensued,  which  was  promoted  by  his  son. 

JBeing  obliged  to  take  refuge  in  his  palace,  he  sent  to  his  son  for 
leave  to  depart,  with  offers  of  the  remnant  of  his  kingdom  to  him. 
The  monster,  however,  denied  this  request,  and  sternly  conveyed  a 
message  to  the  old  man,  intimating  that  death  was  now  all  that  he 
oould  expect. 

This  instance  of  filial  ingratitude  aggravated  all  his  other  calami- 
ties ;  and  he  sought  for  his  wives,  children,  and  himself,  a  voluntary 
death.  They  all  readily  consented  to  die  with  their  monarch,  rather 
than  to  undergo  the  horrors  of  a  Roman  captivity. 

4.  After  defeating  Mithridates,  Pompey  made  very  nume- 
rous and  extensive  conquests,  setting  up  and  deposing  kings 
at  his  pleasure  He  at  length  marched  against  Jerusalem, 


132  ANCIENT  HISTORY — PERIOD  X, 

and  after  besieging  it  three  months,  took  it — 12,000  of  its 
defenders  having  lost  their  lives.  He  then  returned  to  Rome, 
enjoying  the  most  splendid  triumph  that  ever  entered  its 
gates,  61  years  B.  C. 

§  Darius,  king  of  Media,  and  Antioehus,  king  of  Syria,  were  compel- 
led to  submit  to  the  clemency  of  Pompey,  while  Phraates,  king  of 
Parthia,  was  obliged  to  retire,  and  send  to  entreat  peace.  From 
thence,  extending  his  conquest  over  the  Thuraeans  and  Arabians,  he 
Deduced  all  Syria  and  Pontus  into  Roman  provinces. 

In  his  conquest  of  Jerusalem  after  gratifying  his  curiosity  with  the 
holy  things  of  the  place,  h©  restored  Hyrcanus  to  the  priesthood  and 
government,  and  took  Aiistobulus  with  him  to  grace  his  triumph. 
This  triumph  lasted  two  days.  In  it  were  exposed  the  names  of  15 
conquered  kingdoms,  800  cities  taken,  29  cities  repeopled,  and  1000 
castles  brought  to  acknowledge  the  empire  of  Rome. 

The  treasures  that  were  brought  home  amounted  to  near  20,000,000 
of  our  money  ($•;)  and  the  trophies  and  other  splendours  of  the  pro- 
fession, were  such,  that  the  spectators  seemed  lost  in  the  magnificent 
profusion.  The  glory,  rather  than  the  real  prosperity  of  Rome,  was 
increased  by  these  victories.  While  Pompey  and  the  Roman  arms 
were  triumphant  abroad,  the  city  was  near  its  -ruin,  by  means  of  a 
conspiracy  in  its  very  "bosom. 

5.  Sergius  Catiline,  a  patrician,  by  birth,  at  this  time,  (B.  C. 
64)  plotted  the  downfall  of  his  country.     His  object  was  to 
rise  on  its  ruins  to  wealth  and  power  ;  and  accordingly  asso- 
ciating with  him  a  number  of  ambitious,  profligate  characters 
like  himself,  he  hoped  to  throw  Rome  and  all  Italy  into  a  state 
of  tumult  Paul  insurrection,  and  -to  destroy  the  lives  of  the  most 
distinguished  of  the  citizens. 

But  the  vigilance  of  Cicero,  who  wns  consul,  frustrated  this 
horrible  project.  Taking  the  necessary  precautions,  he  secured 
the  conspirators  that  were  in  Rome,  and  ordered  them  to  exe 
cution,  according  to  law.  Catiline,  who  had  fled,  soon  raised 
an  army,  and  coining  to  battle  with  the  forces  of  the  republic, 
he  was  overthrown,  g,nd  himself  and  his  whole  -army  were 
given  to  the  sword. 

Cicero,  by  his  abilities,  patriotism,  and  zeal  for  the  public 

6.  Pompey,  after  his  triumphal  entrance  into  Rome,  sought, 
to  be  the  first  man  in  the  republic.     His  contention  was  more 
-particularly  with  Crassus,  who,  on  account  of  his  wealth, 
possessed  an  influence  at  this  time  next  to  that  of  Pompey, 


'  •/  '          ±. 

good,  was  raised  to  the  most  enviable  height  of  glory  and  re- 
nown. 


80  B.  C. — 'CHRISTIAN  ERA.  133 

Caesar,  who  was  also  aspiring  after  the  same  distinction,  sought 
to  accomplish  his  object  by  uniting  these  rivals. 

This  union  he  brought  to  pass,  and  thus  he  avoided  making 
himself  an  enemy  to  either  of  them,  and  enjoyed  the  favour 
of  both.  From  a  regard  to  their  mutual  friend,  Pompey  and 
Crass  us  agreed  to  a  partition  of  power  with  Ceesar,  and  thua 
was  formed  the  First  Triumvirate,  B.  C.  59. 

Ceesar  was  chosen  consul.  He  increased  his  popularity,  by 
a  division  of  lands  among  the  poorer  citizens,  and  strengthened 
his  interest  with  Pompey,  by  giving  him  his  daughter  in 
marriage.  The  coalition  between  Pompey,  Crassus,  and 
Ceesar,  constituted  a  power  distinct  from  the  senate  or  the  peo- 
ple, and  yet  dependent  on  both.  It  was  exceedingly  detri- 
mental to  the  public  liberties. 

7.  Having  divided  the  empire  between  them,  these  three 
individuals  prepared  for  their  respective  destinations.  Caesar, 
however,  previously  to  his  departure,  had  the  address  to  pro- 
cure the  banishment  of  Cicero  from  Rome,  and  thus  removed 
one  of  the  greatest  obstacles  to  his  career  of  ambition.  He  ac- 
complished this  object  by  means  of  his  partizans,  particu- 
larly Clodius,  the  tribune,  58  years  B.  C. 

The  pretext  for  this  base  act,  was  the  illegality  of  _certain 
measures  pursued  in  the  suppression  of  Catiline's  conspiracy. 
Through  the  interest  of  Poinpey,  however,  Cicero  was  at 
length  recalled  from  exile,  with  distinguished  honour. 

§  Cicero  continued  to  be  the  watchful  guardian  of  the  few  remaining 
liberties  of  his  country.  He  was  the  greatest  man  of  the  Romans,  if 
not  of  all  antiquity.  His  virtues  were  as  conspicuous  as  his  talents* 
He  appeared,  however,  to  have  one  foible,  and  that  was  vanity.  He 
desired  to  unite  in  his  character  incompatible  qualities ;  and  to  be 
thought  not  only  the  greatest  orator,  but  the  greatest  jester  in 
Rome. 

In  his  zeal  for  the  public  good,  Cajsar  had  reason  to  fear  him.  To 
procure  his  banishment  from  the  city,  he  favoured  the  designs  of 
Clodius,  who  was  Cicero's  inveterate  enemy,  and  in  this  he  was 
joined  by  Pompey.  Clodius,  as  tribune,  caused  a  law  to  be  passed, 
importing  that  any  who  had  condemned  a  Roman  citizen  unheard, 
should  himself  be  banished.  This  was  designed  to  have  a  bearing 
on  Cicero,  in  regard  to  his  proceedings  against  Catiline. 

Being  impeached  oil  this  law,  Cicero  Was  banished  400  miles  from 
Italy,  his  houses  were  ordered  to  be  demolished,  and  his  goods  set 
up  for  sale.  In  vain  did  he  protest  against  the  iniquitous  sentence ; 
the  people  had  ungratefully  forgotten  their  benefactor,  and  sixteen 
months  did  he  spend  in  solitude  and  grief.  He  bore  his  exile  with 
greatest  impatience.  M 


134  ANCIENT  HISTORY PERIOD  X. 

Pompey,  who  had  concurred  in  the  banishment  of  Cicero,  at 
'ength  saw  his  mistake  in  the  growing  reputation  and  power  of  his 
rival,  Caesar.  To  prop  his  own  sinking  fortunes,  he  needed  the  aid  of 
Cicero,  and  interceding  in  his  favour,  procured  his  recall  to  Rome, 
57  B.  C. 

8.  Csesar,  who  had  the  government  of  Transalpine  Gaul 
and  Illy  da,  nobly  sustained  the  military  glory  of  his  country, 
in  the  wars  which  he  waged  on  its  account.     In  Gaul5  Ger- 
many, and  Britain,  he  spread  the  terror  of  his  arms.     His 
landing  on  the  British  isles,  and  his  success  in  subduing  the 
savage  and  hardy  natives,  is  a  memorable  event  in  history. 

His  invasion  of  Britain  took  place  55  years  B.  C.;  and  his 
subjugation  of  a  considerable  part  of  the  country  was  effected 
at  two  different  times,  in  the  course  of  one  year,  54  B.  C.  But 
the  urgency  of  affairs  at  home,  delayed  the  progress  of  his 
arms  in -Britain. 

§  Caesar,  in  the  first  year  of  his  government,  subdued  the  Helvetii, 
who  had  left  their  own  country,  and  attempted  to  settle  themselves 
in  the  more  inviting  regions  of  the  Roman  provinces.  Two  hundred 
thousand  of  their  number  perished.  The  Germans,  with  Ariovistus 
at  their  head,  were  next  cut  off.  The  Belga3,  Nervii,  the  Celtic 
Gauls,  the  Suevi,  and  other  warlike  nations,  were  all  successively 
brought  under  subjection. 

At  length,  urged  by  the  desire  of  conquest,  he  invaded  Britain. 
But  upon  approaching  the  shores,  he  found  them  covered  with  men 
to  oppose  his  landing,  and  it  was  not  without  a  severe  struggle,  that 
the  natives  were  put  to  flight.  Having  obtained  other  advantages 
over  them,  and  bound  them  to  obedience,  he  passed  over  to  the  conti- 
nent during  winter  quarters,  meditating  a  return  in  the  spring. 

The  absence  of  the  conqueror  inspired  the  Britons,  naturally  fond 
of  liberty,  with  a  resolution  to  renounce  the  Roman  power.  But  in 
a  second  expedition,  Caesar  so  intimidated  them  with  repeated  victo- 
ries, that  they  no  longer  resisted  in  the  plains,  but  fled  to  the  forests. 
Here,  however,  they  were  unsafe,  and  soon  yielded  to  the  necessity 
of  suing  for  a  peace. 

In  the  course  of  nine  years  this  ambitious  general  and  waster  of 
hurn^-u  life  conquered,  together  with  Britain,  all  that  country  which 
extends  from  the  Mediterranean  to  the  German  sea.  It  is  said  that 
he  took  800  cities ;  subdued  300  different  states ;  overcame  3,000,000 
men,  1,000,000  of  whom  fell  on  the  field  of  battle,  and  the  remainder 
made  prisoners  of  war.  Notwithstanding  the  plaudits  of  the  world, 
how  little  glory  was  there  in  all  this ! 

9.  The  death  of  Crassus,  which  occurred  in  an  expedition 
n  gainst  the  Parthians,  53   years  B.  C.,  put  an  end  to  the 
Triumvirate.     After  this  event,  Caesar  and  Pompey,  whose 
union  was  far  from  being  sincere,  began  each  to  entertain  the 
idea  of  supreme,  undivided  dominion.  ,  Both  were  extremely 


80  B.  C. — CHRISTIAN  ERA.  135 

powerful ;  but  Ceesar  had  superior  talents,  and  an  invincible 
army  devoted  to  his  interests.  The  main  body  of  the  people 
were  also  in  favour  of  Ceesar  who  had  won  them  by  his  libe- 
rality. 

The  strength  of  Pompey  lay  in  the  favour  of  the  consuls, 
and  the  good  wishes  of  the  Roman  senate ;  and  several  legions 
were  also  at  his  command.  In  attitudes  so  imposing,  and 
with  resources  so  vast,  it  is  not  surprising  that,  in  those  dege- 
nerate times,  each  should  be  encouraged  to  expect  the  posses- 
sion of  supreme  power. 

The  contest  for  superiority  was  not  long  a  contest  of  plans 
and  feelings  merely — it  soon  became  a  contest  of  blows.  The 
result  of  this  terrible  civil  war  was  disastrous  in  the  extreme 
to  Pompey  and  the  republic.  At  Pharsalia,  in  Thessaly, 
Caesar  and  Pompey  met  in  battle,  in  which  Pompey  was  en- 
tirely defeated,  with  the  loss  of  15,000  men  killed,  and  24,000 
taken  prisoners,  48  years  B.  C.  Being  soon  after  in  the  power 
of  Ptolemy,  king  of  Egypt,  to  whom  he  had  fled  for  protec- 
tion, he  was  basely  murdered. 

§  Near  the  expiration  of  the  term  of  his  government,  Caesar  applied 
to  the  senate  to  be  continued  in  his  authority.  This  application  the 
senate  refused.  Cassar  then  determined  to  appeal  to  arms  for  what 
he  chose  to  consider  as  his  right.  Having,  by  the  sanction  of  an 
oath,  engaged  the  services  of  his  army  in  his  favour,  he  began  to  draw 
towards  the  confines  of  Italy,  and  passing  the  Alps  with  his  third 
legion,  stopped  at  Ravenna,  from  whence  he  wrote  a  letter  to  the 
consuls,  declaring  that  he  was  ready  to  resign  all  command,  if  Pom- 
pey would  show  equal  submission.  ' 

But  the  senate  being  devoted  to  Pompey,  was  determined  to  de- 
prive Caesar  of  his  command,  and  consequently  passed  a  decree,  by 
which  he  was  to  be  considered  an  enemy  to  the  commonwealth,  if 
he  did  not  disband  his  army  within  a  limited  time. 

Caesar,  nothing  at  all  intimidated  or  deterred  from  his  project, 
marched  his  army  to  the  Rubicon,  a  small  river  which  formed  the 
boundary  between  Italy  and  Gaul.  This  boundary  the  Romans 
considered  as  sacred,  and  not  to  be  passed  with  impunity,  since  they 
had  solemnly  devoted  to  the  infernal  gods,  and  branded  with  sacri- 
lege and  parricide,  any  person  who  should  presume  to  pass  it,  with 
an  army,  a  legion,  or  even  a  single  cohort. 

At  this  spot,  he  for  a  moment  hesitated,  as  if  profoundly  impressed 
with  the  fearful  consequences  which  must  result  from  the  step  he  was 
about  to  take.  His  misgivings,  however,  subsiding,  he  said  to  one  of 
his  generals,  "  the  die  is  cast,"  and  putting  spurs  to  his  horse,  he 
plunged  in,  and  with  his  soldiers  soon  gained  the  opposite  shore. 

Terror  and  indignation  seized  the  citizens  of  Rome,  as  the  news 
of  this  transaction  reached  their  ears.  Pompey  was  not  ia  sufficient 


136  ANCIENT  HISTORY— PERIOD  X. 

force  to  meet  the  enemy,  and  accordingly  quitted  the  city,  and  led  his 
soldiers  to  Capua,  where  he  had  two  legions.  From  that  place  he 
passed  over  at  length  into  Macedonia,  followed  by  the  consuls,  and  a 
large  body  of  the  senators.  At  the  same  time,  he  caused  levies  to  be 
raised  over  both  Italy  and  Greece. 

In  two  months,  Caesar  having  made  himself  master  of  all  Italy, 
entered  Rome  in  triumph,  to  the  great  joy  of  most  of  the  people.  He 
secured  to  himself  the  supreme  authority  and  the  public  treasures 
and  having  made  profession  of  respect  for  the  citizens  and  liberties 
of  Rome,  and  adjusted  the  concerns  of  the  city,  he  left  it  in  a  few 
days,  and  set  out  to  take  the  field  against  his  enemies. 

The  lieutenants  of  Pompey  having  possession  of  Spain,  Caesai 
marched  directly  thither,  leading  his  army  again  over  the  lofty  Alps 
In  the  course  of  40  days  he  subdued  the  whole  country,  and  return 
ed  victorious  to  Rome,  where,  during  his  absence,  he  had  been  norm 
nated  dictator.  He  was  soon  after  chosen  consul  also.  His  dictator 
ship  he  relinquished  at  the  expiration  of  eleven  days. 

In  the  meantime,  Pompey's  preparations  were  such  as  became  tho 
crisis  which  was  approaching.  He  had  received  from  the  sovereigns 
of  the  East  very  considerable  supplies,  as  well  as  the  assurances  of  their 
friendship.  He  was  master  of  nine  Italian  legions,  and  had  a  fleet  of 
500  large  ships,  under  the  conduct  of  an  experienced  commander. 

The  nobles  and  most  distinguished  citizens  of  Rome,  flocked  daily 
around  his  standard ;  and  he  had  at  one  time  above  200  senators  in 
his  camp,  among  whom  were  the  great  names  of  Cicero  and  Cato. 
Pompey's  party  glorying  in  their  numbers  and  strength,  were  confi- 
dent of  success. 

Caesar,  with  a  courage  bordering  on  rashness,  immediately  sought 
his  rival,  and  desired  to  bring  him  to  an  engagement.  Near  Dyrra- 
chium  the  opposing  armies  were  so  situated  that  it  became  necessary 
to  fight.  The  result  was  by  no  means  decisive,  though  it  was  favoura- 
ble on  the  whole  to  Pompey,  who  afterwards  led  his  troops  to  Phar- 
salia. 

Previously  to  this  encounter,  a  circumstance  took  place,  displaying 
tire  lofty  spirit  of  Ceesar.  For  the  purpose  of  hastening  the  arrival 
of  a  reinforcement,  he  conceived  the  design  of  passing  over  to  Brun- 
dusium  in  the  night,  by  embarking  in  a  fisherman's  boat  at  the  mouth 
of  the  river  Apsus.  This  he  accordingly  did  with  great  secrecy, 
having  disguised  himself  .in  the  habit  of  a  slave. 

When  they  had  rowed  off  a  considerable  way,  the  wind  suddenly 
changed  against  them — the  sea  began  to  rise  in  billows,  and  the  storm 
increased  to  an  alarming  degree.  The  fisherman,  who  had  rowed 
all  night  with  extreme  labour,  was  often  inclined  to  put  back,  but 
was  dissuaded  by  his  passenger.  At  length,  however,  he  conceived 
himself  unable  to  proceed,  and  yet  he  was  too  distant  from  land  to 
hope  for  making  good  his  return. 

In  this  moment  of  despair  he  was  about  to  give  up  the  oa,r,  and 
commit  himself  to  the  mercy  of  the  waves,  when  Caesar  discovering 
himself,  commanded  him  to  row  boldly — "  Fear  nothing,"  cried  he, 
"  you  carry  Caesar  and  his  fortune."  The  fisherman  was  encouraged 


80  B.  C. CHRISTIAN    ERA.  137 

to  proceed,  but  the  wind  finally  forced  them  to  make  for  land,  and 
return. 

Soon  after  the  affair  at  Dyrrachium,  the  hostile  armies  found  them- 
selves on  the  plains  of  Pharsalia.  Caesar  invited  and  provoked  a 
battle,  by  all  the  arts  in  his  power.  Pompey  had  secured  an  advan- 
tageous situation,  and  it  was  by  the  artifice  of  decamping  and  indu- 
cing the  enemy  to  follow  him,  that  Caesar  drew  him  from  it. 

When  Cajsar  perceived  the  effect  of  his  stratagem,  with  joy  in  his 
countenance  he  informed  his  soldiers  that  the  hour  was  come  which 
was  to  crown  their  glory,  and  terminate  their  fatigues.  His  forces, 
however,  were  much  exceeded  by  those  of  Pompey,  who  led  an 
army  of  45,000  footmen,  and  7000  horse,  while  the  troops  of  Caesar 
did  not  number  more  than  23,000  men,  only  1000  of  whom  were 
cavalry.  But  they  were  better  disciplined  than  those  of  Pompey. 

Awful  was  the  moment  of  meeting.  The  armies  were  both  Roman, 
mingled  indeed  with  foreigners,  and  the  first  in  the  world — the  leaders 
were  consummately  brave,  and  the  interest  at  stake  was  the  dominion 
of  Rome.  Every  heart  was  fired  and  every  arm  nerved.  The  generals 
both  addressed  their  armies  previously  to  the  engagement,  and  urged 
them  to  sustain  the  reputation  of  their  ancient  bra.very. 

The  battle  commenced  on  the  part  of  Caesar.  But  the  cavalry  of 
Pompey  were  too  numerous  for  their  adversaries.  Caesar's  men  were 
forced  to  retire.  Their  general  had  foreseen  this  result,  and  had  made 
the  requisite  disposition  of  his  forces.  Six  cohorts  in  reserve,  who 
had  been  ordered  to  discharge  their  javelins  at  the  faces  of  Pompey's 
cavalry,  were,  at  this  crisis,  brought  up  to  the  engagement.  The  sin- 
gle circumstance  of  the  manner  of  their  fighting  determined  the  fate 
of  the  battle.  Pompey's  cavalry,  who  consisted  of  the  younger  part 
of  the  Roman  nobility,  valued  themselves  upon  their  beauty,  and 
dreaded  a  scar  in  the  face,  more  than  a  wound  in  the  body.  They 
were  therefore  frightened  from  the  field  by  the  unusual  mode  of  at- 
tack, and  thus  the  day  was  lost  to  Pompey  and  the  republic. 

The  loss  of  Caesar  was  inconsiderable,  200  men  only  being  slain. 
His  clemency  towards  his  vanquished  enemies  deserves  to  be  noticed. 
iMost  of  the  prisoners  he  incorporated  with  the  rest  of  his  army,  and 
to  the  senators,  and  Roman  knights,  who  fell  into  his  hands,  he  gave 
liberty  to  retire  whithersoever  they  pleased.  The  letters  which  Pom- 
pey had  received  from  several  persons  who  wished  to  be  thought  neu- 
tral, Caesar  committed  to  the  flames  without  reading  them,  as  Pom- 
pey had  done  upon  a  former  occasion. 

Caesar  followed  up  his  victory  with  the  greatest  energy,  and  after 
Pompey's  flight  instantly  pursued  him.  He  did  not  however  over- 
take him  alive.  Pompey  had  been  destined  to  suffer  the  extremity  ». 
misery.  His  fall  was  from  the  summit  of  power  to  the  most  abject 
dependence,  and  it  was  as  sudden  as  it  was  terrible.  Escaping  from 
the  field  of  battle,  and  wandering  along  the  beautiful  vale  of  Tenre^ 
in  the  greatest  agony  of  mind,  he  finally  found  the  means  of  sailing 
to  Lesbos,  where  he  had  left  his  wife  Cornelia. 

Their  meeting  was  tender  and  distressing  to  the  last  degree.  The 
news  of  her  reverse  of  fortune  had  caused  Cornelia  to  faint,  and  for 

M2 


138  ANCIENT  HISTORY PERIOD  X. 

a  considerable  time  life  appeared  to  be  extinguished.  At  length  re 
covering  herself,  she  ran  quite  through  the  city  to  the  sea-side.  Pom- 
pey  received  her  without  speaking  a  word,  and  for  some  time  sup- 
ported her  in  his  arms,  with  silent  anguish.  When  words  found 
their  way,  the  tenderest  expressions  of  affection  and  grief  were  mu- 
tually uttered. 

But  it  became  necessary  to  flee,  and  sailing  to  the  coast  of  Egypt, 
they  sought  the  protection  of  Ptolemy,  whose  father  had  formerly 
found  in  Pompey  a  benefactor.  The  ministers  of  the  king  wishing 
to  court  the  favour  of  Cssar,  basely  proposed  to  receive  and  then 
murder  their  guest,  as  lie  approached  the  shore.  This  diabolical  coun- 
sel prevailing,  Achillas,  and  Septimius,  the  latter  by  birth  a  Roman, 
were  appointed  to  carry  it  into  execution. 

Accordingly,  in  the  very  sight  of  Cornelia,  as  Pompey  arose  to  go 
ashore,  supporting  himself  upon  his  freedman's  arm,  Septimius  stab- 
bed him  in  the  back  ;  when  the  warrior,  perceiving  what  would  be  his 
fate,  silently  resigned  himself  to  it,  at  the  same  time  muffling  his  face 
with  his  robe. 

The  freed  man  of  Pompey,  after  the  people  had  retired,  found  the 
means  of  burning  the  body  of  his  master,  from  which  the  head  had 
t  een  separated,  and  over  the  tomb  the  following  inscription  was 
afterwards  placed :  "  He  whose  merits  deserve  a  temple,  can  now 
scarcely  find  a  grave."  Coesar  soon  reached  Egypt;  but  the  head  of 
Pompey,  which  was  immediately  presented  to  him,  and  from  which 
he  turned  his  face  in  horror,  informed  him,  that  he  had  now  nothing 
to  fear  from  a  man  who  had  so  lately  contended  with  him  for  the  em- 
pire of  the  \vorld. 

10.  War  was  Caesar's  element.    He  found  an  occasion -of 
gratifying  his  ruling  passion  in  Egypt.    In  a  contest  between 
Ptolemy  and  his  sister  Cleopatra,  he  interposed  in  behalf  of 
the  latter,  and  at  length  brought  Egypt  under  the  Roman 
yoke,  48  B.  C.     In  two  years  after,  he  subdued  Pharnaces, 
king  of  Pontus. 

§  Cleopatra,  though  sister  to  Ptolemy,  was  nevertheless  married  to 
him,  and  both  jointly  held  the  throne.  The  ambition  of  Cleopatra 
prompted  her  to  aspire  after  undivided  authority.  The  charms  of 
her  person  were  unequalled,  and  conquering  even  the  conqueror  of 
the  world,  they  engaged  him  in  a  war  which  was  alike  easy  and  de- 
sirable. After  the  reduction  of  Egypt,  Crcsar,  forgetful  of  the  re- 
spect due  to  his  character,  abandoned  himself  to  pleasure  in  the  com- 
pany of  Cleopatra. 

From  such  a  course,  however,  he  soon  broke  off,  for  hearing  of  the 
revolt  of  Pharnaces,  son  of  Mithridates,  who  had  seized  upon  Chal- 
cis  and  Armenia,  he  bent  his  way  thither.  In  the  battle  of  Zela,  he 
signally  chastised  the  offending  monarch.  "  I  came,  I  saw,  I  conquer- 
e<V'  is  the  expressive  language  in  which  his  report  was  conveyed  to 
the  Roman  senate. 

11.  Leaving  the  scene  of  conquest  in  the  East,  Csesar  has- 


80  B.  C. CHRISTIAN    ERA.  139 

tened  to  Rome,  where  his  presence  was  greaUy  needed.  An- 
tony, who  acted  as  his  deputy,  had  created  disturbances  which 
Caesar  only  could  quell.  Italy  was  divided,  and  the  party  of 
Pompey  was  yet  extremely  formidable.  Caesar,  however,  soon 
restored  tranquillity  to  Rome. 

But  at  this  time  the  two  sons  of  Pompey,  with  Cato  and 
Scipio,  were  in  arms  in  Africa,  assisted  by  Juba,  king  of  Mau- 
ritania; thither  Caesar  hastened,  and  at  Thepsus,  meeting  them 
in  battle,  overthrew  them  with  little  or  no  loss  on  his  side. 
Scipio,  in  attempting  to  escape  into  Spain,  fell  among  the 
enemy,  and  was  slain.  Cato,  confining  himself  in  Utica,  at 
first  thought  of  resisting  the  victorious  Csesar,  but  finding  his 
followers  irresolute,  he  deliberately  put  an  end  to  his  own  life. 

This  event  finishing  the  war  in  Africa,  Csesar  returned  in 
triumph  to  Rome,  45  years  B.  C.  By  an  unparalleled  display 
of  magnificence  and  by  unbounded  liberality,  he  courted  and 
obtained  the  favour  of  the  great  body  of  the  people.  Almost 
every  honour  and  title  was  conferred  upon  him.  He  was 
styled  father  of  his  country,  was  created  perpetual  dictator, 
received  the  title  of  emperor,  and  Ms  person  was  declared 
sacred. 

§  The  story  of  Cato  is  deeply  tragical.  This  extraordinary  man  dis- 
played at  once  the  firmness  and  the  depravity  of  his  nature.  When 
he  found  it  in  vain  to  attempt  to  animate  his  soldiers  against  Csesar. 
he  resolved  to  die.  After  supping  cheerfully,  he  came  into  his  bed- 
chamber, where  he  laid  himself  down,  and  with  deep  attention,  read 
some  time  Plato's  Dialogue  on  the  immortality  of  the  soul. 

Perceiving  soon  that  his  sword  had  been  removed  from  the  head  of 
his  bed,  he  made  inquiries  respecting  it  of  his  domestics;  but  while 
he  was  like  to  obtain  no  satisfaction  from  them,  his  son,  who  had 
caused  it  to  be  taken  away,  entered  with  tears,  and  besought  him,  in 
the  most  humble  and  affectionate  manner,  to  change  his  resolution  ; 
but  receiving  a  stern  reprimand,  he  desisted  from  his  persuasions. 

His  sword  being  at  length  handed  to  him,  his  tranquillity  returned, 
and  he  cried  out,  "  Now  am  I  master  of  myself."  He  then  took  up 
the  book  again,  which  he  read  twice  over,  and  fell  into  a  profound 
sleep.  Upon  waking,  he  made  some  inquiry  of  one  of  his  freedmen, 
respecting  his  friends,  and  then  shutting  himself  up  in  the  room 
alone,  he  stabbed  himself;  but  the  wound  not  being  immediately  mor- 
tal, with  a  most  ferocious  resolution,  he  tore  out  his  own  bowels,  and 
died  as  he  had  lived,  a  stoic.  By  this  deed  he  has  blackened  his  cha- 
racter, to  all  futurity. 

12.  The  state  of  affairs  in  Spain  called  Csesar  again  into 
that  country,  45  years  B.  C.  Two  of  the  sons  of  Pompey 
were  in  arms,  and  it  was  not  without  severe  fighting  thai 


140  ANCIENT  HISTORY — PERIOD  X. 

Caesar  subdued  the  remnant  of  his  enemies  in  Spain,    He  re 
turned  to  Rome  to  receive  new  demonstrations  of  the  almost 
slavish  homage  of  its  citizens. 

Finding  himself  in  peace,  he  turned  his  attention  more  than 
ever  to  the  improvement  of  the  empire.  He  affected  great 
moderation  in  the  enjoyment  of  his  power,  though  he  was  evi- 
dently eager  of  its  acquisition.  He  however  turned  it  to  a 
good  account.  He  made  no  discriminations  between  his 
friends  and  foes  :  he  was  liberal  alike  to  both.  He  adorned 
the  city  with  magnificent  buildings,  undertook  to  level  several 
mountains  in  Italy,  and  to  drain  the  Pontine  marshes,  impro- 
ved the  navigation  of  the  Tiber,  reformed  the  calendar,  and 
meditated  distant  conquests. 

13.  His  brilliant  course,  however,  was  destined  shortly  to 
end.  He  was  suspected  of  aiming  at  royalty  ;  and  though 
many  of  the  people  felt  greatly  obliged  by  his  clemency  and 
munificence,  yet  they  detested  the  name  of  king.  This  cir- 
cumstance urged  60  of  the  senators,  who  were  actuated  by 
the  love  of  liberty,  though  some  of  them  seem  to  have  been 
impelled  also  by  private  resentment,  to  league  together  with 
a  view  to  deprive  him  of  his  life.  This  they  accomplished  in 
the  senate  house  on  the  ides  (15th)  of  March,  in  the  56th  year 
of  his  age,  44  B.  C. 

§  Caesar  enjoyed  all  the  power  of  a  monarch ;  and  though  he  might, 
in  the  first  instance,  have  ambitiously  sought  it,  yet  it  was  conferred 
or  allowed  by  the  free  consent  of  the  people.  But  the  name  of  king 
was  not  to  be  endured.  The  particular  occasion  of  envy  or  alarm 
among  the  friends  of  liberty,  was  the  neglect,  on  the  part  of  Caesar,  of 
rising  from  his  seat,  when  the  senate  was  conferring  upon  him  some 
special  honours. 

From  that  time  it  began  to  be  rumoured  that  he  was  about  to  take 
the  title  of  king.  Whether  such  was  his  purpose  cannot  now  be  de- 
termined, though  it  cannot  be  well  conceived  why  he  should  desire 
that  empty  honour,  when  he  possessed  the  reality.  The  conspiracy 
which  was  formed  against  him,  was  headed  by  Brutus  and  Cassius, 
the  one  his  friend — the  other  his  enemy.  Brutus  owed  his  life  to 
the  clemency  of  Caesar,  whom  the  latter  spared  at  the  battle  of  Phar- 
salia ;  and  he  was  not  destitute  of  a  strong  personal  attachment  to 
the  dictator. 

The  conspiracy  which  had  been  formed,  happened  in  some  way 
or  other  to  be  known  by  two  or  three  individuals ;  but  the  means  ta- 
ken to  apprize  Ca3sar  of  it,  failed.  As  he -proceeded  to  the  senate,  on 
the  day  agreed  upon  by  the  conspirators,  a  slave  hastened  to  carry 
him  information,  but  could  not  come  near  him  for  the  crowd.  Arte- 
midorus,  a  great  philosopher,  who  had  discovered  the  whole  plot,  de- 


80  B.  C. — CHRISTIAN  ERA.  141 

livered  him  a  memorial,  but  Caesar  gave  it,  with  other  papers,  to  one 
of  his  secretaries,  without  reading  it. 

As  soon  as  he  had  taken  his  place,  the  conspirators  came  near  him 
under  pretence  of  saluting  him ;  and  Cimber,  who  was  one  of  them, 
pretending  to  sue  for  his  brother's  pardon,  approached  in  a  suppliant 
posture,  and  so  near  as  to  take  hold  of  the  bottom  of  his  robe,  which 
prevented  Caesar  from  rising. 

This  was  the  signal  agreed  on.  Casca,  who  was  behind,  stabbed 
him,  though  slightly,  in  the  shoulder.  Caesar  instantly  turned  round 
and  wounded  him  in  the  arm.  However,  the  conspirators  were  now 
all  in  action,  and  surrounded  him.  He  received  a  second  stab  in  the 
breast,  while  Cassius  wounded  him  in  the  face.  Still  he  defended 
himself  with  great  vigour,  rushing  among  them,  and  throwing  down 
such  as  opposed  him,  till  seeing  Brutus  who  had  struck  a  dagger  in 
his  thigh,  he  yielded  himself  to  his  fate,  first  exclaiming  to  his  friend, 
in  a  subdued  and  languishing  tone,  "  And  you,  too,  my  son  !" 

He  fell,  covered  with  his  robe,  before  him,  and  pierced  with  23 
wounds. 

The  character  of  a  despot  and  conqueror,  as  such,  is  to  be  detest- 
ed. CaSsar  enslaved  his  country,  and  waded  to  dominion  through 
rivers  of  blood.  His  elevation  cost  the  lives  of  1,200,000  human  be- 
ings. We  may  be  permitted  to  express  our  abhorrence  of  such  con- 
duct, and  to  regret  tj^at  transcendant  talents  (for  such  he  possessed) 
should  have  been  perverted  to  so  base  a  purpose. 

The  darkness  of  this  picture  is  however  relieved  by  some  lines  of 
light — if  it  were  not  so,  Caesar  would  have  been  a  monster.  Besides 
the  splendid  endowments  of  his  genius,  he  was  distinguished  by 
liberality,  clemency,  and  modesty.  He  always  spared  a  vanquished 
enemy ;  and  perhaps  no  despot,  in  his  personal  feelings  and  private 
character,  was  ever  more  amiable.  How  much  then  is  it  to  be  lament- 
ed, that  such  qualities  should  have  been  united  to  an  insatiable  am- 
bition ! 

14.  The  death  of  Caesar  produced  an  unheard  of  crisis  in 
human  affairs.  There  was  no  longer  any  tyrant,  yet  liberty 
was  extinct ;  for  the  causes  which  destroyed  it  kept  it  from 
reviving.  The  senate  and  people  mutually  distrusted  each 
other.  There  was  a  very  general  feeling  of  sorrow  and  in- 
dignation among  the  latter  at  the  murder  of  Caesar,  nor  could 
the  senate  at  all  mitigate  or  repress  it. 

Mark  Antony,  a  man  of  consummate  military  talents,  but 
profligate  in  the  extreme,  exposed  the  bleeding  body  of  Caesar 
in  the  forum.  This  sight,  together  with  the  bloody  robe,  pro- 
duced an  electric  effect  on  the  multitude,  which  was  heigh  t- 
ed  to  an  excessive  degree,  by  means  of  an  artful  and  inflam- 
matory harangue  delivered  by  Antony  on  the  occasion.  The 
conspirators  were  obliged  to  flee  the  city  in  order  to  save  their 
lives. 


142  ANCIENT  HISTORY — PERIOD  X. 

At  this  juncture,  (43  B.  C.)  a  second  triumvirate  was  form- 
ed, consisting  of  Antony,  already  mentioned,  Lepidus,  who 
was  immensely  rich,  and  Octavius,  afterwards  surnamed  Au- 
gustus, who  was  Caesar's  grand  nephew  and  adopted  heir. 
This  was  a  most  bloody  triumvirate.  As  they  divided  the 
supreme  authority  among  themselves,  by  concert,  they  stipu- 
lated that  all  their  respective  enemies  should  be  destroyed, 
though  those  might  happen  to  be  the  best  friends  of  each  as- 
sociate who  was  required  to  sacrifice  them. 

§  Lepidus  gave  up  his  brother  Paulus  to  the  vengeance  of  one  of  his 
colleagues.  Antony  permitted  the  proscription  of  his  uncle  Lucius ; 
and  Augustus,  to  his  eternal  infamy,  sacrificed  the  great  Cicero. 
Three  hundred  senators,  and  2000  Roman  knights,  besides  multitudes 
of  worthy  citizens,  were  included  in  this  horrible  proscription. 

15.  The  conspirators  were  not  suffered  long  to  escape  the 
vengeance  of  the  friends  of  Cyesar.  Octavius  and  Antony 
now  marched  against  them  in  Thrace,  where  they  had  a  for- 
midable army  of  100,000  men,  commanded  by  Brutus  and 
Cassius.  An  engagement  took  place  at  Philippi,  42  years 
B.  C.,  which  decided  the  fate  of  the  empiie.  It  was  won  by 
Octavius  and  Antony,  or  rather  by  Antony  alone,  for  Octa- 
vius was  destitute  not  only  of  military  talents,  but  even  of 
personal  bravery. 

The  death-blow  was  now  given  to  Roman  liberty.  The 
republican  party  was  entirely  subdued,  and  Brutus  and  Cas- 
sius, its  leaders,  escaped  the  hands  of  their  enemies^  only  by  a 
voluntary  death. 

§  The  loss  of  the  battle  at  Philippi  by  the  republicans,  was  occasion- 
ed principally  through  the  hasty  despair  of  Cassius.  Brutus,  on  his 
part,  had  been  victorious, — Cassius  had  suffered  a  severe  loss,  but 
would  have  been  relieved  by  Brutus,  had  he  not  ordered  himself  to 
be  killed  in  the  meantime,  in  consequence  of  having  mistaken  a  body 
of  Brutus's  cavalry,  who  was  approaching  him,  for  that  of  the  enemy. 

When  Brutus  was  informed  of  the  defeat  and  death  of  Cassius,  he 
seemed  hardly  able  to  restrain  the  excess  of  his  grief  for  a  man,  whom 
he  called  "  the  last  of  the  Romans."  He  bathed  the  dead  body  with 
his  tears.  Antony  offered  him  battle  on  the  ensuing  day ;  but  it  was 
the  policy  of  Brutus  to  delay,  and  even  to  attempt  to  starve  his  ene- 
my ;  he  probably  might  have  done  it. 

'Die  soldiers  of  Brutus,  however,  urged  a  battle,  nor  would  they 
submit  to  a  refusal.  After  a  respite  of  a  few  days,  Brutus  took  the 
field.  He  fought  with  the  resolution  to  conquer,  but  some  unhappy 
movement  of  a*part  of  his  troops  turned  the  fortune  of  the  day,  and 
all  was  lost.  He  followed  the  fate  of  Cassius. 

Retiring  out  of  the  way  of  the  enemy,  with  Strato}  his  master  io 


80  B.  C.    CHRISTIAN    ERA.  143 

oratory,  he  requested  the  latter  to  put  an  end  to  his  life.  After  much 
solicitation  Strato  reluctantly  assented,  and  averting  his  face,  pre- 
sented the  sword's  point  to  Brutus,  who  threw  himself  upon  it,  and 
immediately  expired.  , 

Octavius  being  sick  at  this  time,  took  no  part  in  the  battle  of  Phi- 
lippi  Indeed  his  presence,  had  it  been  afforded,  would  have  been  of 
little  service  to  the  combatants,  since  he  possessed  neither  skill  nor 
courage.  He  had,  however,  gained  a  large  share  of  popularity  with 
the  Roman  people,  partly  on  account  of  his  name,  and  his  relation- 
ship to  Caesar,  and  partly  on  account  of  his  personal  appearance,  and 
accomplishments.  These  were  in  the  highest  degree  prepossessing. 

He  was  destined,  as  will  soon  appear,  to  be  much  more  successful 
than  the  other  Triumviri,  and  even  at  length 'to  place  himself  at  the 
head  of  the  empire. 

16.  The  power  of  the  Triumviri  being  established  upon 
the  ruins  of  the  commonwealth,  they  began  to  think  of  en- 
joying the  homage  to  which  they  had  aspired.  Lepidus,  how- 
ever, wqs  soon  deposed  and  banished.    Antony  took  his  way 
to  the  East,  where,  at  Athens,  he  spent  some  time  in  philoso- 
phic retirement,  and  afterwards  passed  from  kingdom  to  king- 
dom, attended  by  a  crowd  of  sovereigns,  exacting  contribu- 
tions, and  giving   away  crowns  with  capricious  insolence. 
While  Octavius,  with  consummate  art,  was  increasing  his  fa- 
vour with  the  people  by  his  munificence,  and  contriving  the 
means  of  attaining  to  supreme  power. 

§  It  may  be  necessary  to  observe  here,  that  there  were  properly 
four  individuals  at  this  period,  who  were  the  masters  of  the  Roman 
empire.  Some  time  after  the  formation  of  the  second  triumvirate, 
Sextus  Pompey,  son  of  Pompey  the  Great,  was  admitted  to  a  share 
of  the  authority  and  possessions  of  the  state,  in  connexion  with  the 
triumviri. 

An  occasion  of  war  soon  occurring,  Octavius  had  the  good  fortune 
to  defeat  Pompey  in  a  naval  engagement,  through  the  skill  and  in- 
trepidity of  Agrippa,  his  friend  and  associate  in  war.  This  event  oc- 
curred 32  years  B.  C.  Augustus  had  now  no  competitor  for  the  em- 
pire of  the  world,  save  Mark  Antony. 

17.  Antony  having  summoned  Cleopatra,  queen  of  Egypt, 
to  answer  for  her  disaffection  to  the  Roman  cause,  was  caught 
in  the  toils  of  love  by  the  artifices  of  the  beautiful  queen.  In 
his  infatuation  ITS  forgot  ambition  and  empire,  in  devotion  to 
the  object  of  his  guilty  passion.     Octavius  saw  in  this  mad- 
ness the  presage  of  his  ruin. 

On  Cleopatra,  her  lover  had  lavished  the  provinces  of  the 
empire  for  which  he  was  declared  a  public  enemy,  and  as  for 
her  sake  he  had  divorced  Octavia,  the  gisto  of  Octavius,  the 


144  ANCIENT  HISTORY — FEKldtf  X* 

latter  embraced  the  opportunity,  which  he  had  eagerly  de- 
sired, of  declaring  war  against  him. 

An  immense  armament,  principally  naval,  (the  land  for- 
ces being  merely  spectators,)  came  to  an  engagement  near 
Actium,  on  the  coast  of  Epirus,  31  years  B.  0.  The  conflict 
was  decisive*  Cleopatra,  who  attended  Antony,  deserted  him 
with  her  galleys,  in  the  midst  of  the  engagement. 

Such  was  his  infatuation,  that  he  immediately  followed 
her,  leaving  his  fleet,  which  after  a  contest  of  some  hours, 
yielded  to  the  squadron  of  Octavius.  The  conqueror  pursued 
the  fugitives  to  Egypt ;  and  the  infamous  Cleopatra  proffered 
terms  to  Octavius,  including  the  surrender  of  her  kingdom 
and  the  abandonment  of  Antony. 

After  an  unsuccessful  attempt  at  resistance,  Antony  antici- 
pated his  doom  by  falling  on  his  sword.  Cleopatra  also  soon 
after  saw  fit  to  frustrate  the  design  of  Octavius,  which  was  to 
carry  her  in  chains  to  Rome  as  an  ornament  to  his  triumph^ 
by  seeking  a  voluntary  death. 

Octavius  was  now  left  without  a  rival,  with  the  government 
of  Rome  in  his  hands.  Egypt,  which  had  existed  a  kingdom 
from  immemorial  ages,  from  this  time  became  a  province  of 
Rome,  30  years  B.  C. 

§  The  story  of  Cleopatra  will  be  briefly  told  under  the  history  of 
Egypt  for  this  period.  Antony,  her  lover,  had  few  superiors  in  war, 
and  he  was  the  idol  of  his  army.  He  was,  however,  profligate  in  the 
extreme,  and  his  infatuated  conduct  in  relation  to  the  Egyptian 
queen,  while  it  showed  the  native  strength  and  tenderness  of  his  pas- 
sions, has  imprinted  an  indelible  stain  on  his  character  as  a  hero. 
His  weakness  in  this  respect  was  the  cause  of  his  ruin,  and  prevented 
the  acquisition  of  universal  empire,  which  he  might,  perhaps  have 
otherwise  obtained. 

In  the  struggle  between  Antony  and  Octavius,  the  strength  of  the 
East  and  of  the  West  were  arrayed  against  each  other.  Antony's  force 
composed  a  body  of  100,000  foot,  and  12,000  horse ;  while  his  fleet 
amounted  to  500  ships  of  war.  The  army  of  Octavius  mustered  but 
80,000  foot,  but  equalled  his  adversary  in  the  number  of  his  cavalry ; 
while  his  fleet  was  only  half  as  large  as  Antony's ;  but  the  ships 
were  better  built  and  better  manned. 

The  fortune  of  the  day  in  the  battle  of  Actium,  was  determined  by 
the  flight  of  Cleopatra  with  60  galleys.  Yet  with  this  diminution  of 
the  fleet,  and  with  the  abandonment  of  it  by  Antony  himself,  it  fought 
with  the  utmost  obstinacy  for  several  hours,  till  partly  by  the  con- 
duct of  Agrippa,  and  partly  by  the  promises  of  Octavius,  it  submitted 
to  the  conqueror.  The  land  forces  of  Antony  soon  followed  the  ex- 
ample of  the  navy,  an-4  yielded  to  Octavius  without  striking  a  blow- 


80  B.  C. CHRISTIAN  ERA.  145 

18.  The  Roman  empire  had  now  become  the  largest 
which  the  world  had  ever  seen :  and  Octavius,  now  named 
Augustus,  holding  the  principal  offices  of  the  state,  was,  in 
effect,  the  absolute  master  of  the  lives  and  fortunes  of  the  Ro 
man  people.  During  a  long  administration  he  almost  effaced 
the  memory  of  his  former  cruelties,  and  seemed  to  consult 
only  the  good  of  his  subjects.  , 

His  reign  constituted  the  era  of  Roman  taste  and  genius, 
under  the  auspices  of  Meceenas,  his  chief  minister,  who  was 
the  most  eminent  patron  of  letters  recorded  in  history. 

Seventeen  years  before  the  close  of  'his  life  and  reign,  ac- 
according  to  the  true  computation,  (not  the  vulgar  era,)  our 
Lord  and  Saviour  JESUS  CHRIST  was  born  in  Judea — an 
event  more  important  than  any  other  that  ever  took  place  in 
our  world. 

§  Augustus  pursued  a  pacific  course,  and  restored  order  to  the  state 
During  the  period  of  his  administration  of  the  government,  the  tem- 
ple of  Janus,  which  was  shut  only  at  the  prevalence  of  general  peace, 
was  closed  for  the  first  time  since  the  commencement  of  the  second 
Punic  war,  and  only  the  third  time  from  the  building  of  Rome.  Itwas 
precisely  at  this  happy  and  singular  crisis  of  human  affairs,  that  the 
birth  of  our  blessed  Saviour  happened. 

The  administration  of  Augustus  .was  however  fatal  to  liberty ; 
though  that  circumstance  itself  tended  to  general  tranquillity,  since 
the  corruption  of  manners  required  the  most  absolute  restraint.  By 
masterly  strokes  of  policy,  he  united  all  interests  and  reconciled  a 
differences.  He  disguised  his  new  despotism,  under  names  familiar 
and  allowed  by  that  constitution  which  he  had  destroyed. 

He  claimed  to  himself  the  title  of  emperor,  to  preserve  authority 
over  the  army ;  he  caused  himself  to  be  created  tribune,  to  managi 
the  people ;  and  prince  of  the  senate,  to  govern  that  body.  After  he 
had  fixed  himself  in  the  government,  he  long  hesitated  whether  he 
should  restore  to  Rome  its  liberty,  or  retain  his  present  situation.  The 
examples,  and  the  differing  fortunes  of  Sylla  and  Caesar,  were  before 
him,  and  operated  on  his  hopes  and  fears. 

Disclosing  his  feelings  to  Agrippa,  who  had  assisted  him  in  gaining 
the  empire,  and  to  Mecaenas,  his  principal  minister  and  adviser,  the 
former  suggested  the  wisdom  of  his  resigning  it — the  latter  dissuaded 
him  from  taking  such  a  step.  The  opinion  of  Mecaenas,  as  it  was  on 
the  whole  more  agreeable  to  Augustus,  was  followed,  and  perhaps 
mankind  have  little  reason  to  regret  it,  considering  what  was  the 
awful  corruption  of  the  times. 

Through  the  counsels  of  this  great  minister,  Augustus  fostered 
learning  and  the  arts  to  the  highest  degree,  and  specimens  of  human 
intellect  then  appeared,  which  have  rarely  been  equalled  among  man- 
kind. Genius  enjoyed  all  the  rewards  and  all  the  consideration  that 
it  could  claim. 

N 


146  ANCIENT  HISTORY — PERIOD  X. 

The  authority  which  Augustus  usurped,  he,  from  policy,  accepted 
only  for  a  limited  period,  sometimes  for  ten,  and  sometimes  for  only 
five  years ;  but  at  the  expiration  of  the  term,  it  was  regularly  be- 
Btowed  upon  him  again. 

His  -situation,  which  was  above  all  equality,  generated  virtues  to 
which,  in  all  probability,  he  was  naturally  a  stranger.  He  sometimes 
condescended  to  plead  before  the  proper  tribunals,  for  those  he  de- 
sired to  protect,  for  he  suffered  the  laws  to  have  their  proper  course. 
One  of  his  veteran  soldiers  entreated  his  protection  in  a  law-suit. 
Augustus,  taking  little  notice  of  his  request,  desired  him  apply  to  an 
advocate.  "  Ah !"  replied  the  soldier,  "  it  was  not  by  proxy  that  I 
served  you  at  the  battle  of  Actium." 

This  reply  pleased  Augustus  so  much,  that  he  pleaded  his  cause  in 
person,  and  gained  it  for  him. 

He  was  so  affable,  that  he  returned  the  salutations  of  the  meanest 
person.  One  day  a  person  presented  him  with  a  petition,  but  with 
so  much  awe,  that  Augustus  was  displeased  with  his  meanness. 
"  What !  friend,"  cried  he,  "  you  seem  as  if  you  were  offering  some- 
thing to  an  elephant,  and  not  to  a  man : — be  bolder." 

A  part  of  his  long  reign  of  more  than  40  years  belongs  to  modern 
history,  but  we  may  here  speak  of  it  as  entire.  During  the  whole  of 
it  he  cultivated  the  arts  of  peace.  The  wars  which  were  carried  on 
in  the  distant  provinces  aimed  rather  at  enforcing  submission,  than 
at  extending  dominion.  He  was  however  successful  in  almost  all  of 
them.  The  defeat  of  his  general,  Varus,  in  Germany,  was  the  most 
serious  disaster  which  he  experienced.  The  choicest  troops  of  the 
empire  constituted  the  army  of  Varus,  and  they  were  entirely  cut  off 
in  the  forests  of  that  country. 

In  his  domestic  life,  Augustus  was  less  happy  and  fortunate,  than 
as  master  of  the  Roman  people.  His  wife,  Livia,  was  an  imperious 
woman,  and  controlled  him  at  her  pleasure.  Her  son,  Tiberius,  who 
at  length  succeeded  to  the  empire,  possessed  a  suspicious  and  obsti- 
nate temper,  and  gave  him  so  much  uneasiness,  that  he  banished  him 
for  five  years  at  a  distance  from  Rome.  But  his  daughter,  Julia,  by 
his  former  wife,  afflicted  him  more  than  all  the  rest,  through  her  ex- 
cessive lewdnes?  The  very  court  where  her  father  presided,  was 
not  exempt  from  ner  debaucheries. 

Augustus  lost  a  favourite  son,  who,  it  is  supposed,  was  taken  off  by 
poison,  lest  he  should  supplant  Tiberius.  The  emperor  was  often 
heard  to  exclaim,  "  How  happy  should  I  have  been  had  I  never  had 
a  wife  or  children !"  He  died  during  an  absence  from  Rome,  at  Nola, 
ofadysentery,  in  the76thyear  of  his  age,  after  reigning  41  years,  14  A.  C. 

.  19.  Little  is  to  be  said,  separately,  of  the  history  of  other 
nations  during  this  period,  as  they  were  mostly  swallowed  up 
in  the  Roman  empire.  We  can  notice  only  two  or  three,  and 
these  are  very  much  blended  with  the  Roman  history,  being 
included  in  the  number  of  the  Roman  provinces  before  the 
end  of  the  present  period.  First,  Judea  comes  under  review. 


80  B.  C. CHRISTIAN  ERA.  14? 

JUDEA. 

THE  JEWS  at  this  time  were  ruled  by  the  sacerdotal  and 
royal  family  of  the  Maccabees,  under  the  title  of  the  As- 
inonean  dynasty,  but  they  were  in  the  last  stages  of  their 
independent  existence.  When  Pompey  came  to  Jerusalem 
to  settle  the  affairs  of  Judea,  he  restored  Hyrcanus  with  the 
title  of  Prince  of  the  Jews,  and  conferred  the  government  of  the 
country  on  Antipater,  an  Idumean  proselyte,  63  years  B.  C. 

§  In  the  civil  wars  between  Ceesar  and  Pompey,  the  former  sent 
Aristobulus,  whom  Pompey  had  carried  captive  to  Rome,  into  Judea, 
to  engage  the  Jews  in  his  (Cesar's)  cause,  but  he  was  poisoned  by  his 
enemies.  At  the  same  time  Pompey  ordered  his  son  Alexander  to 
be  beheaded. 

20.  After  one  other  revolution  in  the  person  of  Hyrcanus, 
the  family  of  the  Herodians  was  seated  on  the  throne  of  Ju- 
dea.    Herod,  called  the  Great,  son  of  Antipater,  was  declared 
king  of  that  country,  by  a  decree  of  the  Roman  senate,  37 
years  B.  C.     His  reign  was  splendid,  but  distinguished  by  a 
singular  degree  of  profligacy. 

§  Some  time  after  his  establishment  on  the  throne,  Herod,  in  order 
to  please  Mariamne,  the  daughter  of  Hyrcanus,  whom  he  had  marriedt 
appointed  her  brother,  Aristobulus,  High  Priest ;  but  perceiving  that 
he  was  much  beloved  by  the  Jews,  he  caused  him  to  be  drowned 
while  bathing.  After  the  battle  of  Actium  he  went  to  Rhodes  to 
meet  Augustus,  who  confirmed  his  title  of  king  of  Judea.  Upon  his 
return  he  condemned  to  death  his  wife.  Mariamne,  and  her  mother, 
Alexandra. 

From  this  hour  his  life  was  a  continual  scene  of  misery  and  fero- 
city. At  the  instigation  of  his  third  son,  he  sentenced  to  death  Aris- 
tobulus and  Alexander,  his  children  by  Mariamne,  and  the  next  year 
Antipater  himself  experienced  the  same  fate.  His  last  moments  also 
were  stained  with  the  blood  of  the  children  of  Bethlehem  and  the 
neighbourhood,  whom  he  ordered  to  be  slain,  in  the  hope  that  the 
infant  Jesus  Christ  would  fall  among  them. 

EGYPT. 

21.  The  family  of  the  Lagidse,  continued  to  rule  EGYPT 
Alexander  II.  was  on  the  throne  at  the  commencement  of  this 
period.     Cleopatra  was  the  last  sovereign.     The  intermediate 
sovereigns  were  Ptolemy  Auletes,   Berenice,  and  Ptolemy 
Dionysius,  who  reigned  for  a  time  jointly  with  Cleopatra. 

With  the  death  of  this  queen  ended  the  family  of  the  La- 
gitlee,  after  having  ruled  in  Egypt  about  294  years.  Egypt 
was  now  reduced  to  a  Roman  province,  and  governed  by  a 
Praetor  sent  thither  from  Rome,  30  years  B.  C, 


148  ANCIENT   HISTORY — PERIOD    X. 

$  Ptolemy  Dionysius  was  13  years  old  at  the  time  of  his  father's 
death,  by  whose  will  he  was  nominated  to  the  succession,  on  condi- 
tion of  his  marrying  his  sister  Cleopatra,  then  17  years  of  age.  The 
Romans  were  appointed  guardians  of  these  children.  Cleopatra 
married  her  brother,  and  they  reigned  jointly,  till,  dissatisfied  with 
the  Roman  ministry,  she  retired  to  Syria  and  Palestine,  where  she 
raised  an  army,  and  advanced  under  the  walls  of  Pelusium,  to  give 
battle  to  the  ministers  of  her  husband. 

At  this  moment,  as  we  have  before  learned,  Pompey,  vanquished  at 
Pharsalia,  took  refuge  in  Alexandria,  and  was  assassinated  by  order 
of  Ptolemy.  Julius  Ca3sar,  pursuing  his  rival,  arrived  soon  after- 
wards, and  endeavoured  to  compromise  the  differences  between  the 
king  and  the  queen.  For  a  short  time  they  were  reconciled ;  but 
Ptolemy,  renewing  the  war  not  long  afterwards,  was  defeated  and 
drowned  in  the  Nile. 

Cleopatra  then  married  her  youngest  brother,  a  boy  of  eleven  years 
of  age,  and  already  affianced  to  his  sister  Arsinoe.  Him,  however, 
she  soon  poisoned,  43  B.  C. ;  and  assumed  the  sole  government.  After 
the  arrival  of  Mark  Antony  in  Egypt,  and  his  captivation  by  Cleo- 
patra, her  character  became  still  more  remarkable  for  corrup- 
tion. The  beauties  of  her  person  were  incomparable ;  and  in  polite 
learning,  in  brilliancy  of  wit,  and  in  tunefulness  of  voice  in  her  con- 
versation, she  was  as  irresistible  as  in  her  personal  charms.  These 
qualities,  joined  to  an  extreme  profligacy  of  manners,  rendered  her 
one  of  the  most  dangerous  foes  to  virtue  that  ever  lived. 

When  summoned  to  present  herself  before  Antony  for  the  first 
time,  her  appearance  was  so  splendid  and  fascinating,  that  the  Ro- 
man warrior  rather  adored  than  judged  her.  Every  decoration  was 
employed  to  heighten  the  most  consummate  loveliness  of  features,  and 
gracefulness  of  motion.  Holding  Antony  in  the  chains  of  a  base 
passion,  she  ruled  him  at  her  pleasure. 

The  profusion  of  riches  displayed  at  her  feasts  was  astonishing. 
Antony  holding  the  wealth  of  plundered  provinces,  with  his  utmost 
efforts  could  not  equal  the  queen  in  the  sumptuousness  of  her  enter- 
tainments. It  was  at  one  of  these  feasts  that  the  incident  mentioned 
by  Pliny  occurred. 

Cleopatra,  having  laid  a  considerable  wager  that  she  could  expend 
more  than  50,000/.  upon  one  repast,  caused  one  of  the  pearls  that  she 
wore  in  her  ears,  which  was  valued  at  the  above  named  sum,  to  be 
dissolved  in  an  acid,  and  then  swallowed  it.  She  was  then  preparing 
to  melt  the  other  in  a  similar  manner,  but  some  one  had  the  address 
to  divert  her  from  her  design. 

After  the  battle  of  Actium,  Octavius  used  every  effort  to  secure  the 
person  of  the  queen,  and  to  effect  the  death  of  Antony,  by  her  means. 
He  promised  her  his  protection  and  friendship  if  she  would  kill  him 
This  she  peremptorily  refused  to  do,  but  consented  to  deliver  his 
person  and  the  kingdom  of  Egypt  into  the  enemy's  hand. 

Antony,  who  had  before  meanly  sought  his  life  of  Octavius,  open- 
ing his  eyes  to  his  danger,  and  to  the  perfidy  of  Cleopatra3  at  first 
made  some  faint  and  ineffectual  attempt  at  resistance,  and  then  in  his 


80.  B.  C. — CHRISTIAN  ERA.  149 

fury  attempted  to  avenge  himself  of  the  queen.  She,  howevei, 
eluded  his  purpose  by  taking  flight  to  a  monument,  which  she  had 
erected  for  her  safety,  and  gave  out  a  report  that  she  had  killed  her  - 
self. 

Upon  this  news,  Antony  forgot  his  resentment — his  former  affec- 
tion rushed  into  his  heart,  and  his  cup  of  calamity  was  full.  He 
resolved  to  follow  her  example,  and  die  a  Roman  death.  At  the  mo- 
ment he  had  fallen  upon  his  sword,  the  news  of  the  queen's  death 
was  contradicted,  and  Antony,  weltering  in  his  blood,  and  stil 
breathing,  consented  to  be  carried  to  see  the  queen. 

After  being  pulled  up  to  the  top  of  the  monument  where  Cleopa- 
tra was,  by  means  of  ropes  let  down  and  fastened  to  him,  a  scene  of 
anguish  and  affection  was  presented  which  can  sc&rcely  be  conceived. 
Suffice  it  to  say,  he  died  in  her  arms,  bedewed  with  her  tears,  and 
almost  stifled  with  her  caresses. 

The  queen,  though  at  length  taken  by  Octavius,  and  apparently 
secured  by  the  strict  guard  which  he  placed  over  her,  found  an  op- 
portunity of  poisoning  herself  by  means  of  an  asp,  which  she  applied 
to  her  arm,  the  sting  of  which  instantly  threw  her  into  a  fatal  lethargy. 
In  such  a  miserable  end  were  these  victims  of  guilt  involved. 

PARTHIA. 

22.  Under  the  Arsacidae,  PARTHIA  continued  to  enjoy  some 
consequence  during  this  period.  Its  principal  sovereigns 
were  Phraates  III.  Orodes  I.  and  Phraates  IV. 

§  Orodes  I.  was  no  sooner  on  the  throne,  than  he  was  attacked  by 
Crassus,  the  Roman  consul,  to  whom  Syria  was  allotted  in  the  par- 
tition of  the  provinces  of  the  empire  between  him,  Ceesar,  and  Pom- 
pey,  53  B.  C.  The  Parthian  armies  were  commanded  by  Surena,  a 
general  of  extraordinary  wisdom  and  valour.  Crassus  being  led  by 
the  king  of  Edessa  into  a  barren  country,  his  army  was  completely 
defeated,  and  himself  taken  and  killed. 

Orodes,  jealous  of  Surena's  glory,  caused  him  to  be  put  to  death  soon 
after,  and  entrusted  the  command  of  his  army  to  Pacorus,  his  own 
son,  who  made  great  conquests  in  several  countries,  but  who  was 
soon  after  defeated  and  killed  by  Ventidias,  the  Roman  general. 
Orodes,  overwhelmed  with  grief,  became  insane;  but  having  recovered 
in  some  degree,  he  associated  his  eldest  son  Phraates  his  partner  in 
the  throne. 

The  infamous  wretch  first  attempted  to  poison  his  father,  but  that 
only  curing  him  of  the  dropsy,  he  stifled  the  old  man  in  bed,  and 
murdered  all  his  brothers.  When  Augustus  came  into  Asia,  he 
obliged  Phraates  to  restore  the  ensigns  taken  from  Crassus,  and  after- 
wards from  Antony,  and  to  deliver  four  of  his  sons  as  hostages. 
Divine  Providence  punished  him  in  a  remarkable  manner,  as  he 
was  killed  by  a  conspiracy  of  his  concubine  and  his  own  son, 
13  A.  C. 

Distinguished  Characters  in  Period  X. 
1.  Lucretius,  a  Roman  didactic  poet. 

N2 


150  ANCIENT  HISTORY — PERIOD  X, 

2.  Julius  Caesar,  a  successful  warrior  and  elegant  writer. 

3.  Cicero,  the  prince  of  Roman  orators  and  philosophers. 

4.  Catullus,  a  Roman  epigrammatic  poet. 

5.  Sallust,  the  first  philosophical  Roman  historian. 

6.  Varro,  the  most  learned  of  the  Romans. 

7.  Cornelius  Nepos,  an  eminent  Roman  historian. 

8.  Virgil,  the  prince  of  Roman  poets. 

9.  Horace,  the  greatest  of  the  Roman  lyric  poets. 

§  1.  Lucretius  was  early  sent  to  Athens,  where  he  studied  philo- 
sophy. He  embraced  the  tenets  of  Epicurus.  In  his  poem  of  the 
Nature  of  Things,  he  is  the  advocate  of  atheism  and  impiety,  and 
earnestly  endeavours  to  establish  the  mortality  of  the  soul.  His  mas- 
terly genius  and  unaffected  elegance  are,  however,  every  where  con 
spicuous. 

He  wrote  Latin  better  than  any  man  ever  did  before  him,  and  had 
he  lived  in  the  polished  age  of  Augustus,  he  would  have  been  no 
mean  rival  of  Virgil.  He  wrote  his  poem  while  he  laboured  under 
a  delirium,  occasioned  by  a  philtre,  administered  by  means  of  the  jea  • 
lousy  of  his  wife  or  mistress.  He  died,  some  say  he  destroyed  him 
self,  in  his  44th  year,  about  54  B.  C. 

2.  Julius  Caesar  was  the  son  of  Caius  Caesar,  who  was  descended 
from  Julius,  the  son  of  ^Eneas ;  in  his  16th  year  he  lost  his  father ; 
and  Sylla,  aware  of  his  ambition,  endeavoured  to  remove  him  j  his 
friends,  however,  interceded,  and  obtained  his  life ;  but  Sylla  warned 
them  to  be  upon  their  guard  against  that  loose-girt  boy,  alluding  to 
Caesar's  manner  of  wearing  his  tunic,  or  coat,  loosely  girded ;  "  for  ip 
him,"  said  he,  "  are  many  Mariuses." 

He  procured  many  friends  by  his  eloquence,  and  obtained  the  office 
of  high  priest ;  after  passing  through  different  dignities,  he  was  sent 
governor  into  Spain ;  and,  upon  his  return,  being  elected  consul,  he 
entered  into  an  agreement  with  Pompey  and  Crassus,  that  nothing 
should  be  done  in  the  state  without  their  joint  concurrence.  After  his 
consulship,  he  had  the  province  of  Gaul  assigned  him ;  which,  with 
wonderful  conduct  and  bravery,  he  subdued  in  10  years,  carrying  the 
terror  of  his  arms  also  into  Germany  and  Britain,  till  then  unknown 
to  the  Romans. 

Pompey  now  became  jealous  of  his  power,  and  induced  the  senate 
to  order  him  to  lay  down  his  command ;  upon  which,  he  crossed  the 
river  Rubicon,  the  boundary  of  his  province,  and  led  his  army  to- 
wards Rome,  Pompey  and  all  the  friends  of  liberty  fleeing  before 
him. 

Having  subdued  Italy  in  sixty  days,  Caesar  entered  Rome,  and 
seized  upon  the  money  in  the  public  treasury :  he  then  went  to 
Spain,  where  he  conquered  the  partisans  of  Pompey  under  Petreius. 
Afranius,  and  Varro ;  and,  at  his  return,  was  created  dictator,  and 
soon  after  consul.  Leaving  Rome,  and  going  in  search  of  Pompey, 
the  two  hostile  generals  engaged  on  the  plains  of  Pharsalia ;  the  army 
of  Caesar  amounted  only  to  23,000  men,  while  that  of  Pompey 


80  B.  C. — CHRISTIAN  ERA.  151 

amounted  to  45,000 ;  but  the  superior  generalship  of  the  former  pre- 
vailed, and  he  was  victorious. 

Making  a  generous  use  of  his  victory,  he  followed  Pompey  into 
Egypt,  where  he  heard  of  his  murder,  and  making  the  country  tri- 
butary to  his  power,  he  hastened  to  suppress  the  remainder  of  Pom- 
pey's  party  in  Africa  and  Spain.  Triumphing  over  all  his  enemies> 
he  was  created  perpetual  dictator,  received  the  names  of  imperator 
and  father  of  his  country,  and  governed  the  people  with  justice.  His 
engrossing  all  the  powers  of  the  state,  and  ruling  with  absolute  au- 
thority, created  general  disgust ;  a  conspiracy  was  therefore  formed 
against  him,  by  more  than  sixty  senators,  the  chief  of  whom  were 
Brutus  and  Cassius.  He  was  stabbed  in  the  senate  house,  on  the  15th 
of  March,  B.  C.  44,  in  the  56th  year  of  his  age ;  he  at  first  attempt- 
ed to  make  some  resistance,  but  seeing  Brutus,  his  intimate  friend, 
among  the  conspirators,  he  submitted  to  his  fate,  and  covered  with 
23  wounds,  fell  at  the  foot  of  Pompey's  statue. 

Caesar  is  perhaps  the  most  distinguished  character  in  history.  His 
talents  in  war  and  literature  were  equally  great.  Amidst  his  military 
enterprises  he  found  time  to  be  the  author  of  many  works,  none  of 
which  remain  except  seven  books  of  commentaries,  or  memoirs  of  his 
wars ;  these  are  much  admired  for  their  elegance,  as  well  as  correct- 
ness of  style.  He  spoke  in  public  with  the  same  spirit  with  which 
lie  fought,  and  had  he  devoted  himself  to  the  bar,  would  doubtless 
have  rivalled  Cicero. 

3.  Marcus  Tullius  Cicero  wras  the  father  of  Latin  eloquence,  and 
the  greatest  orator  that  Rome  ever  produced.  He  was  the  son  of  a 
Roman  knight,  and  having  displayed  promising  abilities,  his  father 
k  rocured  for  him  the  most  celebrated  masters  of  his  time.  He  served 
one  campaign  under  Sylla,  and  returning  to  Rome,  appeared  as  a 
^leader  at  the  bar,  where  the  greatness  of  his  genius,  and  his  superior 
eloquence,  soon  raised  him  to  notice. 

HavJng  passed  through  the  lower  honours  of  the  state,  he  was 
made  consul  in  his  43d  year.  Catiline,  a  profligate  noble,  with  many 
dissolute  and  desperate  Romans,  conspired  against  their  country ;  but 
all  their  projects  were  baffled  by  his  extreme  vigilance  ;  Catiline  was 
defeated  in  the  field ;  and  Cicero,  at  Rome,  punished  the  rest  of  the 
conspirators  with  death. 

He  received  the  thanks  of  the  people,  and  was  styled  the  father  of 
his  country  and  the  second  founder  of  Rome ;  but  his  refusal  to 
agree  to  the  arbitrary  measures  of  Caesar  and  Pompey,  caused  him 
to  be  exiled ;  he  did  not  bear  his  banishment  with  fortitude  ;  and  was 
overjoyed  when,  after  16  month's  absence,  he  was  restored  with  ho- 
nour to  his  country.  After  much  hesitation,  he  espoused  the  cause  of 
Pompey  against  Caesar ;  and  when  the  latter  was  victorious  at  Phar- 
salia,  Cicero  was  reconciled  to  him,  and  treated  with  great  humani- 
ty ;  but  as  a  true  republican,  he  approved  of  Caesar's  murder,  and 
thus  incurred  the  hatred  of  Antony,  who  wished  to  succeed  in 
power. 

Octavius,  afterwards  called  Augustus  Caesar,  Antony,  and  Lepidus, 
having  formed  a  third  triumvirate,  agreed  on  a  proscription  of  their 


ANCIENT  HISTORY — PERIOD  X. 

enemies ;  Octavius  struggled  two  days  to  preserve  Cicero  from  the 
vengeance  of  Antony,  but  at  last  gave  him  up ;  in  his  attempt  to 
escape,  he  was  overtaken  by  a  party  of  soldiers,  who  cut  off  his  head 
and  right  hand,  and  brought  them  to  Antony ;  this  happened  B.  C. 
43.  in  the  64th  year  of  his  age. 

He  is  to  be  admired,  not  only  as  a  great  statesman,  but  as  an  ora- 
tor, a  man  of  genius,  and  a  scholar,  in  which  united  character,  he 
stands  unrivalled ;  his  conduct  was  not  always  that  of  a  patriot,  and 
he  is  frequently  accused  of  timidity. 

4.  Catullus  was  a  poet  of  Verona,  whose  compositions  are  the  off- 
spring of  a  luxuriant  imagination.     He  directed  his  satire  against 
Caesar,  whose  only  revenge  was  to  invite  the  poet,  and  hospitably  en- 
tertain him  at  his  table.     Catullus  was  the  first  Roman  who  imitated 
with  success  the  Greek  writers,  and  introduced  their  numbers  among 
the  Latins. 

Though  the  pages  of  the  poet  are  occasionally  disfigured  with  in- 
delicate expressions,  the  whole  is  written  with  great  purity  of  style. 
He  died  in  the  48th  year  of  his  age,  B.  C.  40. 

5.  Sallust  was  educated  at  Rome,  and  made  himself  known  as  a 
magistrate,  in  the  office  of  quaestor  and  consul.     He  was  a  man  of 
depraved  and  licentious  manners.  He  married  Terentia,  the  divorced 
wife  of  Cicero,  and  hence  the  immortal  hatred  between  the  historian 
and  orator. 

Of  his  Roman  history  little  remains  ;  but  his  narrative  of  the  Ca 
tilinarian  conspiracy,  and  the  wars  of  Jugurtha,  are  extant. 

His  descriptions,  harangues,  &c.  are  animated  and  correct,  and  the 
author  is  greatly  commended  for  the  vigour  of  his  sentences.  He 
died  in  his  51st  year,  35  B.  C. 

8.  Varro  wrote  300  volumes,  which  are  all  lost,  except  a  treatise, 
Oe  Re  Rustica,  and  another  De  Lingua  Latina.  The  latter  he  wrote 
n  his  80th  year,  and  dedicated  to  Cicero.  In  the  civil  wars,  he  was 
taken  by  Caesar  and  proscribed,  but  escaped.  His  erudition  and  ex- 
tent of  information  were  matter  of  wonder  to  Cicero  and  St.  Augus- 
tine. He  died  in  his  88th  year,  B.  C.  28. 

7.  Cornelius  Nepos  enjoyed  the  patronage  of  Augustus.  He  was 
the  intimate  friend  of  Cicero  and  Atticus.  He  possessed  a  most  deli 
cate  taste  and  lively  disposition.  He  composed  several  works,  but  his 
lives  of  illustrious  Greeks  are  all  that  remain.  He  has  ever  been  ad- 
mired for  the  clearness  and  precision  of  his  style,  and  the  delicacy 
of  his  expressions.  He  died  25  years  B.  C. 

Q.  Virgil  was  born  at  Andes,  a  village  near  Mantua,  about  70  year 
B.  C.     Having  lost  his  farms  in  the  distribution  of  lands  to  the  sol 
diers  of  Augustus,  after  the  battle  of  Philippi,  he  repaired  to  Rome, 
where  he  obtained  an  order  for  the  restitution  of  his  property  througl 
the  interest  of  Mecaenas.    When  he  showed  this  order  to  the  centu- 
rion who  was  in  possession,  he  nearly  killed  Virgil,  and  the  lattei 
escaped  only  by  swimming  across  a  river. 

Virgil,  in  his  Bucolics,  or  Pastorals,  celebrates  the  praises  of  his 
Illustrious  patrons.  He  undertook  his  Georgics  in  order  to  promote 


80  B.  C. CHRISTIAN  ERA.  153 

the  study  of  agriculture  ;  and  the  design  of  the  ^Eneid  is  thought  to 
have  been  to  reconcile  the  Romans  to  a  monarchical  government. 

By  his  talents  and  virtues  he  acquired  the  friendship  of  the  empe- 
ror Augustus,  and  the  most  celebrated  personages  of  his  time.  He 
died  at  Brundusium,  in  the  51st  year  of  his  age,  B.  C.  19,  leaving  his 
immense  possessions  to  his  friends,  and  was  buried  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Naples,  where  his  tomb  is  still  to  be  seen. 

9.  Horace  was  born  at  Venusia ;  his  father,  although  poor,  took 
him  to  Rome  when  a  boy,  and  educated  him  with  great  care.  At 
the  age  of  twenty,  he  went  to  Athens  to  study  philosophy,  and  then, 
with  the  rank  of  military  tribune,  attended  Brutus  to  the  civil  wars. 
In  the  battle  of  fchilippi  he  saved  himself  by  flight,  and  returned  to 
Rome. 

Finding  his  father  dead,  and  his  fortune  ruined,  he  applied  himself 
to  writing  verses ;  and  his  talents  soon  recommended  him  to  the 
protection  of  Virgil,  Mecaenas,  and  Augustus,  with  whom  he  after- 
wards lived  on  terms  of  the  greatest  intimacy  and  friendship.  He 
died  in  the  57th  year  of  his  age,  B.  C.  8. 


GENERAL  VIEWS 

OF  THE  GEOGRAPHY,  POPULATION,  POLITICS,  RELI- 
GION, MILITARY  AND  NAVAL  AFFAIRS,  ARTS,  LITERA- 
TURE, MANNERS,  CUSTOMS,  SOCIETY,  &c.  OF  ANCIENT 
NATIONS. 


ANTEDILUVIAN  WORLD. 

The  few  notices  which  the  Bible  has  transmitted  to  us,  respecting 
the  Antediluvian  world,  being  mostly  confined  to  the  moral  history 
of  its  inhabitants,  leave  us  greatly  in  the  dark  in  respect  to  its  phy- 
sical and  geographical  facts,  the  state  of  the  arts,  political  institutions, 
and  similar  subjects.  We  are  here  chiefly  guided  by  analogy,  and 
conjecture. 

SECT.  1.  Surf  ace  of  the  Earth. — The  earth's  surface,  there 
is  reason  to  believe,  at  that  period,  differed  somewhat  from  its 
present  state.  Concerning  this  subject,  however,  there  are  dif- 
ferent opinions.  We  incline  to  that  which  supposes  that  there 
were  not  those  inequalities  in  the  surface  of  the  earth  which 
now  appear — at  least  in  so  great  a  degree,  and  that  it  was 
thus  more  uniformly  adapted  to  the  purposes  of  culture,  and 
to  the  support  of  its  inhabitants. 

§  The  opinion  of  Dr.  Burnet,  that  the  primitive  earth  was  no  more 
than  a  crust  investing  the  water  contained  in  the  abyss,  is  somewhat 
plausible.  This  crust  breaking  into  innumerable  pieces,  at  the  time 
of  the  deluge,  would  naturally  sink  down  amidst  the  mass  of  waters, 
to  various  depths,  and  thus  cause  the  mountains  and  valleys  which 
now  exist. 

The  convulsions  occasioned  by  that  terrible  event,  would  be  likely 
to  disfigure  the  earth's  surface  in  a  measure,  and  render  it  less  plea- 
sant as  the  abode  of  human  beings.  Indeed  the  mountains  and  hills, 
the  valleys  and  plains,  in  many  instances,  appear  as  if  they  had  been 
shaped  and  fashioned  by  some  "  war  of  the  elements."  Their  form 
and  appearance  are  precisely  such,  as  we  shoiild  conjecture  would  be 
produced  from  the  force  of  "the  retiring  waters,  in  vast  eddies  and 
whirlpools. 

2.  The  Seasons.  The  seasons  might  have  been  different 
from  what  they  are  at  present.  Conjecture  has  assigned  to 
the  Antediluvian  world  but  one  season,  and  that  an  "  eternal 


ANTEDILUVIAN  WORLD.  155 

spring."  This  would  be  the  fact,  if,  as  some  philosophers 
suppose,  the  plane  of  the  earth's  orbit  was  then  coincident 
with  that  of  the  equator.  They  now  make  a  considerable 
angle  with  each  other,  and  this  alteration  is  concluded  to 
have  taken  place  at  the  time  of  the  deluge.  Besides,  the  va- 
riety of  the  seasons  is  never  mentioned  in  scripture,  till  after 
the  flood. 

§  On  this  supposition  an  ingenious,  but  fanciful  French  writer,* 
has  accounted  for  the  production  of  the  deluge  itself.  He  imagines, 
that  in  consequence  of  this  change,  whatever  might  be  its  cause,  the 
vast  masses  of  ice  which  had  collected  for  ages  in  the  cold  regions  of 
the  globe,  being  acted,  upon  more  immediately  by  the  heat  of  the  sun, 
suddenly  melted,  and  overflowed  the  earth. 

3.  Population  and  Longevity.  Nothing  can  be  deter- 
mined with  certainty  respecting  the  extent  of  population. 
Some  imagine  that  it  was  very  great,  far  exceeding  what  it  is 
at  present.  This  is  inferred  from  the  surprising  length  of  men's 
lives,  and  from  the  numerous  generations  that  were  then  con- 
temporary. But  from  various  circumstances,  the  probability  is. 
that  it  was  much  smaller,  and  that  mankind  were  not  widely 
diffused  over  the  earth. 

§  If  any  thing  on  this  subject  may  be  ascertained  or  fairly  conjec- 
tured, from  the  discoveries  of  geology,  the  opinion  of  Cuvier,  a  great 
adept  in  that  science,  is  probably  correct,  viz.  that  previously  to  the 
last  considerable  convulsion  of  our  globe,  the  human  race  inhabited 
only  some  narrow  districts.  It  is  well  known  that  while  shells,  fos- 
sils, and  the  bones  of  animals,  have  been  found  in  the  earth's  surface, 
in  great  abundance,  thus  exhibiting  the  ruins  of  the  deluge,  few  or 
no  human  remains  have  been  discovered,  under  such  circumstances. 

If  these  latter  exist,  they  must  be  in  some  circumscribed  parts  of 
the  earth,  such  as  Asia  or  Africa,  where  the  labours  of  the  geologist 
have  not  been  so  particularly  bestowed,  or  they  may  lie  buried  under 
some  mass  of  waters.  Of  course  the  population  of  the  antediluvian 
world  must  have  been  mostly  confined  to  those  quarters  of  the  globe, 
or  to  one  of  them. 

The  longevity  of  the  antediluvians  was  remarkable.  The  contrast, 
in  this  respect,  of  that  age  of  the  world  and  the  present  times  is  so 
great,  as  to  have  given  rise  to  many  conjectures  assigning  the  cause 
or  causes  of  their  longevity.  We  need  not  interest  ourselves  in  these 
conjectures,  as  nothing  can  be  known  with  certainty,  except  it  may 
be  remarked,  that  the  air  immediately  after  the  flood  was  most  likely 
much  contaminated  and  rendered  unwholesome. 

Mow  far  this  circumstance  should  have  affected  the  pristine  con- 
stitution of  the  human  body,  thus  shortening  the  life  of  man  in  suc- 
cessive ages,  down  to  the  present  common  standard,  is  left  to  the  cu- 

*  St.  Pierre. 


156  GENERAL   VIEWS. 

rious  to  inquire.  If  there  were  no  physical  causes  of  this  change, 
God  could  have  effected  it  without  them.  It  is  his  own  record  that 
the  life  of  man  was  abridged. 

4.  Religion.  In  regard  to  the  religious  rites  of  the  prime- 
val race  of  men,  it  can  only  be  affirmed,  that  they  offered  sa- 
crifices, both  of  animals  and  of  the  fruits  of  the  earth.     The 
Sabbath,  we  know,  was  instituted  immediately  after  the  crea 
tion,  and  it  is  not  likely  that  its  observance  was  ever  wholly 
discontinued. 

§  The  descendants  of  Seth,  the  son  of  Adam,  were  for  some  time 
distinguished  by  their  worship  of-  God  and  observation  of  religious 
rites,  while  those  of  Cain  were  notorious  for  their  irreligion  and  pro 
fligacy.  These  lived  separately  till  intercourses  by  marriage  were 
formed  between  them  ;  and  then  the  pure  religion  and  morals  of  the 
descendants  of  Seth  were  corrupted,  and  the  whole  world  became 
alienated  from  God. 

5.  Arts  and  Sciences.     These  must  have  been  cultivated 
in  a  degree,  and  in  some  of  their  branches  might  have  been 
more  than  we  are  aware.     If  we  consider  that  human  life 
was  several  hundred  years  in  extent,  there  was  space  for  vast 
improvements  in  those  arts  and  sciences  that  were  once  disco 
vered.     It  is  much  to  be  doubted,  however,  whether  many  ot 
them  were  known. 

The  last  generation  of  Cain's  line  found  out  the  art  of 
working  metal ;  and  music  seems  to  have  been  invented  about 
the  same  time.  A  knowledge  of  agriculture,  architecture,  and 
perhaps  of  astronomy,  was  possessed. 

§  Some  suppose  that  man,  in  the  infancy  of  the  world,  was  aided  by 
inspiration  ;  but  even  if  left  to  the  ordinary  operation  of  his  faculties, 
he  might  have  been  no  stranger  to  knowledge  and  mental  improve- 
ment. Still,  from  the  difficulty  of  originating  knowledge,  and  from 
the  vices  of  the  antediluvians— their  probable  devotion  to  gross  sen- 
sual pleasures,  they  seem  not  to  have  been  as  extensively  acquainted 
with  the  more  intellectual  objects  of  human  pursuit,  as  their  descend- 
ants were  a  few  ages  after  the  flood. 

We  have  some  accounts,  though  not  from  an  authentic  source,  of 
discoveries  made  in  astronomy  by  the  posterity  of  Seth.  These  dis- 
coveries, it  is  said,  were  engraved  on  two  pillars,  the  one  of  brick, 
and  the  other  of  stone.  The  latter,  it  is  affirmed,  existed  after  the 
deluge,  and  remained  entire  in  the  time  of  Josephus,  that  is,  nearly  a 
century  after  Christ.  If  this  were-  a  fact,  it  is  singular  that  no  other 
memorial  of  their  intellect  should  have  appeared.  It  is  here  given, 
however,  as  it  is  found  on  historic  record. 

6.  Government.     On  the   topic  of  government,  there  is 
hardly  a  foundation  for  conjecture.     The  most  probable,  is 
the  patriarchal  form  of  government ;  that  is,  the  government 


ANTEDILLVIAN   WORLD.  157 

which  was  held  by  the  heads  of  separate  families.  A  num- 
ber of  these  might  perhaps  combine,  and  place  them- 
selves under  the  direction  of  some  common  ancestor.  This 
is  the  most  natural  form  of  government,  and  indeed  no  men- 
tion is  made  in  the  Bible  of  kingly  authority  until  after  the 
deluge. 

§  Still,  as  some  suppose,  this  form  of  government  might  have  been 
set  aside  by  tyranny  and  oppression ;  and  the  change  would  proba- 
bly take  place,  much  sooner  among  the  descendants  cf  Cain,  than 
those  of  Seth.  It  is  thought  that  after  the  union  of  the  families  of 
Cain  and  Seth,  all  mankind  constituted  but  one  nation,  divided  into 
several  disorderly  associations,  and  living  in  a  ctate  of  anarchy,  which 
clrcumstances  would  have  hastened  the  progress  of  wickedness. 

7.  Commerce.  The  intercourse  of  the  antediluvians  might 
have  been  easy,  because  they  probably  lived  contiguous  to  each 
other.     Yet  it  is  evident  that  they  had  no  idea  of  navigation, 
for  had  vessels  been  in  use,  some  families  might  have  escaped 
the  disasters  of  the  flood,  besides  that  of  Noah. 

§  It  is  likely  that  there  was  not  that  necessity  for  commerce,  as  there 
has  been  since.  For  this  opinion,  reasons  might  be  given,  but  the 
subject  is  not  sufficiently  important . 

Assyria,  (including  Babylonia.] 

8.  Extent  and  Cities.   ASSYRIA  generally  comprehended 
the  territory  lying  between  Armenia,  Babylon,  Mesopotamia, 
and  Media.    The  Assyrian  dominion,  at  times,  extended  over 
many  parts  of  Asia;  its  capital  was  Nineveh,  on  the  Tigris, 
built  by  Ashur.     The  country  is  now  called  Curdistan. 

§  Nineveh  was  built  on  a  very  spacious  plain.  It  was  15  miles  in 
length,  9  broad,  and  47  in  circumference,  according  to  Diodorus 
Siculus  and  Strabo.  On  the  walls,  which  were  100  feet  high,  three 
chariots  could  pass  together ;  they  were  defended  by  1500  towers, 
each  200  feet  high.  From  the  number  of  infants  which  it  contained, 
as  mentioned  in  the  book  of  Jonah,  it  is  computed  that  the  inhabitants 
amounted  to  more  than  600,000  at  that  time. 

Its  situation  is  indicated,  as  some  suppose,  by  vestiges  on  the  Tigris, 
opposite  Mosul,  retaining  the  name  of  Nino. 

Babylonia^  which  was  afterwards  united  to  Assyria,  was 
made  up  principally  of  Mesopotamia,  the  modern  Diarbec.  Its 
capital,  Babylon,  at  length  the  capital  of  the  whole  empire, 
was  bisected  by  the  Euphrates,  from  N.  to  S.,  and  formed  a 
square,  whose  sides  subtended  the  four  cardinal  points.  The 
city  stood  on  a  large  plain.  Its  walls  were  in  thickness  87 
feet,  in  height  350  feet,  and  in  compass  60  miles.  These 
tyere  drawn  about  the  city  in  an  exact  square. 


158  GENERAL  VIEWS. 

§  As  a  more  particular  description  of  Babylon,  it  may  be  stated,  that 
on  each  side  of  this  great  square  were  25  gates  of  solid  brass.  Be- 
tween every  two  of  these  gates  were  three  towers  ;  four  others  were 
at  the  corners ;  and  three  more  between  those  on  the  corners  and  the 
gate  on  either  side. 

The  other  parts  of  the  city,  some  of  which  we  will  describe,  cor- 
responded with  the  magnitude  of  the  walls.  The  streets,  bridge,  quays, 
the  lake,  ditches,  canals,  palaces,  and  hanging  gardens,  and  above  all, 
the  temple  of  Belus,  were  so  many  wonders.  From  the  25  gates 
ran  as  many  streets,  in  straight  lines,  so  that  the  whole  number  of 
streets  was  50,  crossing  each  other  at  right  angles.  There  were  also 
four  half  streets,  round  the  four  sides  of  the  city,  next  the  walls,  each 
of  them  200  feet  wide  ;  the  rest  being  about  150  feet. 

The  whole  city  was  thus  cut  into  676  squares,  each  of  which  was 
two  and  a  quarter  miles  in  circumference.  Round  these  squares,  on 
every  side  towards  the  street,  stood  stately  houses  three  or  four  stories 
high,  with  large  spaces  between  them,  and  the  areas  within  the  squares 
filled  up  with  yards,  gardens,  and  pleasure  grounds. 

The  celebrated  hanging  gardens  were  composed  of  several  large 
terraces,  one  above  tho  other.  The  ascent  from  terrace  to  terrace 
was  by  stairs  ten  feet  wide,  and  the  whole  pile  was  sustained  by  vast 
arches,  strengthened  by  a  massy  wall  of  great  thickness.  On  the  tops 
of  the  arches  were  first  laid  prodigiously  large  flat  stones.  Over  these 
was  a  layer  of  reeds  mixed  with  bitumen,  upon  which  were  two  tiers 
of  bricks,  closely  cemented  together  with  plaster.  The  whole  was 
covered  with  thick  sheets  of  lead,  upon  which  lay  the  mould  of  the 
garden.  This  mould  was  so  deep  that  the  largest  trees  might  take 
root  in  it,  and  covered  with  these  and  other  plants,  and  every  variety 
of  flowers;  nothing  could  be  conceived  more  grand  and  picturesque. 

The  temple  of  Belus,  at  its  foundation,  consisted  of  a  square,  each 
side  of  which  was  a  furlong  in  length;  it  consisted  of  eight  towers, 
built  one  above  another,  decreasing  gradually  to  the  top,  and  was  a 
furlong  in  height. 

9.  Government  and  Laws.  The  government  both  of 
Assyria  and  Baby  Ionia  was  strictly  despotic,  and  its  sceptre 
hereditary.  The  whole  centered  in  the  person  of  the  king  ; 
all  decrees  issued  from  his  mouth  ;  he  even  affected  the  power, 
and  claimed  the  worship  which  belonged  only  to  the  divinity. 

§  The  great  conquerors  of  the  East  always  courted  retirement,  as 
being  too  glorious  to  be  beheld  by  vulgar  eyes.  Thus  they  contrived 
to  keep  in  subjection  a  number  of  nations  of  different  languages  anc" 
manners,  to  a  person  who  must  have  been  a  stranger  to  almost  all  ol 
them.  They  adminstered  their  government  by  officers  of  various  de- 
scriptions, civil  and  military. 

Of  the  three  classes  of  cfficers,  the  first  had  the  charge  of  the  vir- 
gins, and  were  expected  to  judge  of  all  matters  relating  to  the  connu- 
bial state  ;  the  second  took  cognizance  of  theft ;  and  the  third  of  all 
other  crimes. 

The  laws  of  the  empire  were  in  general  vague  and  uncer- 


ANTEDILUVIAN  WORLD.  159 

tain,  depending  wholly  upon  the  will  of  the  sovereign ;  but 
one  was  fixed  and  irrevocable,  which  obliged  all,  especially  the 
poorer  sort  of  people,  to  marry. 

§  Their  punishments  were  unfixed  and  arbitrary,  according  to  the 
disposition  of  the  sovereign.  We  read  of  beheading,  cutting  to  pieces, 
turning  the  criminal's  house  into  a  dunghill,  and  burning  in  a  fiery 
furnace. 

10.  Religion.     The  Chaldeans,  properly  so  called,  were 
both  the  priests  and  the  literati  of  the  country.     They  were 
devoted  to  the  business  of  religion,  and  pretended  to  skill  in 
the  prediction  of  future  events.  They  dealt  in  charms,  incan- 
tations, and  explanations  of  dreams,  and  of  the  extraordinary 
phenomena  of  nature.  They  built  temples  to  the  stars,  as  be- 
ing the  subordinate  agents  of  the  divine  power,  and  by  wor- 
shipping them,  they  expected  to  obtain  the  good  will  of  the 
deity.  From  this  they  descended,  by  a  natural  process,  to  the 
worship  of  objects  on  earth,  as  the  representatives,  or  favour- 
ites of  the  stars,  or  of  the  deity,  through  them.     Thus  idola- 
try arose  not  long  after  the  flood,  among  the  earliest  of  nations 

-the  people  left  on  the  plains  of  Shinar,  subsequently  to  the 
dispersion  at  Babel. 

§  It  is  evident  that  this  was  the  origin  of  image  worship,  since  the 
names  of  the  principal  gods  of  the  heathen  in  general,  are  those  of  the 
sun,  moon,  and  five  primary  planets,  Saturn,  Jupiter,  Mars,  Mercury 
and  Venus. 

The  norrid  custom  of  sacrificing  human  victims  to  conci- 
liate their  gods,  was  first  practised  by  the  Babylonians,  and 
from  them  it  was  communicated  to  the  superstitious  of  the  sur- 
rounding nations. 

§  There  are  traces  of  their  ancient  cruelty  to  be  discerned  in  the 
worship  and  rites  of  the  Assyrian  goddess  of  Hierapolis,  to  whom 
parents,  without  remorse,  sacrificed  their  children,  by  throwing  them 
down  a  precipice  in  her  temple. 

1 1 .  Customs.    The  principal  and  most  singular  of  their 
customs,  was  the  manner  in  which  they  disposed  of  their 
women  in  marriage.     No  man  had  any  power  over  his  own 
daughters,  but  as  soon  as  they  were  marriageable,  they  were 
put  up  to  auction  ;  and  the  price  obtained  for  the  more  beau- 
tiful was  assigned  as  a  dowry  to  the  more  homely. 

§  The  consequence  of  this  practice  was,  that  all  their  young  women 
were  disposed  of  in  marriage — the  beautiful  for  their  charms,  the 
homely  for  their  wealth. 

Another  singular  custom  was  their  festival  called  Sacca. 


160  GENERAL   VIEWS. 

During  this  festival,  which  lasted  five  days,  the  servants  com 
manded  their  masters,  one  of  them  being,  for  the  time,  con- 
stituted chief  over  the  house,  and  wearing  a  kind  of  royal 
garment,  called  Zogana. 

§  They  had  other  extraordinary  customs,  but  some  of  these  are  too 
indecent  to  be  named.  In  general,  they  were  the  most  sensual  and 
abandoned  people  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 

12.  Learning.  The  Babylonians  were  famed  for  learning, 
particularly  the  Chaldeans,  who  were  their  priests,  philoso- 
phers, astronomers,  soothsayers,  &c.  As  in  many  other  coun- 
tries after  them,  they  were  divided  into  several  sects,  distin- 
guished by  their  peculiar  characteristics. 

They  were  the  first  who  cultivated  astronomy,  discovered 
the  exact  motions  of  the  planets,  and  pretended  to  understand 
the  influence  these  had  over  things  below,  and  from  that  to  be 
able  to  foretel  future  events.  The  latter  was  embodied  into  a 
kind  of  science,  called  astrology. 

§  From  this  origin  of  astrology,  fortune  telling,  and  similar  arts, 
we  perceive  at  once  their  opposition  to  religion  and  rectitude. 

The  learning  of  the  Chaldeans  was  not  acquired  after  the  manner 
of  the  Greeks,  but  by  tradition  from  father  to  son.  The  only  busi- 
ness of  the  learned  was  to  apply  themselves  to  the  instructions  they 
received.  They  never  departed  from  early  principles,  and  hence 
made  no  great  advances  in  the  sciences. 

13.  The  Arts.  The  Babylonians,  properly  so  called,  ap- 
plied themselves  to  the  useful  arts.  Their  immense  buildings, 
which  could  not  have  been  erected  without  much  skill  in  ge- 
ometry, prove  that  they  must  have  been  good  mathematicians 
and  mechanics. 

They  never  attained  to  any  superior  excellence  in  painting 
and  statuary.  Music  and  poetry  were  probably  but  little  at- 
tended to ;  and  in  physic  they  had  no  regular  science. 

§  They  exposed  their  sick  in  the  streets,  to  be  cured  by  any  who. 
passing  by  them,  saw  fit  to  prescribe  for  their  diseases. 

The  Babylonians  were  great  architects,  ingenious  in  casting  metals 
and  in  their  manufactures — particularly  in  their  manufactures  of 
embroideries,  magnificent  carpets,  and  fine  linen.  So  superb  were 
some  of  their  articles  of  dress,  that  we  read,  in  the  Roman  history,  of 
Cato  selling  a  Babylonian  mantle,  which  had  been  left  him  by  inhe- 
ritance, as  being  what  he  was  ashamed  to  wear.  And  it  is  said  that 
at  Rome  more  than  6000Z.  had  been  paid  for  a  suit  of  Babylonian 
hangings. 

China. 

14.  Geography.  China,  in  ancient  times,  included  nearly 
the  same  territory  that  it  does  at  present,  so  far  as  we  can  now 


CHINA.  161 

ascertain.  The  Greeks  and  Romans,  through  whom  most 
of  our  acquaintance  with  antiquity  is  derived,  had  no  imme- 
diate- knowledge  of  that  country  ;  only  they  mention  Serica, 
ac  J  another  nation  of  northern  Sinai,  as  constituting  its  west- 
erly provinces. 

As,  however,  the  Chinese  are  not  at  all  given  to  foreign 
conquests,  and  have  for  many  centuries  remained  the  same 
people  in  their  government  and  institutions,  we  may  conclud 
that  the  ancient  territory  was  the  same,  or  nearly  the  same,  as 
their  modern.  It  is  not  our  design  to  state  its  boundaries  or 
extent,  except  to  say,  that  it  constituted  a  considerable  portion 
of  eastern  Asia,  and  was  separated  from  Tartary,  on  the  north, 
by  its  prodigious  stone  wall  of  1500  miles  in  length. 

§  But  few  general  views  of  this  country  in  other  respects  can  be 
here  given,  since  we  have  been  presented,  in  this  work,  with  only  a 
small  portion  of  its  civil  history  ;  and  since  from  the  unchangeable 
character  of  the  people,  these  views  will  answer  for  an  interesting 
article  in  modern  history. 

15.  Government.     The  original  plan  of  the  Chinese  go- 
vernment was  patriarchal.     Obedience  to  the  father  of  each 
family  uas  enforced  in  the  most  rigorous  manner,  and  the 
emperor  was  considered  as  the  father  of  the  whole.  Every  fa- 
ther was  absolute  in  his  own  family,  and  might  inflict  any 
punishment  short  of  death  ;  and  every  mandarin  of  a  district 
had  the  power  of  life  and  death  over  all  its  members,  though 
the  emperor's  approbation  was  requisite  to  the  execution  of  a 
capital  sentence. 

§  Since  the  invasion  of  the  Tartars,  as  we  shall  hereafter  learn,  the 
government  is  called  an  absolute  monarchy,  though  its  great  funda- 
mental principles  from  the  beginning  have  been  preserved. 

16.  Religion.  The  ancient  Chinese  adored  a  supreme  be- 
ing, under  the  name  of  Changti,  or  Tien ;  they  also  wor- 
shipped subaltern  spirits,  supposed  to  preside  over  kingdoms, 
provinces,  cities,  rivers,  and  mountains.     Their  worship  was 
by  prayer  and  thanksgiving,  without  any  mixture  of  idola- 
trous practices. 

§  There  are  now  different  sects,  whose  characteristics  belong  to 
the  details  of  modern  history. 

17.  The  Sciences  and  Arts.     The  Chinese  understood 
some  of  the  sciences,  but  seemed  to  make  no  progress  in  them 
from  age  to  age.     Of  mathematics,  astronomy,  and  physics, 

they  appear  to  have  been  quite  ignorant  for  so  civilized  a  peo- 

02 


162  GENERAL  HEWS. 

pie.     The  knowledge  of  medicine  was  very  limited  among 
them, 

In  the  arts,  at  an  early  age,  they  attained  to  a  certain  point 
of  advancement,  which  they  never  exceeded.  It  is  affirmed 
that  they  manufactured  glass  200  years  before  the  Christian 
era  ;  that  they  knew  gunpowder  from  time  immemorial , 
and  that  they  invented  printing  in  the  time  of  Julius  Caesar; 
but  these  and  other  inventions  were  in  a  very  imperfect  state, 
and  have  remained  so  to  this  day.  In  agriculture,  however, 
and  a  few  other  arts,  they  seem,  from  a  very  early  period,  to 
have  been  highly  distinguished. 

§  On  the  whole,  considering  their  ancient  state,  and  knowing  the 
agreement  of  their  present  state  with  it,  no  people  whatever  appear 
to  have  been  so  singular  and  mysterious,  and  possessed  of  such  a 
mixture  of  wisdom  and  imbecility. 

Egypt. 

§  A  little  before  the  Christian  era,  Egypt  was  one  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished countries  of  the  ancient  world,  and  enjoyed,  from  the  ear- 
liest times,  a  large  share  of  celebrity,  on  account  of  its  learning  and 
its  magnificent  public  works.  In  commercial  importance,  at  the 
time  first  spoken  of,  it  was  much  superior  to  contemporary  nations. 

18.  Situation,  Name,  and  Division.  Egypt  was  an  ex- 
tensive country,  bounded  on  the  east  by  Arabia  and  the  Red 
Sea,  and  by  Lybia  on  the  west, -and  was  properly  a  long  val- 
ley, following  the  course  of  the  Nile  from  S.  to  N. 

The  ancient  name  was  Mitzraim,  and  is  now  retained  in 
that  of  Mesr,  under  the  Turks. 

Egypt  was  divided  into  three  principal  parts,  distinguished 
by  the  appellations  of  the  Upper  Egypt,  or  Thebais ;  the  Mid- 
dle Egypt,  or  Heptanomis  ;  and  the  Lower  Egypt,  which  in- 
cludes the  Delta. 

19.  Cities.  There  were  many  cities  in  this  country,  whose 
ruins  attest  their  almost  unparalleled  magnificence.     Among 
these  were  Thebes,  Memphis,  Arsinoe,  Heliopolis,  and  Alex- 
andria, besides  many  others. 

§  Thebes  was  situated  in  Upper  Egypt,  on  both  sides  of  the  Nile. 
It  was  called  by  the  Greeks,  Diospolis,  and  was  one  of  the  most  il- 
lustrious cities  in  the  world.  It  is  distinguished  in  Homer  by  the  epi- 
thet of  Hecatompylos,  or  having  a  100  gates.  In  the  time  of  its  splen- 
dour, it  could  send  into  the  field,  by  each  of  its  gates,  200  chariots, 
and  2000  fighting  men. 

Its  extent  is  said  to  have  been  52  miles ;  and  so  great  was  its  wealth, 
that  after  it  had  been  plundered  by  the  Persians,  300  talents  of  gold 
and  2300  of  silver,  were  found  among  the  remains  of  the  pillage. 


EGYPT.  \\    j^  163 

The  ruins  of  this  astonishing  city  occupy  a  circumference  of  27 
miles  on  either  side  of  the  Nile,  and  contain  several  villages,  the  chief 
of  which  is  Luxor.  Habon,  on  the  western  side,  contains  many  stu- 
pendous monuments.  Thebes  was  severely  treated  by  Cambyses,  by 
Ptolemy  Philopater,  and  under  Augustus,  for  its  rebellion.  In  the 
adjacent  mountains  are  hewn  sepulchres  of  the  ancient  kings. 

A  remarkable  feature  of  these  ruins  is  their  size.  Every  thing  is 
colossal.  The  smallest  pillars  of  the  temples  are  between  7  and  8 
feet  in  diameter,  and  some  of  the  largest  are  11.  Obelisks,  Sphinxes, 
and  other  monuments  of  huge  dimensions,  in  different  positions,  as- 
tonish the  modern  traveller,  as  he  gazes  on  these  wonders  of  human 
power  and  art. 

Memphis,  supposed  to  have  been  founded  by  Menes,  the  first  Egyp- 
tian king,  was  for  several  ages  the  metropolis  of  the  whole  kingdom. 
It  contained  many  beautiful  temples,  the  most  splendid  of  which  is 
said  to  have  been  that  of  the  god  Apis.  This  city  stood  on  the  western 
bank  of  the  Nile,  15  miles  south  of  the  Delta. 

Strabo  saw  its  palaces  in  ruins.  Vestiges  of  it  were  apparent  in  the 
fifteenth  century,  but  are  no  longer  in  being.  The  Nile  may  have  co- 
vered them. 

Alexandria  was  reckoned  next  to  Rome  for  the  grandeur  of  its 
buildings,  and  richness  of  its  materials.  It  stood  on  the  western  side 
of  the  Delta,  and  was  built  by  Alexander  the  Great,  332  B.  C.  It  was 
the  capital  of  Lower  Egypt,  and  the  metropolis  under  the  Ptolemies. 
The  ancients  assert  that  it  was  built  in  the  form  of  a  Macedonian 
cloak,  and  occupied  about  15  miles.  The  royal  palace  constituted  a 
fifth  part  of  the  city. 

Alexandria  rose  to  the  first  rank  in  the  ancient  world,  as  the  great 
mart  for  exchange  between  the  east  and  west.  Its  commercial  ad- 
vantages continued  for  a  number  of  ages.  It  was  further  distinguished 
by  schools  for  philosophy,  physic,  theology,  astronomy,  and  general 
learning. 

20.  Monuments  and  Works  of  Art.  Manv  of  these  are 

*/  •/ 

magnificent  beyond  conception,  and  show  to  what  a  high  state 
of  improvement  the  inhabitants,  at  a  remote  period,  had  car- 
ried the  arts.  They  still  excite  the  admiration  of  every  tra- 
veller. 

Besides  the  cities  that  have  been  named,  the  most  celebra- 
ted of  these  works  of  ancient  grandeur,  are  Lake  Mreris,  the 
Labyrinth  the  Catacombs,  or  Mummy  Pits,  and  the  Pyra- 
mids. 

§  The  lake  Moeris  has  been  affirmed  to  be  the  most  wonderful  of 
all  the  works  of  the  kings  of  Egypt,  the  pyramids  notexcepted.  The 
ancients  described  it  as  measuring  3600  stadia  in  circumference;  but 
modern  travellers  assure  us  that  its  breadth  does  not  exceed  half  a 
league  ;  that  it  is  about  a  day's  journey  in  length,  and  that  its  circum- 
ference is  about  12  or  15  leagues,  which  will  be  found  sufficiently 


164  GENERAL    VIEWS, 

prodigious,  when  we  consider  that  it  was  performed  by  human  la- 
bour. 

This  lake,  in  the  deepest  part,  has  fifty  fathoms  of  water,  and  19 
fed  from  the  Nile,  by  means  of  a  channel  cut  for  that  purpose.  It 
was  built  by  a  king  of  the  name  of  Mceris,  whose  object  was  to  cor- 
rect the  irregularity  of  supply  in  the  waters  of  the  river,  receiving 
its  superabundance,  or  making  up  its  deficiency. 

The  Labyrinth  was  an  enormous  structure  of  marble,  built  partly 
under  the  ground.  It  Avas  designed  as  a  pantheon  of  all  the  Egyptian 
deities,  and  as  a  place  for  the  assembly  of  the  magistracy  of  the  whole 
nation.  It  contained  no  less  than  3000  chambers,  1500  of  which  were 
subterraneous,  and  set  apart  for  the  sepulchre  of  the  kings  who  built 
the  labyrinth,  or  for  the  abodes  of  the  sacred  crocodiles. 

These  were  never  shewn  to  strangers  ;  but  Herodotus  informs  us 
that  he  viewed  every  room  in  the  upper  part,  in  which  he  found  suf- 
ficient to  fill  him  with  astonishment.  Innumerable  exits  by  different 
passages,  and  infinite  returns,  -afforded  him  a  thousand  occasions  of 
wonder.  The  highest  decorations  in  polished  columns  and  exquisite 
sculptures,  were  every  where  seen. 

The  Catacombs  were  subterraneous  galleries  of  prodigious  extent, 
appropriated  to  the  reception  of  the  dead.  These  sepulchres  of  the 
ancient  kings  are  hewn  in  free-stone  rock,  and  apparently  formed 
upon  one  general  plan,  though  differing  in  the  construction  of  their 
respective  parts.  These  contain  the  generations  that  are  gone.  Some 
of  the  embalmed  bodies  are  perfectly  preserved,  though  they  have 
been  dead  3000  years. 

The  Pyramids  were  deservedly  classed  by  the  ancients  among  the 
wonders  of  the  world.  There  are  said  to  be  twenty  of  them  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  country  ;  but  there  are  three  superior  to  the  rest  in 
size  and  magnificence.  These  are  on  the  western  side  of  the  Nile,  io 
the  neighbourhood  of  the  ancient  Memphis. 

The  largest  of  them  is  481  feet  in  height,  measured  perpendicularly, 
and  the  area  of  its  basis  comprehends  eleven  English  acres  of  ground. 
This  is  a  size  which  would  exceed  all  belief,  had  it  not  been  actually 
and  repeatedly  measured  by  modern  travellers.  It  has  steps  entirely 
round  it,  made  with  polished  stones,  so  large  that  the  breadth  and 
depth  of  every  step  is  one  single  stone.  The  smallest  stone  is  30  feet 
in  length.  The  number  of  steps  amounts  to  208. 

These  works  are  proved,  by  modern  researches,  to  have  been  royal 
sepulchres,  but  their  foundation  is  lost  in  antiquity.  They  are  sup- 
posed, however,  to  have  been  erected  between  one  and  two  thousand 
years  B.  C.  It  is  asserted  by  Pliny  and  Diodorus,  that  no  less  tnan 
360,000  men  were  employed  in  erecting  the  largest  pyramid.  It  is 
said  also  that  twenty  years  were  spent  in  the  work. 

21.  Government  and  Laws.  The  Egyptians  were 
among  the  earliest  nations,  if  not  the  very  earliest,  who  had 
regular  established  governments  and  civil  regulations.  Their 
government  was  a  despotic,  hereditary  monarchy,  yet  so  mo- 
dified by  prescribed  usages,  as  to  promote  the  public  welfare, 


EGYPT.  165 

§  Their  monaichs  were  restricted  to  a  certain  mode  of  living,  and 
even  their  time  seems  to  have  been  portioned  out,  and  set  apart  for 
particular  employments,  by  the  sacred  Egyptian  books.  They  were 
confined  to  exactness,  not  only  in  public  transactions,  but  in  their 
private  life.  They  could  neither  bathe,  take  the  air,  nor  converse 
with  their  queens  but  at  certain  times.  The  choice  of  their  provisions 
was  not  left  to  themselves,  but  their  tables  were  furnished  with  the 
most  simple  food,  (generally  veal  or  goose,)  and  their  allowance  of 
wine  was  extremely  moderate. 

These  restraints  were  entirely  acceptable  to  the  Egyptian  monarchs, 
and  during  the  period  in  which  they  prevailed,  the  country  greatly 
flourished,  and  was  filled  with  works  of  incomparable  magnificence 

In  the  administration  of  public  affairs,  each  nome,  or  pro- 
vince, had  its  respective  governor,  who  ordered  all  things  with- 
in his  jurisdiction.  The  lands  were  divided  into  three  parts, 
of  which  one  was  allotted  to  the  maintenance  of  the  priests, 
and  to  religious  uses ;  the  second  was  appropriated  to  the 
king,  for  defraying  the  charges  of  his  wars,  &c  ;  and  the 
third  part  was  dedgned  for  the  soldiers.  The  husband- 
men, taking  the  lands  at  an  easy  rent  from  the  king,  priests, 
and  soldiers,  devoted  the  whole  of  their  attention  to  agricul- 
ture ;  and  the  son  continually  succeeded  the  father  in  his  oc- 
cupation. They  thus  became  the  most  famous  for  tillage  of 
any  in  the  world. 

22.  Mythology.     The  boasted  laws  of  the  Egyptians  sink 
in  our  estimation,  from  the  influence  which  a  knowledge  of 
their  hase  idolatry  and  superstitions  produces  in  the  reflecting 
mind.     They  had  a  vast  number  of  gods  of  different  ranks, 
but  their  two  principal  ones  were  Osiris  and  Isis,  supposed  to 
have  been  the  sun  and  moon.     From  Egypt  the  stream  of 
idolatry  flowed  over  the  nations. 

§  The  idolatry  of  this  people  was  so  gross,  that  exclusive  of  the 
worship  they  paid  their  pretended  gods,  they  actually  bestowed  di- 
vine honours  on  animals,  insects,  birds,  and  even  vegetables,  as 
leeks  and  onions.  Their  sacred  animals  were,  during  their  lives,  kept 
in  consecrated  enclosures;  fed  with  most  delicate  food,  washed  and 
anointed  with  frequency,  and  their  burial,  after  death,  attended  with 
the  heaviest  expense.  We  are  credibly  informed  that  in  the  reign 
of  Ptolemy,  the  Apis  dying  of  old  age  at  Memphis,  his  keeper  ex- 
pended in  his  funeral,  about  13,OOOZ.  above  all  his  substance. 

23.  Education.     In  the  education  of  their  children,  the 
Egyptians  exercised  great  care,  and  the  children  were  brought 
».ip  with  the  strictest  frugality.     The  priest  instructed  them  in 
arithmetic,  geometry,  and  other  branches  of  useful  literature  ; 


166  GENERAL  VIEWS. 

and  their  fathers,  or  nearest  relations,  taught  them  as  early  as 
possible,  their  paternal  art  or  profession. 

24.  Domestic  Habits,  Manners,  and  Customs.     The 
usual  drink  of  the  people  was  the  water  of  the  Nile,  which 
was  very  palatable  and  fattening.     They  used  also  a  superior 
beverage  made  of  barley,  so  that  we  are  possibly  indebted  to 
them  for  the  first  invention  of  beer.    Cleanliness  was  a  particu- 
lar characteristic  of  this  people,  who  scoured  their  drinking 
vessels  every  day. 

§  As  great  singularities  among  them,  we  may  notice  the  inconsistent 
employments  of  the  men  and  women  ;  the  former  being  engaged  in 
spinning  and  domestic  concerns,  while  the  latter  were  employed  in 
trade  and  business ;  the  kneading  of  dough  with  their  feet ;  the  tem- 
pering of  mortar  with  their  hands;  and  the  promiscuous  residence  of 
men  and  beasts  in  the  same  apartment 

At  their  principal  feasts,  it  was  a  very  singular  custom  to  bring  in 
the  coffin  of  a  friend  after  supper,  with  the  image  of  a  dead  man 
carved  in  wood  and  painted,  which  was  carried  to  all  the  company 
with  this  strange  admonition :  "  Look  upon  this,  and  be  merry ;  for 
such  as  this  now  appears,  thou  shalt  be,  when  thou  art  dead." 

25.  Literature  and   Arts.      Egypt   was  the  parent   of 
learning  and  philosophy.     According  to  the  scriptures,  Moses 
was  learned  in  all  the  wisdom  of  the  Egyptians.     Geometry 
is  generally  believed  to  have  been  found  out  in  Egypt,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  measurement  of  those  lands  that  were  annu- 
ally overflowed  by  the  Nile.    The  science,  however,  was  most 
probably  but  little  extended  by  them. 

§  Arithmetic,  astronomy,  and  a  kind  of  algebra,  were  also  cultivated 
in  Egypt ;  and  it  is  certain  this  nation  first  adjusted  the  length  of  the 
year  to  the  annual  revolution  of  the  sun,  by  adding  to  their  twelve 
months  of  thirty  days  each,  five  additional  days  and  six  hours.  Medi- 
cine and  the  art  of  embalming  were  early  cultivated  among  them, 
particularly  the  latter.  They  were  very  famous  also  in  magic. 

In  architecture,  painting,  sculpture,  &c.  they  must  have  made  grea 
proficiency,  as  is  evident  from  the  astonishing  works  of  art  wnic 
yet  remain. 

26.  Trade.     Egypt  early  engaged  in  commerce,   as  its 
situation  was  peculiarly  favourable  for  that  object.     We  read 
in  scripture  that  the  Midianites  and  Ishmaelites  traded  thither, 
so  early  as  the  time  of  Jacob.     It  is  certain  also  that  Solomon 
established  a  very  considerable  trade  in  those  parts. 

27.  Language.     The  Egyptian  language  is  one  of  the 
most  ancient  in  the  world,  and  probably  an  original  tongue. 
It  is,  in  some  measure,  preserved  in  the  Coptic,  even  to  this 
time,  though  that  language  is  but  little  understood. 


!> 

« 


HEBREWS.  16T 

THE  HEBREWS. 

28.  Country.     The  country  in  which  this  ancient  and  di- 
vinely favoured  people  lived  was  Palestine.    It  extended  from 
CcBlo-Syria,  to  Arabia  Petrea ;  on  the  west  it  had  the  Medi- 
terranean, and  on  the  east  Arabia  Deserta.     Its  territory  was 

very  limited. 

The  country  of  the  Hebrews  is  also  called  by  several  other  names, 
as  the  Land  of  Canaan,  the  Holy  Land,  Judea,  &c. ;  and  the  people 
themselves  were  variously  called,  as  the  People  of  God,  Israelites, 
Jews  ;  the  last  more  commonly  in  the  latter  period  of  their  history. 

Upon  the  entrance  of  the  Israelites  into  Palestine,  it  was 
divided  into  twelve  different  portions,  which  were  assigned  to 
the  twelve  several  tribes  into  which  they  were  separated. 

29.  Remains  of  ancient    Works.     Among1  these  are  Ja- 
cob's Well :  the  Pools  of  Solomon,  Gihon.  and  Bethesda  ;  and 
the  Sepulchral  Monuments. 

§  Jacob's  well  is  highly  venerated  by  Christian  travellers  on  ac- 
count of  its  antiquity.  It  is  hewn  out  of  the  solid  rock,  about  35 
yards  in  depth,  and  three  in  diameter,  and  is  at  present  covered  with 
a  stone  vault. 

The  Pools  of  Solomon,  supposed  to  have  been  made  by  order  of 
that  monarch,  appear  to  have  been  a  work  of  immense  cost  and  labour. 
They  are  three  in  a  row,  and  disposed  in  such  a  manner,  that  the 
water  of  the  uppermost  may  fall  into  the  second,  and  of  the  second 
into  the  third.  They  are  of  equal  breadth,  viz.  about  90  paces ;  their 
length  varies,  the  longest  being  220.  They  are  all  walled  and  plas- 
tered, and  contain  a  large  quantity  of  water. 

The  Pools  of  Gihon  and  Bethesda  are  similar  works,  and  may  be 
ranked  among  the  most  stately  ruins. 

The  Sepulchral  Monuments  are  scattered  all  over  the  country. 
The  most  magnificent  pieces  of  antiquity  of  this  kind  are  the  royal 
sepulchres  without  the  walls  of  Jerusalem.  They  are  all  hewn  out  of 
the  solid  marble  rock,  and  contain  several  spacious  and  elaborate 
apartments. 

30.  Cities.    Of  these  there  were  not  many  that  were  large. 
Jerusalem,  the  metropolis  of  the  country,  and  the  centre  of  the 
Jewish  worship,  was  the  most  celebrated,  and  indeed  no  place 

•n  the  globe  has  been  more  celebrated,  taking  into  view  its 
sacred  associations.  Hebron,  Gaza,  and  Ascalon.  were  also 
noted. 

Jerusalem  was  built  on  several  hills,  the  largest  of  which 
was  Mount  Zion  ;  it  formed  the  southern  part  of  the  citv. 
On  the  east  of  the  second,  or  lower  city,  was  mount  Morian, 
on  which  stood  the  magnificent  temple  of  king  Solomon. 


»68  GENERAL  VIEWS. 

§  Jerusalem,  when  enlarged  by  David,  Solomon,  and  other  kings, 
became  a  most  renowned  city,  and  as  such  is  mentioned  by  the  Greek 
historian,  Herodotus,  under  the  name  of  Cadytis.  The  city  with  its 
temple  was  destroyed  by  the  Chaldeans,  about  600  years  B.  C.  The 
second  temple,  which  had  begun  to  decay,  was  rebuilt  by  Herod  the 
Great. 

The  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  Titus,  was  A.  D.  70.  Under  Adri- 
an, a  new  city,  altogether  Roman,  and  called  ^Elia,  was  built,  but 
there  was  an  alteration  of  its  site.  Zion,  the  principal  quarter  of  the 
ancient  city,  was  not  comprised  within  the  new  city.  It  subsists  at 
present,  but  in  a  deplorable  condition,  inhabited  by  a  motley  group 
of  Turks,  Jews,  and  Christians. 

Hebron  was  a  place  of  high  antiquity,  and  the  sepulchre  of  Abra- 
ham and  his  family.  In  the  time  of  the  crusades,  it  bore  the  name  of 
St.  Abraham :  and  the  Arabs,  who  always  respect  their  primitive 
names,  call  it  Cabr-Ibraliim,  or  the  Tomb  of  Abraham. 

Gaza  and  Ascalon,  on  the  coast,  preserve  their  names,  as  also 
others.  Gaza  was  remarkably  strong,  and  surrounded  with  walls  and 
towers,  after  the  Philistine  manner.  It  Was  taken  by  Caleb,  but  soon 
^fter  regained  by  the  ancient  inhabitants,  who  kept  possession  ot  it 
to  the  time  of  Samson.  It  passed  into  various  hands,  till  finally  it 
was  pillaged  by  Alexander,  and  a  second  time  destroyed  by  the  Mac- 
cabees. 

Ascalon  was  also  a  maritime  town  of  great  strength,  but  was  soon 
reduced,  after  the  death  of  Joshua,  by  the  tribe  of  Judah.  It  was  once 
adorned  with  several  magnificent  edifices ;  but  it  is  now  dwindled 
into  an  inconsiderable  village. 

31.  Religion.  The  history  of  the  religion  of  this  people, 
which  was  called  Judaism,  is  the  history  of  true  religion  in  the 
ancient  world.  It  is  now  eclipsed  by  the  radiance  of  the 
Gospel,  which  has  come  into  its  room,  abrogated  what  was 
ritual  in  it,  and  confirmed  its  great  general  principles  and 
truths. 

§  Religion  flourished  variously  among  the-  people,  according  to  the 
piety  or  irreligion  of  their  priests,  leading  men,  or  sovereigns.  In  ge- 
neral, though  they  had  a  succession  of  wise  and  holy  prophets,  the 
nation,  as  such,  Was  peculiarly  obstinate  and  rebellious,  and  continu- 
ally inclined  to  forsake  the  worship  of  God,  and  to  fall  into  the  idola- 
trous practices  of  its  heathen  neighbours. 

On  this  account  repeated  and  severe  judgments  were  sent  among 
them.  They  were  visited,  at  various  times,  with  all  the  ministers  of 
divine  vengeance — they  were  conquered,  pillaged,  and  carried  into 
captivity,  and  soon  after  the  Christian  era,  ceased  to  exist  indepen- 
dently, and  were  scattered  among  al]  nations. 

They  are  now  known,  particularly  the  tribes  of  Judah  and  Benja- 
min, wherever  they  are  dispersed,  as  the  descendants  of  Abraham, 
preserving  still  their  national  name  and  peculiarities.  Concerning 
the  other  ten  tribes  we  have  no  certain  knowledge  of  their  sepai 


HEBREWS.  169 

existence,  at  this  day.  Prophecy  has  been  remarkably  fulfilled  in  the 
case  of  this  people. 

The  great  general  truths  of  religion  were  revealed  to  this 
people,  and  to  them  alone  of  all  the  nations  of  the  earth.   The 
being,  perfections,  and  government  of  God,  the  moral  law, 
prescribing  the  duties  man  owes  to  God,  to  his  fellow  men, 
and  to  himself,  the  awards  of  eternity,  with  a  thousand  par 
ticular  precepts  of  a  spiritual  kind,  were  explicitly  declared  t 
this  nation. 

The  peculiarities  of  their  ritual  worship  rendered  them 
also  a  most  favoured  community.  By  these  they  were  de- 
signed to  be  preserved  a  people  distinct  from  all  the  rest  of 
the  world,  to  be  kept  from  idolatry,  and  to  be  prepared  for  the 
great  salvation,  which  was  to  be  accomplished  not  only  for 
them,  but  for  all  nations,  in  "  the  fulness  of  the  time.0 

§  The  peculiar  rites  of  Judaism  were  admirably  adapted  to  honour 
their  Creator,  and  to  render  themselves  completely  happy.  Its  sacri- 
fices were  at  once  calculated  to  convince  them  of  their  sins,  and  to 
shadow  forth  the  vicarious  sacrifice  of  the  Son  of  God. 

32.  Government.  The  government  of  this  people  was  pro- 
perly a  Theocracy,  as  being  under  the  immediate  direction  of 
God.    In  this  they  were  distinguished  from  all  other  nations. 
He  was  considered  as  the  sole  dictator  of  every  important 
transaction,  and  supreme  monarch  of  the  Israelites. 

33.  Manners  and   Customs.    The  most  interesting  of 
these  related  to  the  rite  of  circumcision,  to  their  diet,  diver- 
sions,  high  places,  mourning  for  the  dead,  and  burials. 

§  The  rite  of  circumcision  has  distinguished  them  as  a  people, 
from  the  beginning.  It  was  always  accompanied  with  great  feasting, 
and  other  demonstrations  of  joy.  At  this  time  the  child  was  named 
in  the  presence  of  the  company  assembled,  among  whom  bread  and 
wine  were  distributed. 

Their  diet,  except  on  festivals,  seems  to  have  been  extremely  plain. 
Bread,  water,  and  vinegar,  were  in  common  use.     Honey  was  es- 
teemed a  peculiar  delicacy,  and  the  milk  of  goats  was  reckoned  ex 
cellent  for  food. 

Their  diversions  seem  to  have  consisted  chiefly  in  social  repasts, 
music,  and  dancing.  The  two  latter  partook  of  a  religious  character. 
Games  were  never  introduced  into  their  commonwealth. 

Their  high  places  were  of  two  sorts ;  those  where  they  burned  in- 
cense and  offered  sacrifices  to  the  true  God ;  and  those  where  they 
committed  various  abominable  idolatries. 

Their  mourning  for  the  death  of  friends  was  expressed  by  rending 
their  garments  tearing  their  hair,  heaping  dirt  or  ashes  upon  their 

p 


170  GENERAL  VIEWS. 

heads,  wearing  sackcloth  next  their  skin,  and  lying  upon  the  bare 
ground. 

As  to  their  burials,  it  is  known  that  they  denied  sepulture  to  none 
but  such  as  were  guilty  of  suicide,  and  not  even  to  these,  but  till  after 
sunset.  From  the  pains  which  the  patriarchs  took  to  provide  a  place 
of  burial  for  themselves  and  their  descendants,  it  is  evident  they  con- 
sidered it  a  heavy  calamity,  to  be  denied  a  burial,  and  a  favour  to  be 
interred  among  their  ancestors.  Their  sepulchres  were  on  their  own 
lands,  and,  where  practicable,  cut  into  a  rock. 

34.  Learning.  The  Israelites  excelled  in  the  knowledge 
of  theology,  and  they  had  places  of  public  instruction  called 
the  schools  of  the  prophets.    They  seem  to  have  had  but  little 
knowledge  of  astronomy. 

Their  language  was  the  Hebrew,  the  genius  of  which  is 
pure,  primitive,  and  natural ;  and  it  is  highly  probable  that 
they  had  the  art  of  writing  very  early.  The  materials  on 
which  they  wrote  were  tables  of  stone  ;  but  mention  is  made 
also  of  rolls,  which  were  doubtless  more  in  use.  These  rolls 
are  supposed  to  have  been  made  of  skin,  or  some  other  pliable 
substance. 

35.  Arts.    The   arts  in  which  the  Israelites  made  the 
greatest  proficiency  were  those  of  war,  husbandry,  poetry,  and 
music. 

§  Their  situation  made  them  a  warlike  people,  surrounded  as  they 
were  by  enemies.  Their  arms  of  offence  were  broad  crooked  swords, 
javelins,  slings,  bows  and  arrows,  and  two-edged  swords.  Their 
arms  of  defence  were  shields,  helmets,  coats  of  mail,  breast  plates, 
and  targets. 

Their  attention  was  much  confined  to  their  lands  and  domestic 
avocations,  and  few  trades  or  manufactures  were  carried  on  among 
them  before  the  reign  of  Solomon,  except  such  as  were  absolutely  ne- 
cessary. After  Solomon's  time,  pride  and  luxury  increased  with  great 
rapidity.  The  causes  of  a  change  from  great  economy  and  simplicity, 
to  their  opposites,  were  laid  indeed  in  the  reign  of  David. 

Poetry  is  said  to  be  the  only  fine  art  in  which  they  were  peculiarly 
excellent ;  and  in  that  they  are  inimitable.  Their  inspired  produc- 
tions, in  poetry,  if  not  in  prose,  as  to  native  energy  and  felicity,  are 
unrivalled. 

36.  Commerce.  With  respect  to  commerce,  it  appears  that 
they  received  rich  stuffs,  linen,  gold,  &c.  from  Tyre,  in  ex- 
change for  their  corn,  balm,  and  other  excellent  commodi- 
ties ;  but  they  were  totally  ignorant  of  navigation.     Solomon 
employed  foreign  sailors  in  the  ships  which  he  sent  to  foreign 
countries. 

Canaanites. 
§  The  country  of  the  Canaanites  has  been  already  described,  as  it 


GREECE.  171 

was  the  same  with  that  of  the  Hebrews,  who,  some  time  after  they 
left  Egypt,  drove  out  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  the  Land  of  Canaan. 

37.  Customs,  Manners,  Arts,  and  Sciences.  In  these,  as 
well  as  in  language,  they  may  be  supposed  to  have  differed 
widely  from  each  other,  according  to  their  different  situations. 
It  is  easy  to  discern  the  different  classes  of  merchants,  artifi- 
cers, soldiers,  shepherds,  and  husbandmen. 

§  Those  who  resided  on  the  sea-coasts  were  merchants,  in  which 
capacity  they  will  be  considered  when  spoken  of  as  Phoenicians 
Those  who  resided  in  fixed  abodes  and  walled  places,  cultivated  the 
land.  Shepherds  and  soldiers  led  a  more  wandering  life.  As  to  war, 
they  were  by  no  means  deficient  in  courage,  craft,  or  policy. 

38.  Religion.  Their  religion  seems  to  have  been  undefiled 
to  the  days  of  Abraham,  when  Melchisedek  among  them  was 
a  priest  of  the  Most  High  God ;  but  after  this  period  they 
must  have  degenerated  apace.     They  compelled  their  chil- 
dren to  pass  through  fire  to  Moloch,  and.  their  wickedness  be- 
came extreme. 

Greece. 

39.  Appearance  and  Face  of  the  Country.  This  country, 
rendered  illustrious  by  the  intellectual  elevation  of  its  inhabi- 
tants, was  a  region  of  enchanting  beauty.     Its  mountains 
and   valleys,  lakes  and  rivers,  sufficiently  diversified  the  sur- 
face, while  their  grandeur  or  their  softness  imparted  an  inef- 
fable charm  to  every  prospect.     It  enjoyed  a  delightful  cli- 
mate and  exuberant  soil. 

§  The  classical  reader  need  not  to  be  reminded,  that  among  a 
thousand  other  spots  endeared  to  association,  were  Pindus  and  Par- 
nassus, <the  seats  of  the  muses ;  Athens,  filled  with  the  monuments  of 
art  and  genius ;  woody  Arcadia,  sacred  to  Pan,  and  the  haunt  of  shep- 
herds ;  and  Thessaly  with  its  fields  of  pleasure,  where 

"  The  smooth  Peneus  from  its  glassy  flood 
Reflects  purpureal  Tempe's  pleasant  scene." 

40.  Situation,  Extent,  and  Division.  Greece  occupied  a 
large  peninsula  between  the  south  of  Italy  and  Asia  Minor, 
about  400  miles  long  and  150  broad.     It  had  Epirus  and 
Macedonia  on  the  north,  the  Mediterranean  on  the  south,  and 
the  Ionian  and  ^Egean  seas  washed,  the  one  its  western,  arid 
the  other  its  eastern  borders. 

§  In  subsequent  times,  Epirus  and  Macedonia  were  considered  as 
parts  of  Greece,  and  then  the  northern  boundary  was  constituted  by 
Illyricum,  Mcesia,  and  Thrace. 

Greece  consisted  of  two  principal  divisions — Greece,  pro 
«n  ™iip.rl  and  Peloponnesus, 


GENERAL  VIEWS. 

§  Greece  proper  included  the  following  states ;  1.  Attica.  2.  Bceo 
tia.  3.  Acarnania.  4.  ^tolia.  5.  Locris.  6.  Doris.  7.  Phocis.  8.  Thes- 
sah.  9.  Epirus.  10.  Macedonia. 

Peloponnesus  included  the  following  states;  1.  Achaia.  2.  Elis. 
3.  Arcadia.  4.  Messenia.  5.  Laconia.  6.  Argolis. 

Connected  with  Greece  were  many  islands  in  the  seas 
which  surrounded  it,  the  principal  of  which  singly,  or  in  clus- 
ters, were  Euboea,  Lemnos,  the  Cyclades,  Crete,  Cythera,  Za- 
cynthus,  Cephalonia,  Corcyra,  Tenedos,  Lesbos,  Scio,  Samos, 
and  Patmos. 

41.  Names.  Greece  was  called  Hellas  by  the  natives,  and 
its  inhabitants  Hellenes.  From  their  different  tribes  they  were 
denominated  by  the  poets,  Achivi,  Danai,  Argivi,  Pelasgi, 
lones,  Dores,  and  J^oles. 

42.  Interesting  Localities.    Almost  every  considerable 
place  in  Greece  is  marked  by  some  circumstance  in  its  natu- 
ral features,  or  by  some  achievement  or  event  in  its  history, 
which  connects  it  in  the  minds  of  scholars  with  the  most  de 
lightful  associations.     Several   of    these   localities  may  be 
grouped  together,  as  below. 

§  Peloponnesus  took  its  name  from  Pelops-,  who  reigned  there. 
Mycenae  was  the  city  of  Agamemnon.  At  Nemea,  games  were  insti- 
tuted  in  honour  of  Hercules, -for  killing  the  Nemean  lion.  In  Epidau- 
rus,  ^Esculapins  was  worshipped.  Lerna  gave  name  to  the  Levna?an 
Hydra,  a  monster  destroyed  by  Hercules. 

Amyclre  abounded  in  trees,  and  was  honoureu  with  a  splendid 
temple  of  Apollo.  Helos  was  a  place  which  the  Spartans  took,  redu- 
cing the  inhabitants  to  slavery,  and  hence  all  their  slaves  were  called 
Helotes.  Near  Taenarus,  the  most  southern  point  of  Europe,  was  a 
cave  through  which  Hercules  is  fabled  to  have  dragged  Cerberus  from 
the  infernal  regions".  On  the  mountain  Taygetus,  the  Spartan  women 
celebrated  the  orgies  of  Bacchus. 

Elis,  was  famous  for  its  horses.  At  Olympia,  the  Olympic  games 
were  celebrated  in  honour  of  Jupiter — they  date  from  B.  C.  776,  and 
form  the  epoch  of  Grecian  chronology.  Corinth  was  famous  for  its 
brass,  a  mixture  of  copper  with  some  small  quantity  of  gold  and 
silver. 

Arcadia  was  the  country  of  musicians  and  shepherds,  and  sacrec 
to  Pan,  the  rural  deity.  Mercury  was  born  on  mount  Cyllene.  Her- 
cules destroyed  the  harpies  of  the  river  and  lake  Stymphalus.  At  the 
Isthmus,  games  were  celebrated  in  honour  of  Neptune. 

Eleusis  was  famous  for  the  celebration  of  the  mysteries  of  Ceres, 
in  which  secrecy  was  enjoined  to  the  votaries,  and  the  breach  of  it 
punished  with  death.  In  Attica  were  mount  Hymettus,  celebrated  foi 
its  honey,  and  mount  Pentelicus,  for  its  quarries  of  marble.  The  Boeo- 
tians were  reckoned  characteristically  dull,  though  there  were  som* 
splendid  exceptions. 


GREECE.  173 

Chaeronea  was  the  birth-place  of  Plutarch,  and  remarkable  for  the 
defeat  of  the  allied  states  of  Greece,  by  Philip,  which  ruined  that  ce- 
lebrated nation.  Not  far  from  this,  was  the  cave  of  Trophonius,  where 
oracles  were  delivered,  and  which  rendered  such  as  catered  it  me- 
lancholy for  the  rest  of  their  lives.  Thespia  was  sacred  to  the  Muses. 
Tanagra  was  infamous  for  its  cock-fighting  exhibitions.  At  Delium 
stood  a  temple  of  Apollo ;  and  the  mountain  of  Helicon,  and  the 
fountain  Aganippe,  were  consecrated  to  the  Nine. 

Phocis,  the  Greeks  conjectured,  was  not  only  the  centre  of  Greece 
but  of  the  whole  earth.  Delphi  was  rendered  illustrious  for  the  tern 
pie  and  oracle  of  Apollo,  whose  responses  were  always  delivered  by 
a  priestess.  Parnassus,  and  the  fountain  of  Castalia  at  its  foot,  were 
the  haunts  of  the  Muses.  Anticyra  was  famous  for  the  production  ol 
hellebore,  once  reputed  a  specific  in  maniacal  cases. 

Narix  was  the  native  place  of  Ajax.  Thermopylae  was  a  famous 
pass,  justly  reckoned  the  key  of  Greece,  and  is  immortalized  from  the 
self-devotion  of  Leonidas.  Where  narrowest,  there  was  room  only 
for  a  single  carriage,  a  ridge  of  impassable  mountains  being  on  the 
west,  and  the  sea  on  the  east,  with  cbep  and  dangerous  morasses. 

The  ^Itolians  constituted  the  best  cavalry  in  Greece.  Naupactus 
was  so  called  from  the  number  of  ships  built  there,  but  its  site  is  now 
overflowed  by  the  sea.  Acarnania  was  famous  for  its  horses.  On  the 
promontory  Leucate,  was  the  rock  from  which  disappointed  lovers 
sought  either  death  or  a  cure,  by  leaping  into  the  sea. 

Through  the  lake  of  Acherusia  ran  the  river  Acheron,  and  into  the 
latter  flows  the  Cocytus,  both  of  which,  on  account  of  their  muddi- 
ness,  were  feigned  by  the  poets  to  be  rivers  of  hell.  In  the  interior  ol 
Epirus,  was  the  most  ancient  oracle  of  Greece,  the  grove,  or  vocal 
oaks  of  Dodona,  sacred  to  Jupiter. 

Chaonia  received  its  name  from  Chaori,  the  companion  of  Helenus, 
the  son  of  Priam,  who  was  inadvertently  killed  in  hunting.  Pindus 
was  holy  to  Apollo  and  the  Nine.  The  Acroceraunian  mountains 
were  so  called  from  their  tops  being  struck  with  thunder. 

The  vale  of  Tempe  was  reckoned  the  most  delicious  spot  on  earth, 
five  miles  in  length,  but  in  general  very  narrow.  It  had  mount  Olym- 
pus at  the  north,  and  Ossa  at  the  south.  These  mountains,  with  Peli- 
on,  according  to  story,  were  piled  one  upon  another,  by  the  giants  in 
their  war  with  the  gods,  to  scale  heaven.  The  celebrated  spear  of 
Achilles,  which  none  but  himself  could  wrield,  was  cut  down  on  Peli- 
on  ;  Thessaly  was  renowned  for  excellent  horses. 

Larissa  was  the  city  of  Achilles.  Heraclea  was  so  called  from  Her- 
cules, who  is  said  to  have  consumed  himself  in  a  burning  pile,  on  the 
top  of  (Eta,  near  this  place.  Othrys  was  the  abode  of  the  Centaurs. 
On  the  banks  of  Amphrysus,  Apollo  used  to  feed  the  flocks  of  Adme- 
tus.  Pierus,  towards  the  confines  of  Macedonia,  was  sacred  to  the 
Muses.  The  women  of  Thessaly  are  said  to  have  possessed  remark- 
able skill  in  magic. 

Athos  was  a  mountain  through  which  Xerxes  caused  a  canal  to  be 
cut  for  the  passage  of  his  army.  Several  towns  stood  upon  it  whose 
inhabitants  were  remarkable  for  their  longevity.  Stagira  was  the 

P2 


174  GENERAL  VIEWS. 

birth  place  of  Aristotle,  whence  he  is  called  the  Stagirite.  Apollonia 
was  a  place  where  learning  was  much  cultivated.  Strymon  was  the 
river  along  the  banks  of  which  Orpheus  is  imagined  to  have  lament- 
ed his  lost  Burydice. 

In  the  island-  Corcyra  were  the  celebrated  gardens  of  Alcinous, 
which  produced  fruit  twice  a  year.  Ithaca  was  the  residence  of  Ulys- 
ses. Cicero  compares  it  to  a  nest  in  a  rock.  The  Strophades  were  a 
cluster  of  islands  fabled  to  be  infested  by  harpies.  The  inhabitants 
of  ^Egina  were  famed  for  being  the  first  people  that  coined  money. 

Delos  was  the  birth  place  of  Apollo  and  Diana.  It  was  said  to  be 
a  floating  island.  Paros  was  the  birth  place  of  Phidias  and  Praxi- 
teles, and  celebrated,  moreover,  for  the  finest  marble.  Naxos  was  fruit- 
ful in  vines,  and  therefore  sacred  to  Bacchus.  Crete  was  celebrated 
for  its  hundred  cities,  and  for  the  laws  of  Minos  established  there. 
The  Cretans  were  celebrated  archers. 

Rhodes  was  famous  for  its  brazen  colossus,  or  image  of  the  sun, 
about  105  feet  high.  The  metal  which  composed  it  loaded  900  camels 
Patmos  was  the  island  to  which  the  apostle  John  was  banished,  and 
where  he  wrote  the  book  of  revelation.  Scio  was  famous  for  its  wine 
and  earthen  wares.  Lemnos  was  sacred  to  Vulcan.  In  the  forum  of 
its  principal  town  was  the  statue  of  an  ox,  made  by  Myron,  the  back 
of  which,  at  the  winter  solstice,  was  overshadowed  by  mount  Athos, 
though  80  miles  distant. 

43.  Cities.  Of  these  there  were  several,  the  capitals  of  the 
different  states  of  which  Greece  was  composed,  as  Athens, 
Sparta,  Corinth,  Thebes,  Argos,  and  others.  But  of  these, 
Athens  and  Sparta  were  by  far  the  most  renowned. 

Athens,  the  capital  of  Attica,  was  so  called  from  Athense, 
one  of  the  names  of  the  goddess  Minerva,  the  protectress  of 
the  city.  It  was  called  by  the  ancients,  for  its  glory  in  the  arts 
and  sciences,  the  learned  city,  the  eye  of  Greece,  the  school  of 
the  world. 

It  was  situated  in  a  large  plain,  about  five  miles  from  the 
sea,  having  in  the  midst  of  it,  a  mount.  In  its  most  flourish- 
in  .or  state,  according  to  Dio  Chrysostom,  it  was  25  miles  in  cir- 

»        i  •  •!! 

cumference.  It  was  divided  into  the  upper  city  or  citadel,  and 

the  lower  city.  Both  contained  440,000  inhabitants,  the  far 
greater  part  of  whom  were  slaves. 

§  The  citadel  was  built  on  the  rocky  mount  already  mentioned.  It 
was  called  the  Acropolis,  or  the  upper  city.  When  from  the  increase 
of  its  inhabitants,  the  lower  grounds  were  occupied  by  buildings, 
these  constituted  the  lower  city. 

The  upper  city  was  16  miles  in  circumference,  and  was  surround- 
ed by  a  strong  wall,  beautified  by  9  gates,  to  one  of  which,  called  the 
grand  entrance,  the  Athenians  ascended  by  steps,  covered  with  white 
inarble. 


GREECE  'y 

The  lower  city  contained  all  the  buildings  that  surrounded  the  ci- 
tadel, and  was  encompassed  with  strong  walls. 

In  the  citadel  were  several  magnificent  edifices,  the  chief  of 
which  were  the  temple  of  Neptune,  and  the  beautiful  temple 
of  Minerva,  called  Parthenon.  These  still  continue.  The  lat- 
ter is  justly  esteemed  one  of  the  noblest  remains  of  antiquity. 
It  is  229  feet  long,  101  broad,  and  69  high. 

In  the  lower  city,  the  most  magnificent  structure  of  Athens, 
and  scarcely  paralleled  in  the  ancient  world,  was  the  temple 
of  Jupiter  Olympus.  It  was  supported  on  marble  columns, 
and  was  half  a  mile  in  circuit. 

In  both  portions  of  Athens  there  were  many  other  splendid 
structures,  and  monuments  without  number,  some  of  the 
proudest  efforts  of  art  and  genius  that  the  world  ever  beheld. 

§  Athens  had  three  harbours  on  the  Saronic  gulf,  which  were  joined 
to  the  city  by  two  walls,  called  the  long  walls.  The  length  of  one 
of  these  was  five  miles,  that  of  the  other  nearly  the  same. 

There  were  several  Gymnasia,  or  places  of  exercise,  in  and  near 
Athens,  the  principal  of  which  were  the  Academy,  the  Lyceum,  and 
the  Cynosarges. 

A  Gymnasium  was  a  large  edifice  designed  to  accommodate  many 
thousands  of  people  together,  with  places  for  the  exercises  of  the 
youth,  and  with  apartments  for  philosophers,  rhetoricians,  &c.  to  de- 
liver their  lectures.  A  garden  and  sacred  grove  were  attached  to  this 
edifice. 

Sparta,  called  also  Lacedsemon,  was  built  upon  the  banks 
of  the  river  Eurotas,  and  at  the  foot  of  mount  Taygetus.  It 
was  the  capital  of  the  province  of  Laconia.  It  was  of  a  circu- 
lar form,  and  about  6  miles  in  circumference.  The  houses 
were  not  built  close  together,  but  divided  into  different  villa- 
ges, according  to  the  ancient  manner  of  the  Greeks.  It  was 
destitute  of  walls,  till  it  fell  under  the  dominion  of  tyrants, 
after  the  time  of  Alexander.  The  bravery  of  its  citizens  was 
its  defence. 

§  Sparta  was  divided  into  different  villages,  according  to  the  ancient 
manner  of  the  Greeks.  Of  these  villages  there  were  five,  built  round 
an  eminence  at  different  distances,  each  of  which  was  occupied  by 
one  of  the  five  tribes  of  Sparta. 

The  prevailing  manners  were  hostile  to  external  splendour,  and 
therefore  the  houses  of  the  Spartans  were  destitute  of  ornaments.  The 
great  Square,  or  forum,  however,  in  which  several  streets  terminated, 
was  embellished  with  temples  and  statues.  It  also  contained  the  pub- 
lic edifices,  in  which  the  assemblies  of  the  various  bodies  of  magistrates 
were  held. 

Sparta  was  also  adorned  with  a  large  number  of  monuments,  in 


176  fiENERAL  VIEWS. 

Honour  of  the  gods  and  ancient  heroes.  Religious  respect  was  shown 
to  the  memory  of  Hercules,  Tyndarus,  Castor,  Pollux,  Leonidas,  &c. 
In  the  environs  of  the  city  were  courses  for  horse  and  foot  races,  and 
places  of  exercises  for  youth  shaded  by  beautiful  plane  trees.  Indeed, 
Sparta  was  surrounded,  to  a  great  extent,  with  vineyards,  olive  and 
plane  trees,  gardens,  and  summer  houses. 

Corinth,  the  capital  of  Achaia,  was  seated  on  the  Isthmus, 
which  separates  Peloponnesus  from  Attica.  It  lay  between 
two  seas,  and  had  two  ports,  one  on  each  coast.  Its  citadel 
stood  on  the  peak  of  a  hill  called  Acrocorinthus.  This  city 
was  one  of  the  best  peopled  and  most  wealthy  in  Greece.  It 
was  destroyed  by  Mummius,  the  Roman  general,  during  the 
Achaean  league.  Corinth  was  partly  rebuilt  by  Julius  Caesar. 

§  The  neat  order  of  the  pillars  which  are  used  at  this  day,  in  the 
decoration  of  all  fine  buildings,  took  from  this  city  the  name  of  Co- 
rinthian pillars.  Its  citizens  made  high  pretensions  to  politeness, 
philosophy,  and  learning. 

Corinth  enjoyed  its  liberty,  and  immense  traffic,  till  B.  C.  146,  when 
it  was  taken  and  burned  by  the  Romans.  It  was  then  deemed  the 
strongest  city  in  the  world,  and  was  a  distinguished  seat  of  opulence 
and  the  fine  arts.  Since  that  period  it  has  been  often  burned,  plun- 
dered, and  subjugated,  till  of  late,  under  the  tyranny  of  the  Turks,  it 
was  so  decayed,  that  the  population  did  not  exceed  1500  souls,  one 
half  Mahometans,  and  the  other  half  Christians. 

Thebes,  the  capital  of  Boeotia,  was  situated  on  the  river 
Ismenus.  It  had  seven  gates,  with  walls  about  seven  miles 
in  circumference.  It  was  demolished  by  Alexander,  and  re- 
built by  Cassander.  Under  Epaminondas,  the  Thebans  be- 
came masters  of  Greece  ;  but  in  Strabo's  time  (15  or  20  years 
A.  C.)  Thebes  was  only  an  inconsiderable  village. 

§  In  the  dreadful  period  of  its  demolition  by  Alexander,  6000  of  its 
inhabitants  were  slain,  and  30,000  sold  for  slaves.  The  house  in 
which  the  great  lyric  poet  Pindar  was  born  and  educated,  was  ordei  ed 
to  be  spared,  and  all  the  rest  to  be  destroyed. 

44.  Government.  In  general  the  government  of  Greece 
partook  of  a  republican  character,  though  it  varied  at  different 
periods,  and  was  in  fact  different  in  the  several  states.  In  some 
of  them  it  exhibited  the  features  of  monarchy  or  aristocracy. 
They  frequently  entered  into  leagues  and  confederacies  with 
each  other,  and  in  this  respect  bore  some  faint  resemblance  to 
the  present  government  of  the  United  States  of  America. 
But  on  this  article  we  are  under  the  necessity  of  speaking  of 
the  respective  states  of  Greece,  chiefly  Athens  and  Sparta, 
who  were,  in  general,  so  superior  to  the  rest. 


CrREECK.  &    i 


Government  of  Athens. 

§  The  government  of  Athens  was  at  first  monarchical,  but  after  the 
death  of  Codrus,  it  became  in  a  degree  democratic. 

Classes  of  the  inhabitants.  The  Athenians  were  divided 
into  three  classes,  citizens  or  freemen,  foreigners  or  sojourners, 
and  slaves.  Citizens  were  the  privileged  class,  who  held  ex- 
clusively the  offices  of  government.  The  privileges  of  citizen  • 
^hip  were  obtained  with  difficulty,  and  deemed  of  great  value 
They  were  conferred  only  by  an  assembly  of  the  people,  except 
where  they  were  inherited  by  those  whose  parents  were  citizens. 

§  The  citizens  of  Athens  were  divided  into  ten  tribes;  but  they  were 
not  limited  to  the  city,  a  part  of  them  residing  in  the  small  boroughs 
of  Attica.  These  tribes  were  named  after  certain  ancient  heroes ; 
each  tribe  was  again  subdivided  into  three  parts,  and  each  of  these 
into  30  families. 

Sojourners  were  persons  who  came  from  a  foreign  country, 
and  settled  with  their  families  in  Attica.     They  were  per 
mitted  to  exercise  trades  in  the  city,  and  were  protected  by  the 
government,  but  had  no  vote  in  the  assembly,  nor  could  they 
be  raised  to  any  office. 

§  In  some  instances,  when  they  had  rendered  important  services, 
ihey  were  adopted  into  the  class  of  citizens. 

Slaves  or  servants  were  distinguished  into  two  sorts.  The 
first  consisted  of  free  born  citizens  who,  through  poverty,  were 
forced  to  serve  for  wages.  These  could  either  change  their 
masters  or  release  themselves  when  able  to  procure  a  subsist- 
ence. The  second  sort  were  wholly  at  the  disposal  of  their 
masters,  and  in  general  placed  beyond  the  hope  of  procuring 
their  own  freedom,  or  leaving  it  as  a  legacy  to  their  children. 

§  Sometimes  slaves  obtained  their  freedom  by  fighting  for  the  re- 
public, or  purchased  it  by  means  of  their  savings. 

Magistrates.  The  Athenian  magistrates  were  divided  into 
three  sorts,  distinguished  by  the  different  methods  of  their 
election.  These  were,  1.  the  Chirotoneti,  chosen  by  the  people 
in  a  lawful  assembly,  in  which  they  voted  by  holding  up  their 
hands.  2.  The  Cleroti,  first  approved  by  the  people,  and  then 
drawn  by  lot.  3.  The  Ereti,  extraordinary  officers  appointed 
by  particular  tribes,  to  take  care  of  any  business. 

§  The  poorer  citizens  were  eligible  to  office ;  yet  it  was  seldom  that 
any  but  the  most  distinguished  persons,  were  actually  appointed  as 
magistrates.  The  candidates  were  required  to  give  an  account  of 
their  past  life  in  the  public  forum. 

Magistrates,  while  in  office,  were  liable  to  be  tried  on  an  accusation 
of  neglect  of  duty ;  and  after  their  term  of  office  had  expired,  they 


IT'S  GENERAL   VIEWS. 

were  obliged  to  render  an  account  of  their  conduct.  During  thirty 
days,  any  man  who  chose  might  bring  a  complaint  of  mal-adminis- 
tration. 

The  usual  government  of  Athens  was  carried  on  by  the 
Archons,  the  Senate  of  500,  and  assemblies  of  the  people. 

The  Archons  held  the  supreme  executive  power.  They 
were  elected  annually,  and  by  the  second  method  above 
named,  viz.  by  lot.  They  wore  garlands  of  myrtle,  were  pro- 
tected from  violence  and  insult,  and  were  exempted  from 
certain  taxes. 

§  The  archons  were  nine  in  number.  The  first  was  called  archon,  by 
way  of  eminence.  He  decided  on  causes  between  married  persons, 
also  concerning  wills,  divorces,  and  legacies.  He  was  the  general 
guardian  of  orphans.  Some  other  important  concerns  were  assigned 
to  him. 

The  second  archon  was  styled  Basileus,  and  wore  a  crown.  The 
third  archon  was  called  Polemarch.  The  six  remaining  archons 
were  named  Thesmotheta?.  Their  respective  duties  need  not  be  de- 
scribed. Suffice  it  to  say,  that  the  concern  of  the  archons,  as  such, 
was  the  execution  of  laws  and  the  general  superintendence  of  the 
republic.  Subordinate  magistrates  regulated  minor  details  in  the 
police. 

The  Senate  of  five  hundred  was  elected  annually  by  lot, 
from  the  different  tribes.  The  business  of  this  body  was  to 
consider  all  proposals  intended  to  come  before  the  people,  and 
to  see  that  nothing  improper  should  be  submitted. 

§  The  power  of  this  senate  was  considerable.  They  debated  aJ 
measures  of  public  interest  and  welfare,  examined  the  acounts  of 
magistrates,  took  care  of  the  fleet,  and  could  punish  for  offences  not 
prohibited  by  any  law. 

Assemblies  of  the  people  were  convened  for  the  purpose  of 
consulting  on  what  was  most  beneficial  to  the  commonwealth. 
The  right  of  attending  them  was  enjoyed  by  all  the  freemen 
of  Athens.  Strangers,  slaves,  women,  and  persons  who  had 
received  an  infamous  punishment,  were  excluded.  They 
were  held  four  times  ev^ry  35  days,  and  also  in  cases  of  pecu- 
liar emergency. 

§  The  smallest  number  of  which  an  assembly  could  legally  consist 
was  6000  citizens.  The  assemblies  decided  respecting  peace  or  war ; 
received  ambassadors ;  confirmed  or  abrogated  laws  j  nominated  to 
almost  every  important  office,  &c. 

Here  was  the  field  in  which  the  good  or  the  bad  influence  of  the 
orators  of  Athens  was  exerted ;  in  which  their  talents  were  elicited, 
and  then*  fame  acquired ;  in  which  Pericles  "thundered,"  ./Eschines 
charmed,  and  Demosthenes  ruled  the  hearts  of  men. 

There  were  also  other  bodies  of  men  occasionally  concerned 


GREECE.  179 

in  the  government  of  Athens,  as  various  courts,  particularly 
that  celebrated  one  called  Areopagus. 

The  name  of  this  court  was  taken  from  the  place  where  it  was  held. 
vi/.  Mars'  Hill.  It  was  in  the  greatest  repute  throughout  Greece 
for  the  wisdom  and  justice  of  its  proceedings.  It  took  cognizance  of 
crimes,  abuses,  and  innovations  either  in  religion  or  government.  It 
inspected  the  laws  and  public  manners. 

The  strictest  propriety  of  conduct  was  required  of  the  members. 
Expulsion  followed  any  act  of  gross  immorality.  To  laugh  during 
the  sitting  of  the  court,  was  thought  a  very  blameable  levity. 

There  was  an  absurd  peculiarity  in  the  government  of 
Athens,  which  should  not  be  omitted.  It  was  ostracism,  a 
kind  of  popular  judgment  so  call  from  ostrakon,  a  shell,  or  tile, 
on  which  votes  were  written. 

§  The  following  was  the  process  in  this  condemnation.  The  people 
being  assembled,  each  citizen  writing  on  a  shell  the  name  of  the 
individual  most  obnoxious  to  him  without  the  allegation  of  a  crime, 
carried  it  to  a  certain  part  of  the  market  place  fixed  for  this  purpose, 
and  deposited  it  there.  These  shells  were  numbered  in  gross  by  the 
archons.  If  they  did  not  amount  to  6000,  the  ostracism  was  void. 
If  they  amounted  to  this  number,  the  archons,  laying  every  name  by 
itself,  pronounced  him,  whose  name  Was  written  by  the  major  part, 
banished  for  ten  years,  with  leave  to  enjoy  his  estate.  Hence  it  was 
that  so  many  eminent  citizens  suffered  from  the  ingratitude  or  the 
spleen  of  the  Athenians. 

Government  of  Sparta. 

Classes  of  the  inhabitants.  The  inhabitants  of  Sparta 
consisted  of  citizens  and  slaves,  or  Helots.  The  citizens  were 
divided  into  two  classes,  the  Homoii,  and  the  Hypomiones. 
The  privileges  of  these  varied  ;  the  former  were  eligible  to 
office  ;  the  latter  consisting  of  the  poorer  citizens,  the  freed- 
men  and  their  sons,  were  allowed  only  to  vote  at  the  elections. 

The  slaves,  or  Helots,  were  much  more  numerous  than  the 
citizens.  Then*  services  were  similar  to  those  of  servants 
in  general,  though  less  severe  than  those  of  servants  elsewhere 
in  Greece. 

Kings.  The  republic  of  Sparta  had  two  magistrates,  called 
kings,  but  they  differed  from  those  of  most  other  nations. 
They  formed  a  check  upon  each  other,  and  their  power 
otherwise  was  very  limited. 

§  Every  month  they  took  an  oath  that  they  would  rule  according  to 
the  laws ;  one  of  them  commanded  the  army,  while  the  other  usually 
remained  at  home  to  administer  the  laws.  As  first  citizens  of  the 
state,  they  presided  in  the  senate,  but  their  peculiar  prerogative  was 
to  superintend  the  religion  of  the  state. 


18t)  GENERAL  VIEWS. 

Senate.  This  body  consisted,  together  with  the  two 
of  twenty-eight  members,  who  were  above  sixty  years  of  age. 
and  elected  to  the  office  for  life,  and  on  account  of  their  virtue. 
Their  duty  was  to  consider  all  questions  respecting  peace  cr 
war,  and  other  important  affairs  of  the  republic. 

Ephori.  The  Ephori  were  five  magistrates,  elected  annu- 
ally by  the  citizens,  to  inspect  the  education  of  the  youth,  and 
the  administration  of  justice. 

Assemblies.  The  public  assemblies  were  held  to  decide  on 
matters  laid  before  them  by  the  Senate.  There  were  two  of 
these  bodies ;  one  was  called  the  general  assembly,  attended 
by  all  the  freemen  of  Laconia ;  the  other,  the  lesser  assembly, 
composed  of  the  Spartans  alone,  who  exceeded  thirty  years  of 
age. 

It  is  to  be  noticed,  that  the  kings,  as  well  as  the  other  magistrates, 
constituted  a  portion  of  these  bodies. 

Government  of  the  other  States  of  Greece. 

Like  Athens  and  Sparta,  the  government  of  the  other 

sovereignties  of  Greece  was,  for  the  most  part,  republican. 

Jn  some  of  them  there  was  a  preponderance  of  aristocracy,  in 

others  of  democracy.     Thebes  was  more  nearly  a  monarchy. 

§  Many  of  the  sovereigns  of  Thebes  were  celebrated  for  their  mis- 
fortunes, such  as  Laius,  (Edipus,  Polynices,  &c» 

Pertaining  to  the  government  of  the  Greeks,  as  a  confede- 
rated body,  was  the  Amphictyonic  Council.  This  was  an  as- 
sembly composed,  at  first,  of  a  few  states  in  the  northern  parts 
of  Greece,  but  afterwards  of  twelve  states,  the  object  of  which 
was  the  decision  of  all  differences  between  cities,  and  to  try 
such  offences  as  openly  violated  the  laws  of  nations. 

§  The  number  of  deputies  usually  sent  to  this  council  was  two  from 
each  state.  It  met  twice  a  year.  The  vernal  assembly  was  held  at 
Delphi,  and  the  autumnal  at  Thermopyla?. 

45.  Military  Affairs.  The  armies  of  the  different  states 
of  Greece  consisted,  for  the  most  part,  of  citizens,  whom  the 
laws  of  their  country  obliged  at  a  certain  age  to  appear  in 
arms,  at  the  summons  of  the  magistrate. 

§  The  main  body  of  the  Grecian  armies  was  composed  of  infantry. 
The  rest  rode  in  chariots,  upon  horseback,  or  upon  elephants. 

The  Greek  arms  were  at  first  made  of  brass,  and  the  boots, 
and  some  other  parts,  of  tin.  Iron  became  afterwards  the 
chief  material.  The  defensive  arms  were  a  helmet,  a  breast 


GREECE.  181 

plate,  and  a  plate  for  the  back,  greaves  to  defend  the  legs, 
guards  for  the  hands,  a  sort  of  belt  which  covered  a  part  of 
the  body  in  front,  and  a  shield. 

The  offensive  arms  were  the  spear,  or  pike,  the  sword,  the 
pole  axe,  a  club  of  wood  or  iron,  the  bow  and  arrow,  darts  or 

javelins,  and  slings. 

§  The  Greeks,  however  brave  in  the  field,  were  very  inefficient  in 
undertaking  the  siege  of  walled  towns.  Their  armies  were  generally 
the  militia  of  the  country,  called  out  to  temporary  service. 

The  severest  punishments  were  inflicted  by  the  Lacedemonians 
on  deserters,  or  cowards,  who  fled  from  battle.  They  forfeited  all  the 
privileges  and  honours  of  citizens ;  it  was  a  disgrace  to  intermarry 
with  them ;  they  might  be  beaten  by  any  who  met  them,  without 
the  liberty  of  self-defence  5  and  they  wore  some  distinguishing  dress 
as  a  mark  of  infamy. 

Archilochus,  the  poet,  was  banished  Sparta  for  writing  an  epigram, 
in  which  he  jestingly  related  the  loss  of  his  shield. 

46.  Naval  Affairs.    The  Greek  ships  consisted  chiefly  of 
three  sorts  :   ships  of  war,  those  of  burthen,  and  those  of  pas- 
sage. 

6  Ships  of  passage  were  used  as  transports ;  ships  of  burthen  served 
as  tenders,  and  were  usually  of  a  round  form ;  ships  of  war  contained 
the  men  and  the  weapons  by  which  the  naval  engagement  was  car- 
ried on,  and  were  distinguished  by  the  several  orders  or  banks  of 
oars  which  they  possessed.  These  were  not  fixed  in  a  vertical  line 
over  each  other,  but  back  of  each  other,  ascending  gradually  in  the 
form  of  stairs. 

47.  Religion.     The  Greeks,  who  were  heathens,  wor- 
shipped great  numbers  of  gods  and  demi-gods,  whom  they 
divided  into  three  classes : — celestial,  marine,  and  infernal. 
They  were  all  subject  to  Jupiter,  who  was  considered  the 
father  of  gods  and  men.     The  above  classes  are  according  to 
their  degrees  of  dignity. 

§  The  gods  of  Greece  are  described  by  the  poets  according  to  tradi- 
tion, and  with  such  embellishments  as  poetic  genius  could  invent. 
As  the  Greeks  had  no  sacred  books,  these  fictions,  sanctioned  also  by 
the  priests  and  legislators,  were  the  only  authority  for  the  popular 
belief. 

The  account  we  here  give  of  the  mythology  of  the  Greeks  is  to  be 
regarded  as  a  description  only  of  their  principal  deities,  and  under  the 
forms  in  which  the  poets,  sculptors,  and  painters,  represented  them. 
If  this  article  should  appear  to  be  somewhat  particular,  compared 
with  the  others  respecting  Greece,  it  is  because  the  mythology  of  this 
country  is  the  same  nearly  with  that  of  the  whole  ancient  world,  and 
is  necessary  to  be  known  in  reading  the  Grecian  and  Roman  classics. 

The  celestial  deities  were  Jupiter,  Apollo,  Mars,  Mercury 

Q 


182  GENERAL  VIEWS. 

Bacchus,  Vulcan,  Juno,  Minerva,  Venus,  Diana,  Ceres,  afc«I 
Vesta. 

Jupiter  was  the  son  of  Saturn  and  Cybele ;  and  born  at  the  same 
birth  with  Juno,  on  mount  Ida  in  Crete.  He  deposed  his  father,  and 
divided  the  world  between  himself  and  his  brethren,  Neptune  and 
Pluto.  Neptune  had  the  jurisdiction  of  the  sea,  and  Pluto  that  of  the 
infernal  regions.  The  sovereignty  of  heaven  and  earth  he  reserved  to 
himself. 

One  of  his  great  exploits  was  the  conquest  of  the  Titans,  or  giants, 
who  heaped  mountains  upon  mountains  to  scale  heaven.  Jupiter 
was  guilty  of  indulging  the  basest  lusts,  although  he  is  generally  re- 
presented as  the  father  of  men  and  gods,  as  shaking  heaven  with  his 
nod,  and  governing  all  things,  except  the  Fates,  by  his  power  as  su- 
preme. His  altars  were  never  defiled  with  human  sacrifices. 

He  is  generally  represented  as  a  majestic  personage,  seated  on  a 
throne,  with  a  sceptre  in  one  hand,  and  thunderbolts  in  the  other, 
and  at  his  feet  an  eagle  with  expanded  wings. 

Apollo  was  the  son  of  Jupiter  and  Latona,  and  born  in  the  island 
of  Delos.  He  presided  over  music,  medicine,  poetry,  divination,  the 
fine  arts,  and  archery.  For  his  offence  in  killing  the  Cyclops,  he  was 
banished  from  heaven,  and  obliged  to  hire  himself  as  a  shepherd  to 
Admetus,  king  of  Thessaly,  in  which  employment  he  remained  nine 
years. 

His  adventures  on  earth  are  represented  as  extraordinary.  Among 
others  he  flayed  Marsyas  alive  for  contending  with  him  in  music  ;  he 
caused  Midas  to  receive  a  pair  of  ass's  ears  for  preferring  Pan's  mu- 
sic to  his ;  he  turned  into  a  voilet  the  beautiful  boy  Hyacinthus,  whom 
he  accidentally  killed  with  a  quoit ;  and  his  mistress  Daphne  he  me- 
tamorphosed into  a  laurel. 

He  is  represented  as  a  tall,  beardless  youth,  with  rays  round  his 
head ;  sometimes  he  holds  a  lyre  in  his  hand,  sometimes  he  has  a 
bow,  with  a  quiver  of  arrows  at  his  back. 

Mars  was  the  son  of  Jupiter  and  Juno.  He  was  the  god  of  war, 
and  patron  of  all  that  is  bloody,  cruel,  and  furious.  The  horse,  the 
wolf,  the  magpie,  and  the  vulture,  were  offered  to  him.  He  had  his 
temples  in  aU  nations,  as  well  as  among  the  Greeks  and  Romans. 
During  the  Trojan  war  Mars  was  wounded  by  Diomedes,  and  hastily 
retreating  to  heaven,  complained  to  Jupiter,  that  Minerva  had  direct- 
ed the  weapon  of  his  antagonist. 

He  is  represented  as  an  old  man,  armed  and  standing  in  a  chariot, 
drawn  by  two  horses,  called  Flight  and  Terror ;  his  sister  Bellona, 
was  his  charioteer.  Discord  goes  before  him  in  a  tattered  garment 
with  a  torch,  and  Anger  and  Clamour  follow. 

Mercury,  the  son  of  Jupiter  and  Maia,  was  the  messenger  of  the 
gods,  the  patron  of  travellers,  shepherds,  orators,  merchants,  thieves, 
and  dishonest  persons.  His  exploits  abundantly  support  this  charac- 
ter. Mercury  was  doubtless  some  enlightened  person  in  a  remote 
age,  who,  on  account  of  his  actions  or  services  was  worshipped  after 
his  death.  His  Greek  name,  Hermes,  signifies  to  interpret  or  explain, 
and  he  appears  to  have  taught  men  the  arts  of  civilization, 


GREECE.  183 

flc  is  represented  as  a  naked  youth,  standing  on  tiptoe,  having  a 
winged  cap  on  his  head,  and  winged  sandals  on  his  feet ;  in  one  hand 
he  held  a  rod,  and  in  the  other  a  purse. 

Bacchus  was  the  son  of  Jupiter  and  Semele,  and  the  god  of  wine. 
His  festivals  were  celebrated  by  persons  of  both  sexes,  who  dressed 
themselves  in  skins,  and  ran  about  the  hills  and  country  shouting, 
and  accompanying  their  shouts  with  drums,  fifes,  and  flutes.  These 
solemnities  were*  attended  with  disgusting  scenes  of  drunkenness  and 
debauchery.  The  fir,  yew,  and  fig  tree,  the  ivy  and  vine,  were  sacred 
to  him. 

Bacchus  is  depicted  as  a  corpulent  and  ruddy  youth,  crowned  with 
ivy  and  vine  leaves;  holding  in  his  hand  a  small  javelin  bound  with 
vine  leaves  ;  his  chariot  is  drawn  by  lions. 

Vulcan,  the  god  of  fire,  and  patron  of  those  who  wrought  in  the 
metallic  arts,  was  the  son  of  Jupiter  and  Juno.  He  was  kicked  out 
of  heaven  by  Jupiter,  for  attempting  to  deliver  his  mother  from  a 
chain  by  which  she  was  suspended.  He  continued  to  descend  nine 
days  and  nights,  and  lighted  on  the  island  of  Lemnos,  but  was  crip- 
pled ever  after. 

Vulcan  was  the  artificer  of  heaven  ;  he  forged  the  thunderbolts  of 
Jupiter,  also  the  arms  of  gods  and  demi-gods.  Though  deformed, 
squalid,  and  sooty,  he  is  made  the  husband  of  Venus  and  father  of 
Cupid. 

Vulcan  is  represented  as  working  at  a  forge.  One  hand  raising  a 
hammer  ready  to  strike,  the  other  holding  a  thunderbolt  with  pin- 
cers on  an  anvil.  An  eagle  waits  to  carry  it  to  Jupiter  when 
finished. 

Juno,  styled  the  queen  of  heaven,  was  both  the  sister  and  wife  of 
Jupiter.  She  was  born  at  Argos,  or  as  some  report,  in  Samos.  In 
her  character  she  was  haughty,  jealous,  and  inexorable,  though  the 
ancients  held  her  in  great  veneration,  inasmuch  as  she  presided  over 
power,  empire,  and  riches,  and  was  the  special  protectress  of  mar- 
nage  and  child  birth. 

She  was  lofty,  graceful,  and  magnificent  in  her  face,  figure,  and 
motion,  and  of  all  the  pagan  divinities  her  worship  was  the  most  so- 
lemn and  general. 

She  is  represented  seated  on  a  throne,  or  in  a  chariot  drawn  by 
peacocks,  with  a  diadem  or  fillet  adorned  with  jewels  on  her  head, 
and  a  golden  sceptre  in  her  hand.  Iris,  displaying  the  rich  colours  of 
the  rainbow,  is  her  usual  attendant. 

Minerva,  the  goddess  of  wisdom,  sprang  completely  armed  from 
the  head  of  Jupiter.  She  was  the  most  accomplished  of  all  the  god- 
desses, and  the  only  divinity  that  seemed  equal  to  Jupiter.  She  was 
a  benificent  goddess,  and  instructed  in  ship  building,  navigation,  spin- 
ning, and  weaving.  Her  worship  was  universally  established,  but 
Athens  claimed  her  particular  attention. 

She  is  represented  as  a  majestic  female,  of  commanding  aspect, 
armed  with  a  helmet,  breastplate,  shield,  and  spear.  By  her  side,  or 
on  her  crest,  is  an  owl,  the  bird  which  is  sacred  to  her. 

Venus,  the  goddess  of  love  and  beauty,  was  the  daughter  of  Jupi- 


184  GENERAL  VIEWS. 

ter  and  Dione,  or  as  some  say,  she  sprung  from  the  froth  of  the  sea. 
She  was  licentious  in  a  high  degree,  and  her  worship  was  celebrated 
with  the  most  disgraceful  ceremonies.  The  most  beautiful  of  her 
temples  were  those  of  Paphos,  Cnidus,  Cythera,  and  Idalia.  The 
island  of  Cyprus  was  her  favourite  residence. 

She  is  represented  as  a  beautiful  woman,  elegantly  attired,  and  girt 
about  the  waist  with  a  cestus,  or  girdle,  that  had  the  power  of  inspi- 
ring love. 

Diana  was  the  queen  of  the  woods  and  the  goddess  of  hunting. 
She  devoted  herself  to  perpetual  celibacy,  and  had  for  her  attendants 
80  nymphs,  all  of  whom  abjured  the  rites  of  marriage.  Among 
plants,  the  poppy  and  dittany  were  sacred  to  her. 

She  is  represented  as  a  tall,  majestic  woman,  lightly  clad,  with  a 
crescent  on  her  forehead,  a  bow  in  her  hand,  a  quiver  on  her  shoul- 
ders, her  legs  bare,  and  buskins  on  her  feet. 

Ceres,  the  goddess  of  corn  and  harvest,  was  the  daughter  of  Sa- 
turn and  Cybele,  and  the  first  who  taught  to  cultivate  the  earth.  She 
was  a  beneficent  goddess,  but  led  a  licentious  life.  To  her  honour  the 
Eleusinian  mysteries  were  celebrated. 

She  is  represented  as  a  majestic  and  beautiful  woman,  crowned 
with  ears  of  corn ;  in  one  hand  she  held  poppies  and  ears  of  corn, 
and  in  the  other  a  lighted  torch. 

Vesta  was  the  goddess  of  fire,  and  guardian  of  houses  and  hearths. 
She  ever  remained  a  virgin,  and  received  the  first  oblations  in  sacri- 
fice. 

She  was  represented  in  a  long,  flowing  robe,  a  veil  on  her  head,  a 
lamp  in  one  hand,  and  a  javelin  in  the  other. 

The  marine  deities  were  Neptune,  and  his  wife  Amphi- 
trite,  Oceanus  and  his  wife  Thetys,  Triton,  Proteus,  Nereus, 
and  his  sister  and  consort  Doris,  &c. 

Neptune,  the  brother  of  Jupiter,  was  second  in  rank  among  the 
gods,  and  reigned  over  the  sea.  Conspiring  against  Jupiter,  he  was 
defeated,  banished  from  heaven,  and  for  one  year  made  subject  to 
Laomedon,  king  of  Troy,  where  he  assisted  to  build  the  walls  of  that 
city. 

Neptune  is  represented  seated  in  a  chariot  made  of  a  shell  and 
drawn  by  dolphins  and  sea  horses,  surrounded  by  tritons,  nymphs, 
and  sea  monsters.  On  his  head  he  wears  a  crown,  -and  in  his  hand 
holds  a  trident,  or  sceptre,  with  three  prongs. 

Oceanus,  a  sea  god,  was  the  son  of  Ccelum  and  Vesta.  He  was 
called  the  father,  not  only  of  rivers,  but  of  animals.  He  and  his  wife 
Thetys  are  said  to  have  had  3000  sons. 

Triton,  also  a  sea  god,  was  the  son  of  Neptune  and  Amphitrite ; 
he  was  his  father's  companion  and  trumpeter. 

Half  of  him  resembles  a  man ;  the  other  part  is  like  a  fish ;  his  two 
feet  are  like  the  fore  feet  of  a  horse ;  his  tail  is  cleft  and  crooked  like 
a  half  moon ;  and  his  hair  resembles  wild  parsley. 

Nereus,  a  sea  god,  the  son  of  Oceanus,  was  the  father  of  fifty  daugh- 
ters by  his  wife  Doris,  who  were  called  Nereids. 


GREECE.  185 

Proteirs,  fhe  son  of  Oceanus,  a  god  of  the  sea,  could  foretell  future 
events,  and  change  himself  into  any  shape. 

The  infernal  deities  were  Pluto  and  his  consort  Proserpine, 
Plutus,  Charon,  the  Furies,  Fates,  and  the  three  judges,  Mi- 
nos, jEacus,  and  Rhadamanthus. 

§  Pluto,  who  exercised  dominion  over  hell,  was  the  brother  of  Ju- 
piter. The  goddesses  all  refusing  to  marry  him  on  account  of  his  de- 
formity and  gloomy  disposition,  he  seized  Proserpine,  the  daughter 
of  Ceres,  in  Sicily,  opened  a  passage  through  the  earth,  carried  her  to 
his  residence,  married,  and  made  her  queen  of  hell.  No  tejnples  were 
raised  to  his  honour. 

He  is  represented  seated  on  a  throne  of  sulphur,  from  beneath 
which  flow  the  rivers  Lethe,  Phlegethon,  Cocytus,  and  Acheron.  His 
countenance  is  stern ;  on  his  head  is  a  radiated  crown ;  in  one  hand  a 
sceptre  with  two  teeth,  called  a  bident,  and  in  the  other,  two  keys. 

Plutus,  an  infernal  deity,  was  the  god  of  riches.  He  was  lame,  blind, 
injudicious,  and  timorous. 

Charon  was  the  -ferryman  of  hell,  an  old  man  with  white  hair,  a 
long  beard  and  garments,  deformed  with  filth,  in  speech  morose,  and 
ill-tempered.  Every  ghost  paid  a  small  brass  coin  for  his  fare. 

None  could  enter  Charon's  boat  without  a  regular  burial ;  without 
this,  they  wandered  a  hundred  years,  amidst  the  mud  and  slime  of 
the  shore.  By  him  departed  souls  were  ferried  over  the  four  rivers  ol 
hell,  and  carried  to  Pluto's  palace. 

The  Furies  were  three  in  number,  Alecto,  Tisiphone,  and  Megara. 
They  have  the  faces  of  women,  their  looks  are  full  of  terror,  they 
hold  lighted  torches  in  their  hands,  and  snakes  lash  their  necks  and 
shoulders.  Their  office  is  to  observe  and  punish  the  crimes  of  bad 
men,  and  torment  the  consciences  of  secret  offenders. 

The  Fates  were  three  daughters  of  Jupiter  by  Themis.  Their 
names  were  Clotho,  Lachesis,  and  Atropos.  They  decided  on  the 
fortunes  of  mankind.  Clotho  drew  the  thread  of  life,  Lachesis  turned 
the  wheel,  and  Atropos  cut  it  with  her  scissors. 

Minos,  j^acus,  and  Rhadamanthus,  were  the  three  judges  of  the 
souls  of  the  dead.  They  assigned  various  punishments  to  the  wick- 
ed, adapted  to  their  crimes;  to  the  good  they  gave  a  place  in  the  de- 
lightful realms  of  Elysium. 

There  were  many  other  divinities  of  various  characters  and 
descriptions  :  as,  Cupid,  the  god  of  love ;  the  Muses,  who  pre- 
sided over  poetry,  music,  dancing,  and  the  liberal  arts ;  the 
Graces,  &c. 

§  Cupid,  representing  the  passion  of  love,  was  a  beautiful  winged 
boy,  with  a  bow  and  arrows,  and  often  with  a  bandage  over  his  eyes. 
Sometimes  he  is  bestriding  the  back  of  a  lion,  playing  on  a  lyre  ; 
sometimes  he  appears  mounted  on  a  dolphin ;  at  others,  breaking  the 
winged  thunderbolt  of  Jove,  or  amusing  himself  with  childish  diver- 
sions. 

The  Muses  were  the  daughters  of  Jupiter  by  Mnemosyne.  They 
were  nine  in  number  viz. 

Q2 


186  GENERAL   VIEWS. 

1st.  Calliope,  who  presides  over  eloquence  and  heroic  or  epic  poe- 
try, such  as  Homer's  Iliad. 

2d.  Clio,  who  presides  over  history. 

3d.  Erato,  the  muse  ot  elegiac  or  lyric  poetry. 

4th.  Euterpe,  presiding  over  music. 

5th.  Melpomene,  the  inventress  and  muse  of  tragedy. 

6th.  Polyhymnia,  the  muse  of  singing  and  rhetoric. 

7th.  Terpsichore,  who  presides  over  dancing. 

8th.  Thalia,  the  muse  of  pastoral  or  comic  poetry. 

9th.  Urania,  who  presides  over  hymns  and  sacred  subjects,  and  is 
the  muse  of  astronomy. 

The  Graces  were  the  daughters  of  Bacchus  and  Venus,  and  three 
in  number.  They  were  supposed  to  give  to  beauty  its  attractions,  and 
to  render  even  homeliness  pleasing. 

They  are  usually  represented  as  young  and  blooming  virgins, 
tightly  clad,  and  holding  each  other  by  the  hand,  to  show  the  mutual 
affection  that  subsisted  between  them. 

Besides  these,  there  were  rural  deities,  as  Pan,  Sylvanus, 
Priapus,  Aristseus,  Terminus,  and  others.  There  were  also 
the  Sirens,  Gorgons,  Harpies,  Dryads,  Naiads,  Nereids,  Tri- 
tons, Lares,  Penates,  Fauns,  Satyrs,  Pales,  and  a  vast  number 
of  Nymphs. 

§  Pan  was  the  principal  among  the  inferior  deities,  and  was  the  god 
of  hunters,  shepherds,  and  country  people  generally. 

Sylvanus  was  next  to  Pan,  and  presided  over  woods.  Priapus  pre- 
sided over  gardens.  Aristreus  invented  the  art  of  extracting  oil  from 
olives,  and  found  the  use  of  honey.  Terminus  was  considered  as 
watching  over  the  boundaries  of  lands. 

The  Sirens  were  three  fabulous  persons,  who  were  said  to  have  the 
faces  of  women,  and  the  lower  parts  of  their  bodies  like  fish.  They 
had  such  melodious  voices,  that  mariners  were  often  allured  by  them 
to  their  own  destruction. 

The  Gorgons,  three  sisters,  had  the  power  of  transforming  those 
into  stones  who  looked  at  them. 

The  Harpies  are  said  to  have  been  winged  monsters  which  had  the 
face  of  a  woman,  the  body  and  wings  of  a  vulture,  clawrs  on  the  hands 
and  feet,  and  the  ears  of  a  bear. 

The  Dryads  were  nymphs  who  presided  over  the  woods. 

The  Naiads  were  nymphs  of  springs  and  fountains. 

The  Nereids  were  nymphs  of  the  sea,  and  daughters  of  Nereus  and 
Doris. 

The  Tritons  were  sea  gods,  with  their  upper  parts  like  a  man,  and 
their  lower  parts  resembling  a  fish. 

The  Lares  and  Penates  were  inferior  deities  who  presided  over 
houses  and  families. 

The  Fauns  and  Satyrs  were  rural  demi-gods,  the  one  attending  on 
Pan,  and  the  other  on  Bacchus. 

Pales  was  the  goddess  of  shepherds  and  pastures. 

The  Nymphs  were  celestial  and  terrestrial ;  the  former  guided  the 


GREECE.  187 

heavenly  bodrcs,  the  latter  presided  over  the  woods.  They  are  repre- 
sented as  beautiful  creatures,  inhabiting  every  forest  and  glen. 

The  worship  of  these  divinities  was  conducted  by  priests 
dressed  in  costly  habits,  who  offered  sacrifices  of  animals, 
fruits,  perfumes,  &c.  These  sacrifices  were  sometimes  ac- 
companied by  prayers,  music,  dancing1,  &c.  Human  victims 
were  occasionally  sacrificed. 

§  The  Greeks  derived  their  religion  principally  from  Egypt ;  but 
by  degrees  the  legislators,  poets,  and  priests,  extended  it,  till  the 
multitude  of  gods  was  almost  innumerable.  Thirty  thousand  ob- 
jects of  worship  have  been  enumerated  among  them.  These  deities 
were  supposed  frequently  to  mingle  in  the  affairs  of  men,  and  are  re- 
presented as  being  stained  with  almost  every  vice. 

Temples  were  erected,  festivals  instituted,  games  celebrated,  and 
sacrifices  offered,  with  more  or  less  pomp  to  all  these  gods,  as  also  to 
the  souls  of  departed  heroes. 

The  religion  of  the  common  people  consisted  chiefly  in  the  exter- 
nal honours  paid  to  their  gods,  and  an  attendance  upon  sacrifices  and 
ceremonies,  though  these  were  performed  with  great  reverence. 
With  respect  to  a  future  state  of  existence,  the  philosophers  seem  to 
have  been  in  doubt.  The  poets  inculcated  a  belief  in  Tartarus,  or 
Hell,  and  Elysium,  or  Paradise.  Women  were  not  encouraged  with 
any  hope  of  immortality. 

Of  Hell  they  have  drawn  a  picture  in  the  most  gloomy 
and  horrific  colours,  where  men  who  have  been  remarkable 
for  wickedness  are  tortured  with  a  variety  of  miseries  adapted 
to  their  crimes. 

The  prospect  of  Elysium  is  described  by  Homer,  Hesiod. 
Pindar,  and  others,  as  beautiful  and  inviting  in  the  highest 
degree.  In  that  delightful  region,  there  is  no  inclement 
weather,  but  soft  winds  blow  from  the  ocean  to  refresh  the 
inhabitants,  who  live  without  care  or  anxiety ;  there  reigns 
perpetual  sunshine  and  serenity  of  sky ;  and  the  f  rtile  earth 
produces  thrice  in  a  year  delicious  fruits  for  their  sustenance. 

With  the  religion  of  the  Greeks  were  connected  their  tem- 
ples, oracles,  games,  &c. 

The  principal  temples  of  the  Greeks  were  those  of  Diana, 
at  Ephesus,  of  Apollo,  in  the  city  of  Miletus,  of  Ceres  and  Pro- 
serpine, at  Eleusis,  and  that  of  Olympian  Jove,  at  Athens. 
These  were  all  built  of  marble,  and  adorned  with  the  finest 
ornaments.  The  most  celebrated  Grecian  temple,  however, 
was  that  of  Apollo  at  Delphos,  which  was  revered  and  resort- 
ed to  by  all  the  surrounding  nations. 

§  Statues  of  the  gods,  to  whom  these  structures  were  dedicated, 
were  erected  in  or  near  the  centre  of  the  building,  and  enclosed  by 


188  GENERAL    VIEWS. 

railing.    Sacrifices  of  various  kinds  were  made  before  these  statues 
the  ceremonies  of  which  were  generally  conducted  by  the  priests. 

Temples  among  the  heathen  most  probably  owe  their  origin  to 
the  superstitious  reverence  paid  by  the  ancients  to  the  memory  of 
their  deceased  friends  and  benefactors.  As  most  of  their  gods  were 
eminent  men,  who  were  consecrated  after  death ;  so  the  first  heathen 
temples,  we  naturally  infer,  were  stately  monuments  erected  in  ho- 
nour of  the  dead. 

Oracles  were  consulted  by  the  Greeks  on  all  important  oc- 
casions, and  their  determinations  were  held  sacred  and  invio- 
lable. There  were  certain  temples,  in  which  future  events 
were  made  known  to  those  who  devoutly  sought  to  know  the 
will  of  superior  powers.  Certain  priests  or  priestesses  commu 
nicated  this  supposed  will. 

§  Well  have  they  been  called  lying  oracles,  in  comparison  with 
the  clear  predictions  of  the  prophets  of  Jehovah   in  the  scriptures 
The  most  celebrated  oracles  were  those  of  Apollo,  at  Delphi  and  De 
los,  the  oracle  of  Jupiter,  at  Dodona,  and  that  of  Trophonius. 

The  public  and  solemn  games  in  Greece  were  the  Olym- 
pic, Pythian,  Nemean,  and  Isthmian — four  in  number.  The 
contests  at  these  games  were  running,  leaping,  throwing  the 
quoit,  boxing,  and  wrestling.  Horse  races  and  chariot  races 
were  also  in  repute.  Besides  these,  there  were  contests  in 
which  musicians,  poets,  artists,  and  philosophers,  engaged  for 
victory. 

These  occasions  drew  together  people  from  all  parts  of 
Greece,  and  even  strangers  from  foreign  countries.  The  ut- 
most emulation  obtained  to  secure  the  prizes,  which  were 
wreaths  of  various  evergreens  ;  and  the  highest  honours  and 
respect  were  shown  towards  the  victors.  Their  praises  were 
universally  celebrated.  The  effect  of  these  games  on  the 
national  spirit  was  remarkable. 

§  The  Olympic  Games  were  instituted  by  Hercules  in  honour  of 
Jupiter  Olympius,  1222  years  B.  C.,and  renewed  after  a  long  period, 
first  by  Lycurgus,  884  B.  C.,  and  next  by  Coroebus,  776  B.  C.  The 
last  period  is  the  era  of  the  first  Olympiad.  An  Olympiad  was  the 
space  (which  was  four  years,)  intervening  between  one  celebration 
and  another— the  Greek  method  of  computing  time.  The  victors 
were  crowned  with  olive. 

The  Pythian  Games  were  celebrated  every  fifth  year,  in  the  second 
year  of  every  Olympiad,  near  Delphi,  in  honour  of  Apollo.  The  vic- 
tors were  crowned  with  laurel.  The  exercises  were  nearly  the  same 
as  at  the  Olympic. 

The  Nemean  Games,  which  were  instituted  by  Hercules,  were  ce- 
lebrated every  third  year  at  the  town  of  Nemea,  with  the  usual  ex 
ercises.  The  victors  were  crowned  with  parsley. 


f 


GREECE.  189 

The  Isthmian  Games  were  celebrated  near  the  Isthmus  of  Corinth, 
whence  they  derived  their  name.  Their  occurrence  was  every  third, 
and  afterwards  every  fifth  year.  The  victors  were  crowned  with  gar- 
lands of  pine  leaves. 

48.  Literature.  In  literature,  Greece  was  the  glory  of 
the  whole  earth.  No  nation,  ancient  or  modern,  has  ever 
surpassed  the  Greeks  in  literary  taste  and  genius.  Since 
their  time,  great  advances  have  indeed  been  made  in  the  sci- 
ences, strictly  so  called,  and  in  some  branches  of  polite  learn- 
ing ;  yet  in  chaste  and  beautiful  composition,  in  liveliness  of 
fancy,  in  sweetness  of  periods,  in  the  various  forms  of  intel- 
lectual effort  under  the  names  of  poetry,  oratory,  and  history, 
they  are  still  unrivalled,  in  mere  human  productions. 

§  The  Greeks  derived  a  part  of  their  learning  from  Egypt  and 
Phoenicia,  but  they  originated  much  of  it,  and  here  consists  their  pe- 
culiar glory.  The  praise  of  invention  belongs  to  them,  and  even  of 
perfection  in  some  departments. 

Cadmus  taught  them  the  alphabet  1519  years  B.  C.  It  then  con- 
tained but  16  letters,  and  the  method  of  writing  was  from  left  to 
right,  and  from  right  to  left  alternately.  This  circumstance  essenti- 
ally contributed  to  the  rapid  advances  made  by  the  Greeks  in  civili- 
zation and  knowledge. 

Poetry,  in  Greece,  was  extremely  ancient.  It  was  cultivated 
even  before  the  introduction  of  letters.  In  the  various  forms 
under  which  it  is  usually  arranged,  there  are  specimens  of 
surpassing  excellence,  and  names  that  can  never  be  forgotten, 

§  In  epic  poetry,  we  find  the  sublime  Homer,  and  the  moral  Hesi- 
od.  In  lyric  poetry,  shine  the  gay  Anacreon,  the  sweet  Sappho,  and 
the  fanciful  and  daring  Pindar. 

In  the  drama  we  meet  the  names  of  the  wild  ^Eschylus,  the  pa- 
thetic Euripides,  the  pure  and  grand  Sophocles,  and  the  delicate  Me- 
nander.  In  pastoral  poetry,  we  read  of  the  easy  Bion  and  the  ele- 
gant Moschus ;  and  every  classical  scholar  knows,  that  Theocritus  is 
only  another  name  for  simplicity  and  nature. 

Oratory  was  greatly  cultivated  among  the  Greeks,  parti- 
cularly in  Athens,  whose  institutions  were  rather  more  free 
than  was  elsewhere  the  case  in  Greece.  It  became  an  object 
of  attention  soon  after  the  Persian  invasion,  about  480  years 
B.  C.  It  was  cultivated  with  singular  success— -was  bold  and 
vehement  at  first,  but  afterwards  more  refined  and  elegant. 

/  "  w 

§  Here  Pericles  awed,  by  the  majesty  of  his  expressions ;  Tlracy- 
dides,  who  was  an  orator,  as  well  as  a  historian,  arrested  the  thoughts- 
of  others,  by  the  force  of  his  own.  Here  Isocrates  soothed  the  ear  by 
harmony  of  periods,  and  Demosthenes  flashed  conviction  and  im- 
pelled te  iction,  by  the  united  energy  of  his  gesture,  voice,  and  ar- 
guments 


J90  GENERAL  VIEWS. 

History,  after  those  earlier  ages  in  which  poetry  was  the 
vehicle  of  recorded  events,  was  cultivated  with  an  interest  and 
success  demanded  by  its  importance.  The  Greeks  possessed 
several  most  distinguished  historians. 

§  Such  were  Herodotus,  who  was  characterized  by  a  simple  and 
elegant  style  and  engaging  manner  ;  Thucydides,  whose  reflections 
were  profound,  and  fidelity  unequalled ;  Xenophon,  who  combined 
simplicity  of  style  with  sagacity  of  observation. 

Philosophy  among  the  Greeks,  was  divided  into  various 
schools  or  sects.  The  professors  of  philosophy  arose  from  the 
early  Rhapsodists — men  who  recited  the  poems  of  Homer  and 
others  at  the  public  games,  commenting  at  the  same  time 
upon  them,  and  who,  having  established  schools,  were  digni- 
fied by  the  name  of  sophists,  or  teachers  of  wisdom.  The 
Grecian  philosophy,  was,  however,  merely  speculative,  and 
seldom  based  upon  facts. 

§  The  principal  sects  of  philosophy  in  Greece  were  the  Ionic,  the 
most  ancient,  founded  by  Thales ;  the  Italian,  by  Pythagoras ;  the 
Socratic,  by  Socrates ;  the  Cynic,  by  Antisthenes ;  the  Academic,  by 
Plato ;  the  Peripatetic,  by  Aristotle ;  the  Sceptical,  by  Pyrrho  j  the 
Stoic,  by  Zeno;  the  Epicurean,  by  Epicurus. 

These  sects  were  distinguished  by  certain  peculiarities  of  doctrine, 
as  for  instance,  the  Italian  taught  the  transmigration  of  souls ;  the 
Socratic  insisted  on  the  excellence  of  virtue ;  the  Cynic  condemned 
all  knowledge,  society,  and  the  arts  of  life ;  the  Academic  dealt  in 
ideal  forms,  and  mystical  theogony ;  the  Peripatetic  exhibited  the 
model  of  a  perfect  logic;  the  Sceptical  inculcated  universal  doubt;  the 
Stoic  decried  all  weakness,  and  made  insensibility  a  virtue ;  and  the 
Epicurean  pointed  to  pleasure  as  the  supreme  good. 

The  Peripatetic  sect,  or  the  school  of  Aristotle,  has  exerted  the 
greatest  influence  over  the  human  mind.  It  reigned  in  the  schools 
through  1600  years. 

The  principle  of  all  things  was  a  subject  of  special  research  by  the 
philosophers  of  Greece.  It  may  be  curious  to  know  their  opinions 
on  this  topic. 

Anaximenes,  taught  that  this  principle  consisted  of    -  Water. 

Thales,  -  -  Water. 

Anaxagoras,    -  -  Infinite  air. 

Archelaus,  -  -  -  Matter  and  Spirit. 

Heraclitus,      -  -  Fire. 

Democritus,  -  Atoms. 

Pythagoras,    - Unity. 

Plato,  -  -    God,  Idea,  and  matter. 

Aristotle,  -  Matter,  Form,  and  Privation. 

Zeno,  -        -     God  and  Matter,  (the  only  things  without  beginning.) 
Epicurus,  -  Matter  and  empty  Space. 

The  seven  wise  men  of  Greece,  who  are  found  in  the  ranks  of  phi 


GREECE.  19J 

fosophy,  were  Thales,of  Miletus ;  Solon,  of  Athens ;  Bias,  of  Priene ; 
Chiio,  of  Lacedaemon ;  Cleobulus,  of  Lindos ;  Pittacus,  of  Mitylene  j 
and  Periander,  of  Corinth. 

49.  The  arts.     Greece,  in  the  age  of  Pericles,  about  430 
B.  C.,  abounded  in  architects,  sculptors,  and  painters.    It  was 
then  in  the  zenith  of  its  glory  in  literature,  as  well  as  the  arts. 
Indeed  this  was  the  taste  of  the  public  mind,  until  after  the 
death  of  Alexander.     Even  to  this  day,  Greece,  particularly 
Athens,  is  the  instructress  of  the  world  in  those  monuments 
of  its  arts  and  genius  that  yet  remain. 

In  the  useful  and  necessary  arts  of  life,  the  Greeks  nevei 
made  any  great  improvement.  Agriculture,  manufactures, 
and  commerce,  were  left  for  other  nations  to  perfect.  But  in 
the  fine  arts,  appropriately  so  called,  Greece  was  superior  to  all 
ancient  nations,  and  probably  not  excelled  by  any  modem. 
Indeed,  we  may  say  that  the  Greeks  carried  architecture, 
sculpture,  and  painting,  to  perfection. 

§  This  people  invented  that  system  of  architecture,  which  is  univer- 
sally considered  the  most  finished  and  perfect. 

The  Greek  architecture  consisted  of  three  distinct  orders,  the  Doric, 
the  Ionic,  and  the  Corinthian.  The  Doric  possessed  a  masculine 
grandeur,  and  sublime  plainness.  The  Ionic  was  marked  with 
gracefulness  and  elegance.  The  Corinthian  affected  the  highest  mag- 
nificence and  ornament,  by  uniting  the  characteristics  of  all  the  orders. 

In  sculpture,  the  Greeks  excelled  no  less  than  in  architecture. 
Specimens  of  their  art  in  this  respect  are  perfect  models.  The  Dying 
Gladiator,  the  Venus,  and  the  Laocoon,  of  the  Greek  sculptors,  have 
an  imperishable  fame. 

In  painting,  though  very  few  specimens  have  descended  down  to 
us,  they  are  supposed  also  greatly  to  have  excelled.  The  works  of 
Zeuxis',  Apelles,  Parrhasius,  Protogens,  and  Timanthes,  which  have 
perished,  were  highly  extolled  by  the  writers  of  antiquity. 

In  music,  the  Greeks  appear  to  have  been  less  conspicuous  than 
several  modern  nations. 

50.  Private  and  domestic  Life.    The  dress  of  the  Greeks, 
as  well  as  of  other  ancient  nations,  differed  much  from  that  of 
most  modern  nations. 

The  men  wore  an  inner  garment  called  tunic,  over  which 
they  threw  a  mantle ;  their  shoes,  or  sandals,  were  fastened 
under  the  soles  of  their  feet  with  thongs  or  ropes. 

The  women,  particularly  in  Athens,  wore  a  wrhite  tunic, 
which  was  closely  bound  with  a  broad  sash,  and  descended  in 
waving  folds  down  to  the  heels  ;  also  a  shorter  robe,  confined 
round  the  waist  with  a  ribbon,  bordered  at  the  bottom  with 


GENERAL  VIEWS. 

stripes  of  various  colours ;  over  this  they  sometimes  put  on  a 
robe,  which  was  worn  gathered  up  like  a  scarf. 

In  the  earlier  ages  of  Greece,  its  inhabitants  used  no  cover- 
ing on  their  heads  ;  but  in  after  times  they  wore  hats,  that 
were  tied  under  the  chin.  Women,  however,  always  had 
their  heads  covered. 

§  The  Athenians  wore  in  their  hair  golden  grasshoppers,  as  em- 
blems of  the  antiquity  of  their  nation,  intimating  that  they  were  sprung 
from  the  earth. 

In  Sparta,  the  kings,  magistrates,  and  citizens,  were  but  little  distin- 
guished by  external  appearance.  The  military  costume  was  of  a  red 
colour. 

The  Greeks,  in  general,  set  a  high  value  on  scarlet  colour,  and  a 
etill  greater  on  purple. 

The  meals  of  the  Greeks  were  usually  four  in  number : 
Breakfast  was  taken  about  the  rising  of  the  sun ;  the  next 
meal  at  mid-day ;  then  came  the  afternoon  repast ;  and  lastly 
the  supper,  which  was  the  principal  meal,  as  it  was  taken  aftei 
the  business  of  the  day. 

9  At  Sparta  they  ate  together  at  public  tables,  and  the  chief  part  of 
their  food  consisted  of  black  broth. 

In  the  earliest  ages,  convivial  entertainments  were  generally  acts 
of  public  devotion,  but  afterwards  we  find  them  in  use  in  private  life 

There  were  also  political  feasts,  in  which  a  whole  city,  tribe,  01 
other  subdivision,  met  together. 

Water  and  wine  were  used  for  drinking.  Perfumed  wines  were 
introduced  at  the  tables  of  the  rich.  Every  thing  capable  of  sustain- 
ing life  was  used  as  food.  The  Greeks  generally  were  very  fond  offish. 

Hot  baths  were  very  numerous,  and  bathing  in  them,  and  anoint- 
ing the  body,  with  a  change  of  clean  clothes,  were  usual  in  preparing 
for  a  feast.  When  guests  were  invited,  men  and  women  were  never 
invited  together. 

Seats,  on  which  persons  sat  upright,  were  employed ;  but,  as  luxury 
prevailed,  couches  were  introduced,  on  which  the  guests  reclined 
while  feasting. 

The  marriages  among  the  Greeks  were  lawful  only  as  the 
consent  of  parents  or  other  relatives  could  be  obtained.  This 
institution  was  greatly  encouraged  in  all  parts  of  Greece.  Want 
of  esteem,  and  sometimes  the  infliction  of  punishment,  attended 
the  failure  of  entering  into  the  connubial  state. 

O 

§  Polygamy  was  allowed  only  after  times  of  great  calamity,  such  as 
war  or  pestilence.  Soci-ates  married  a  second  wife  on  this  account. 
Violations  of  the  marriage  contract,  though  the  punishment  was  se- 
vere, were  often  committed. 

The  Grecian  women  seldom  or  never  appeared  in  strange  company 
but  were  confined  to  the  remote  parts  of  the  house,  into  which  no  male 


PHOENICIANS.  193 

visitants  were  admitted.  When  they  went  abroad,  they  wore  veils 
to  conceal  their  faces.  It  was  disreputable,  however,  to  appear  much 
abroad. 

In  some  parts  of  Greece,  parents  might  expose  their  children,  in 
certain  cases.  Children  were  required  to  maintain  their  parents  in 
old  age ;  but  by  the  laws  of  Solon,  if  a  person  did  not  bring  up  hig 
children  to  some  useful  employment,  they  were  to  be  exempted  from 
such  an  obligation. 

The  funerals  of  the  Greeks  were  attended  with  many  ce 
remonies,  showing  that  they  considered  the  duties  belonging 
to  the  dead  to  be  of  the  highest  importance.    In  their  view,  it 
was  the  most  awful  of  all  imprecations,  to  wish  that  a  person 
might  die  without  the  honours  of  a  funeral. 

Phoenicians. 

51.  Country.  Phoenicia  was  little  more  than  a  narrow  slip 
of  ground  situated  between  mount  Libanus  and  the  sea.     It 
had  Syria  on  the  north  and  east,  Judea  on  the  south,  and  the 
Mediterranean  on  the  west. 

52.  Cities  and  Remains.     Sidon  was  the  capital,  and  a 
maritime  town  of  considerable  extent,  and  provided  with  an 
excellent  harbour.     It  was  distinguished  by  a  high  degree  of 
opulence  and  refinement. 

Tyrus,  called  the  daughter  of  Sidon,  was  built  upon  an 
it-'lanrl  south  of  Sidon,  and  25  miles  distant.  It  was  ornament- 
ed with  many  magnificent  buildings. 

§  Sidon  is  often  mentioned  by  Homer,  but  Tyrus  never.  Tyrus 
was  joined  by  Alexander  to  the  main  land,  and  time  has  consolid'ated 
his  work. 

The  walls  of  Tyre  were  150  feet  high,  with  a  proportionate  breadth. 
Old  Tyre,  on  the  continent,  was  destroyed  by  the  Assyrians.  It  was 
new  Tyre  that  Alexander  took  after  a  siege  of  seven  months.  A  few 
fishermen's  huts  are  among  its  ruins. 

Other  principal  cities  were  Aradus,  Tripoli,  Byblus,  Sarepta,  and 
Berytus. 

Some  vestiges  of  the  splendour  of  this  ancient  land  are  still 
in  existence.  The  ruins  of  Sidon  exhibit  many  fine  columns 
?.nd  other  fragments  of  marble. 

§  A  double  column  of  granite,  consisting  of  one  entire  block,  80 
feet  long,  has  been  noticed  among  the  ruins  of  Tyre. 

53.  Navigation  and  Colonies.     The  Phrenicians.  con- 
fined between  the  sea  and  mountains,  acquired  power  and 
aggrandizement  by  navigation.     Their  navigators  were  fa- 
mous for  their  skill  and  intrepidity.     They  engrossed  the 

ommercc  of  the  western  hemisphere. 

it 


194  GENERAL  VIEWS. 

They  formed  establishments  on  both  sides  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean, and  even  on  those  of  the  western  ocean.  In  the  time 
of  Abraham,  they  were  known  to  be  a  commercial  and  enter  - 
prising  people. 

§  Carthage,  Utica,  Gades,  &c.  were  colonies  founded  by  the  inha- 
bitants of  Tyre. 

54.  Sciences,  Arts,  and  Manufactures.  From  the  earliest 
periods,  the  Phoenicians  were  addicted  to  philosophy.  The 
sciences  of  arithmetic  and  astronomy  were  invented  or  im- 
proved by  them,  and  they  are  known  to  have  introduced  let- 
ters into  Greece. 

§  Before  the  time  of  the  Trojan  war,  Moschus,  a  Sidonian,  ex- 
plained the  doctrine  of  Atoms.  In  latter  ages,  we  read  of  some  emi- 
nent philosophers ;  among  them  was  Boethius,  Antipater,  Diodatus, 
and  Apollonius. 

In  manufactures  they  were  skilled.  Glass,  purple,  and  fine 
linen,  were  products  of  their  own  invention. 

In  architecture  they  were  so  versed,  that  Solomon  sought 
their  aid  in  erecting  his  magnificent  temple. 

55.  Religion.  As  the  Phoenicians  were  so  nearly  connect- 
ed with  the  immediate  descendants  of  Noah,  they  were  pro- 
bably instructed  in  the  worship  of  the  true  God  ;  but  they  be- 
came at  length  immersed  in  idolatry  and  superstition. 

The  principal  objects  of  their  mistaken  adoration  were  Beelsmen, 
or  the  sun,  Baal,  Astarte,  the  "  queen  of  heaven,"  Hercules,  Adonis, 
and  the  Pataeci,  certain  small  statues,  which  being  venerated  as  the 
tutelar  gods  of  sea-faring  men.  were  always  carried  about  in  the 
prows  of  their  vessels. 

One  of  these  idolatrous  objects  Milton  describes  in  mellifluous 
verse. 

"  With  those  iu  troop 

Came  Ashtoreth,  whom  the  Phoenicians  call'd 
Astarte,  queen  of  heaven,  with  crescent  horns; 
To  whose  bright  iinao-p,  nightly  by  the  moon 
Sidonian  virgins  paid  their  vows  and  songs." 

Lydians. 

56.  Country.  The  country  of  the  Lydians  had  Mysia  on 
the  north,  and  Caria  on  the  south.     It  constituted  an  inte- 
resting portion  of  Asia  Minor. 

§  The  inhabitants  on  the  coast,  who  were  lonians  divided  into 
twelve  small  states,  gave  their  name  to  a  dialect  of  the  Greek  lan- 
guage— Ionic. 

57.  Cities.  The  principal  cities  were  Ephesus,  illustrious 
in  classic  and  in  Christian  antiquity  ;  Sardis,  the  ancient  me- 


ROMANS.  *195 

tropolis  ;  Philadelphia,  in  which  were  celebrated  the  common 
feasts  of  all  Asia  ;  and  a  few  others. 

§  Ephesus  was  famous  for  the  temple  of  Diana,  one  of  the  seven 
wonders  of  the  world,  completed  220  years  after  its  foundation.  This 
temple  was  425  feet  in  length,  and  200  in  breadth.  The  roof  was  sup- 
ported by  127  columns  60  feet  high,  placed  there  by  so  many  kings. 
The  rich  offerings  brought  into  it  were  immense. 

This  temple  was  burnt  on  the  night  that  Alexander  was  born, 
Erostratus  perpetrated  this  villany  merely  to  eternize  his  name.  It 
rose,  however,  from  its  ruins,  with  augmented  splendour. 

Ephesus  was  famous  also  as  the  place  where  a  flourishing  Christian 
church  was  planted  by  the  apostle  Paul ;  and  it  now  stands  a  monu- 
ment of  the  fulfilment  of  our  Saviour's  threatening:  "Thy  candle- 
stick shall  be  removed  out  of  his  place." 

The  city  is  now  a  mass  of  ruins.  The  whole  contains  only  40  or 
50  Turkish  families,  who  live  in  cottages  of  dirt.  Not  a  single  family 
here  exists  to  invoke  the  name  of  Jesus.  Says  Gibbon,  "  The  deso- 
lation is  complete.  The  temple  of  Diana,  or  the  church  of  Mary,  will 
equally  elude  the  search  of  the  curious  traveller." 

58.  Character.  The  Lydians,  under  Croesus,  and  some  of 
his  predecessors,  were  a  very  warlike  people  ;  but  after  the 
introduction  of  the  Persian  luxuries,  they  became  indolent,  vo- 
luptuous, and  effeminate. 

59.  Customs.  They  are  said  to  be  the  first  people  that  in- 
troduced the  coinage  of  gold  and  silver  to  facilitate  trade  ;  the 
first  that  sold  by  retail ;  that  kept  taverns  and  eating  houses ; 
and  invented  public  games,  which  were  therefore  called  ludi 
by  the  Romans. 

Romans. 

60.  Country — its  name,  situation^  and  division.     The 
country  of  this  renowned  people,  from  their  having  ruled  over 
a  great  part  of  the  civilized  world,  becomes  an  interesting  ob- 
ject to  the  scholar  or  reader.     They  inhabited  that  part  of 
Europe  which  is  now  called  Italy,  and  their  beginning  was  at 
Rome,  its  capital.     From  the  latter  they  were  denominated 

Romans. 

§  Italy  had  other  names,  as  Hesperia,  Ausonia,  CEnotria,  and  Sa- 
turnia. 

It  had  the  Alps  on  the  north,  the  Tyrrhene  sea  on  the 
west,  the  Adriatic  on  the  east,  and  the  Grecian  sea  on  the 
south. 

The  whole  territory  was  divided  into  Cisalpine  Gaul,  Italy 
Proper,  and  Magna  Grsecia. 

§  Its  principal  districts  were  Cisalpine  Gaul,  Etruria,  Umbria,  Pi- 


195  GENERAL  VIEWS. 

cenum,  Latium,  Campania,  Samnium,  the  Hirpiui,  Apulia,  Calabria, 
Lucania,  and  the  Brutii. 

61.  Interesting  localities  of  Italy.   Italy  as  well  as  Greece 
furnishes  many  recollections  of  this  kind,  that  are  so  pleasing 
to  the  student  of  antiquity. 

§  Andes,  near  Mantua,  was  the  birth-place  of  Virgil,  Comum  that  of 
the  younger  Pliny,  Verona  of  Catullus,  and  Patavium  of  Livy.  Ra- 
venna was  the  residence  of  the  emperors  of  the  west  when  driven 
from  Rome.  The  river  Po  is  famous  for  the  death  of  Phaeton,  who, 
ay  the  poets  mention,  was  thrown  down  into  it  by  the  thunder-bolts 
of  Jupiter. 

Padusa,  one  of  the  mouths  of  the  Po,  was  said  to  abound  in  swans. 
Rubicon  was  a  mountain  torrent,  which  it  was  forbidden  to  pass  with 
an  armed  force,  under  dreadful  imprecations.  The  inhabitants  of 
Etruria  were  famous  for  their  skill  in  augury,  early  civilization,  and 
resolution,  and  were  conquered  by  the  Romans,  only  after  much 
bloodshed. 

Circeii  was  the  residence  of  the  fabled  enchantress  Circe.  Tusculum 
was  the  villa  of  Cicero.  Capua  was  celebrated  for  its  wealth,  volup- 
tuousness, and  soft  climate.  Near  the  promontory  of  Cumae  was  the 
residence  of  the  Sibyl.  At  Nola,  east  of  Naples,  bells  were  first  in- 
vented. The  eruption  of  Vesuvius,  A.  C.  79,  overwhelmed  the  cities 
of  Pompeii,  Herculaneum,  and  Stabia3,and  destroyed  the  lifeof  Pliny. 

The  city  of  Arpi  was  founded  by  Diomcdes.  Venusia  was  the 
birth-place  of  Horace.  The  country  of  Apulia  was  celebrated  for  its 
wool.  Brundusium  was  the  port  for  passing  from  Italy  to  Greece. 
Rudiae  was  the  birth-place  of  Ennius.  Tarentum  was  founded  by  the 
Lacedaemonians. 

Paestum  in  Lucania  was  famous  for  its  roses.  On  the  coast  was 
Metapontum,  the  school  of  Pythagoras.  Thurium  was  also  called 
Sybaris,  from  the  effeminacy  of  its  inhabitants.  Petilia  was  built 
by  Philoctetes,  after  the  Trojan  war. 

Sicily  was  famous  in  antiquity  for  the  birth  of  Ceres,  the  rape  of 
Proserpine,  the  giant  Enceladus,  mount  yEtna,  and  the  Cyclops,  with 
the  whirlpool  Charybdis,  opposite  to  Scylla  on  the  Italian  coast,  ob- 
jects of  terror  to  mariners.  Sicily  was  the  storehouse  of  Italy. 
Mount  Eryx  was  celebrated  for  its  temple  of  Venus.  The  plains  of 
Enna,  where  Proserpine  was  carried  away  by  Pluto,  abounded  in 
honey. 

Lipara  was  famous  for  its  fruits :  its  raisins  are  still  in  high  repute. 
Vulcan  had  forges  here.  Sardinia  was  called  by  the  Greeks,  Ichnu- 
sa,  from  its  resemblance  to  the  print  of  a  foot.  It  was  famous  for 
wormwood  and  bitter  herbs,  and  its  air  was  unwholesome.  Corsica 
was  celebrated  for  its  box  and  yew  trees.  Urcinium,  founded  by  a 
son  of  Ajax,  is  now  Ajaccio,  and  celebrated  in  modern  times  as  the 
birth-place  of  Napoleon  Buonaparte. 

62.  Capital  of  Italy ,  and  Seat  of  the  Roman  Empire. 
The  great  city  of  Italy  and  the  Romans  was  Rome.     Here 


Rf  MANS.  197 

was  the  beginning  of  this  celebrated  people.  The  city  was 
small  and  mean  at  first,  but  in  the  course  of  ages  became 
magnificent  beyond  conception. 

The  city  was  built  on  seven  hills,  Mount  Palatinus,  Capi- 
tolinus,  Quirilinus.  Viminalis,  Esquilinus,  Ccelius,  and  Aven- 
Unus.  The  Palatine  hill  was  the  residence  of  the  kings  and 
emperors.  On  mount  Capitolinus,  were  the  Capitol  and 
Tarpeian  rock. 

§  The  seven  hills  on  which  Rome  was  built  are  not  very  distinctly 
marked,  particularly  now  that  the  rubbish  of  so  many  ruined  buildings 
has,  in  the  course  of  more  than  2500  years,  filled  up  the  spaces  be- 
tween them.  In  any  place  the  ground  is  about  20  feet  deep  above 
the  old  pavement.  The  summit  of  the  Capitoline  hill  is  only  about 
120  feet  above  the  level  of  the  Tiber. 

In  the  times  of  the  republic  were  built  the  most  magnificent  aque- 
ducts, which  conveyed  water  from  a  vast  distance  for  the  service  of 
the  city,  and  some  of  which  supply  modern  Rome ;  whilst  the  vast 
ruins  of  others  excite  wonder  and  astonishment.  The  Circus  Maxi- 
mus  was  of  an  oval  shape,  and  afforded  accommodation  for  150,000 
people  to  see  the  chariot  races  and  other  games. 

The  ruins  of  the  theatres  of  Pompey  and  Marcellus  still  remain. 
The  Coliseum,  built  by  Vespasian  and  Titus,  for  shows  of  gladiators 
and  wild  beasts,  was  capable  of  containing  100,000  people,  and  its 
magnificent  remains  are  still  the  most  remarkable  object  at  Rome. 

The  Pantheon  or  Temple  of  all  the  gods,  was  built  by  Agrippa> 
in  the  time  of  Augustus,  and  its  solid  construction  promises  it  a  dura- 
tion for  many  centuries  yet  to  come. 

The  columns  of  Trajan  and  Antoninus  excite  the  admiration  of  all 
beholders.  Baths  of  immense  number  and  extent  were  made  chiefly 
in  the  times  of  the  emperors,  and  the  ruins  of  those  of  Titus,  and  Ca- 
racal I  a,  still  remain.  The  vast  tomb  of  Adrian  is  now  the  castle  of 
St.  Angelo.  The  catacombs  are  very  extensive,  but  it  is  uncertain  for 
what  purpose  they  were  used.  Several  vast  tombs  still  remain,  one 
of  which  was  used  as  a  fortress  in  the  middle  ages.  The  triumphal 
arches  of  Severus,  Titus,  and  Constantine,  still  adorn  the  ancient 
Forum. 

The  extent  of  the  walls  is  stated  by  Pliny  to  have  been  13  miles  200 
paces.  A  somewhat  larger  space  was  enclosed  by  Aurelian.  The 
modern  city  encloses  also  within  the  walls,  the  Vatican  hill.  More 
than  three  fourths  of  the  space  within  the  walls  are  now  covered 
with  vineyards,  and  the  modern  city  is  built  chiefly  in  the  ancient 
Campus  Martius.  Every  where  are  seen  magnificent  ruins.  Egyp- 
tian obelisks,  blocks  of  oriental  granite,  ancient  and  modern  buildings, 
which  still  render  Rome  the  most  interesting  city  of  the  whole  earth. 

The  principal  public  place  in  the  city  was  the  Forum. — This  was 
a  large  open  space  of  oblong  shape,  where  the  people  held  their  as- 
semblies, justice  was  administered,  and  public  concerns  were  trans- 
acted. It  was  surrounded  in  its  whole  extent  with  arched  porticoes. 

R2 


198  GENERAL  VIEWS. 

which  included  spacious  halls,  where  courts  of  justice  sat  and  decided 
the  affairs  of  individuals. 

The  Campus  Martins  was  a  large  plain  without  the  city,  along  the 
river  Tiber,  where  the  athletic  exercises  and  sports  of  the  Roman 
youth  were  practised.  It  was  adorned  with  many  noble  structures, 
and  monuments  commemorating  the  deeds  of  their  ancestors. 

63.  Political  State.  The  political  state,  or  government 
among  the  Romans,  varied  very  much  during  the  successive 
periods  of  their  existence.  At  first  it  was  a  monarchy  :  next 
it  became  a  republic  with  a  preponderance  of  aristrocratic 
power,  which  gradually  gave  way  to  the  influence  of  the  people. 
A  state  almost  of  anarchy  followed,  which  soon  settled  down 
into  a  despotism.  That  portion  of  history  which  we  call  ancient, 
includes  and  ends  with  the  commencement  of  Roman  des- 
potism under  Augustus. 

The  kings  of  Rome  were  not  absolute  or  hereditary,  but 
limited  and  elective.  They  could  neither  enact  laws,  nor 
make  war  or  peace,  without  the  concurrence  of  the  senate 
and  people. 

§  They  wore  a  golden  crown,  and  carried  an  ivory  sceptre.  They 
sat  in  a  curule  chair,  which  was  made  or  adorned  with  ivory,  and 
they  were  attended  with  twelve  lictors,  carrying  fasces,  which  were 
bundles  of  rods  with  an  axe  placed  in  the  middle.  They  convened 
the  senate,  assembled  the  people,  conducted  the  army,  and  ap- 
pointed the  quaestors  or  treasurers  of  the  public  money. 

The  Roman  people  were  divided  into  four  classes.  1.  The 
Senate  or  Patrician  order.  2.  The  Equestrian  order  or  knights. 
3.  The  Plebeians  or  mass  of  the  people.  4.  The  Slaves. 

The  Senate  was  composed  of  100  old  men,  arid  afterwards 
of  200  or  more,  who  were  the  council  of  the  king.  By  them 
most  of  the  business  of  the  state  was  transacted.  They  were 
called  Patres,  that  is.  Fathers.  The  Patrician  families  were 
descended  from  these  fathers.  They  constituted  not  an  he- 
reditary nobility,  but  were  accounted  noble,  because  the  mem- 
bers had  filled  high  offices. 

§  For  some  centuries,  the  senate  consisted  of  300  members,  and  in 
the  time  of  Julius  Caesar,  of  900.  Augustus  reduced  the  number  to 
600.  They  were  first  chosen  by  the  kings,  afterwards  by  the  consuls, 
and  last  by  the  censors.  They  were  distinguished  by  a  particular 
dress,  and  had  separate  seats  at  the  public  spectacles. 

In  their  official  character,  this  body  was  usually  assembled  three 
times  a  month,  but  was  frequently  called  together  on  other  days  for 
special  business.  A  senatus  consultum  was  a  decree  passed  by  a 
majority  of  the  senate,  and  approved  by  the  tribunes  of  the  people. 

The  Knights  were  not  originally  a  separate  order,  but  co; 


ROMANS.  199 

sisted  of  such  citizens  as  could  maintain  a  horse  for  the  wars. 
They  seem  to  have  become  a  separate  order  at  some  period 
under  the  kings,  but  afterwards  the  knights  were  chosen  by 
the  censors,  and  presented  with  a  horse  and  a  gold  ring,  at 
the  public  expense. 

§  The  knights  farmed  the  public  revenues.  Every  year  on  the  15th 
July,  they  went  in  procession  from  the  Temple  of  Honour  or  of  Mars, 
without  the  city,  to  the  capitol,  on  horseback,  bearing  wreaths  of  olive 
in  their  hands.  A  certain  property  (3,229  pounds)  was  required  aa 
a  qualification  to  be  made  a  knight. 

The  Plebeians,  or  mass  of  the  people,  were  the  remainder 
of  the  Roman  citizens  after  the  Patricians  and  Equites  or 
knights.  They  were  called  Plebs  or  Populus.  Those  who 
lived  in  the  country  were  Plebs  rustica,  and  were  considered 
the  most  respectable.  The  Plebs  urbana  consisted  chiefly  of 
mechanics,  or  poorer  citizens  who  followed  no  trade,  and  partly 
maintained  themselves  from  the  largesses  of  corn,  &c.,  distri- 
buted among  them. 

§  The  whole  body  of  the  people  was  at  first  divided  into  tribes  three 
in  number,  and  each  tribe  was  subdivided  in  ten  curia?  or  \vards. 
Other  divisions  were  afterwards  made.  To  the  three  tribes,  Servms 
Tullius  added  a  fourth.  Augustus  afterwards  divided  Rome  into  14 
wards. 

Besides  his  addition  of  a  fourth  tribe,  Servius  made  a  division  of 
the  people  into  six  classes,  and  each  class  into  several  centuries  or 
portions  of  citizens,  so  called,  because  they  were  required  to  furnish, 
support  and  equip  100  men  in  war.  These  six  classes  were  formed 
according  to  their  property ;  the  first  composed  of  the  richest  citizens, 
and  the  6th,  which  was  the  most  numerous,  of  the  poorest.  The 
centuries  amounted  to  193. 

The  slaves  constituted  a  large  portion  of  the  population  of 
Rome.  Their  lives  were  at  the  disposal  of  their  masters. 
They  were  not  only  employed  in  domestic  services,  but  in 
various  trades  and  manufactures.  They  were  sometime.'? 
highly  educated,  and  instructed  in  the  liberal  arts  and  profes- 
sions, as  that  of  physic. 

§  They  were  considered  as  mere  property,  and  publicly  sold  in  a 
market-place — often  chained  by  the  leg.  If  capitally  convicted,  their 
punishment  was  crucifixion. 

During  the  Saturnalia,  or  Feast  of  Saturn,  slaves  were  allowed  great 
freedom,  and  masters  at  that  time  would  wait  upon  them  at  table ; 
the  same  license  was  permitted  on  the  Ides  of  August. 

Slaves  might  be  set  free  by  various  forms  of  law.  Slaves  thus 
emancipated  had  the  names  of  Liberti  and  Libertini.  Their  children 
were  not  equally  honourable  with  other  citizens ;  but  their  grand- 


200  GENERAL  VIEWS. 


children  were  reckoned  Ingenui,  or  in  every  respect  on  an  equality 
with  them. 

With  a  view  to  connect  together  the  different  orders,  it  was 
provided  by  Romulus,  that  each  plebeian  should  choose  a  pa- 
trician to  be  his  patron,  whose  client  the  plebeian  was  called. 

§  The  patron  was  to  protect  his  client,  to  give  him  his  advice  and 
forward  his  interest.  -  The  client  was  to  be  ready  to  assist  his  patron 
on  all  occasions.  In  elections,  the  clients  exerted  themselves  on  be- 
half of  their  patrons. 

The  Romans  had  usually  three  names,  the  Preenomen, 
Nomen,  and  Cognomen,  as  in  Publius  Cornelius  Scipio. 

§Publius  is  the  name  of  the  individual,  to  distinguish  him  from 
another  of  the  same  family,  as  Cains  Lucius,  &e.  Cornelius  shows 
that  he  was  of  a  certain  family,  the  gens  Cornelia ;  and  Scipio,  that 
he  was  of  a  division  of  the  family,  the  Scipios  being  one  out  of  many, 
into  which  the  whole  stock  of  the  gens  Cornelia  was  divided. 

The  Roman  citizens  were  not  merely  the  inhabitants  of 
Rome  and  its  environs,  but  the  freedom  of  the  city  was  granted 
to  other  parts  of  Italy,  and  afterwards  to  foreign  cities  and 
towns  in  the  empire,  whose  inhabitants,  by  this  means,  en- 
joyed the  same  rights  as  the  Romans. 

The  power  of  the  people  in  Rome  was  expressed  in  their 
public  assemblies.  The  name  given  to  these  assemblies,  in 
their  transactions,  was  Comitia.  The  Comitia  were  summoned 
by  some  magistrate,  to  pass  laws,  to  elect  magistrates,  to  de- 
cide concerning  peace  and  war,  and  to  try  persons  guilty  of 
certain  heinous  offences. 

§  There  were  three  kinds  of  Comitia,  the  Curiata,  the  Centur.ata, 
and  the  Tributa.  The  Comitia  Curiata  consisted  of  an  assembly  of 
the  resident  Roman  citizens,  who  were  divided  into  thirty  curias,  a 
majority  of  which  decided  all  matters  of  importance  that  were  laid 
before  them. 

The  Comitia  Centuriata  were  the  principal  assembly  of  the  peo- 
ple. They  elected  Consuls,  Prsetors,  Censors,  and  sometimes  a  Pro- 
consul, also  the  Decemviri,  the  military  Tribunes,  and  a  priest  call- 
ed Rex  Sacrorum.  They  gave  their  votes,  divided  into  the  centuries, 
of  their  classes,  according  to  the  census.  The  place  of  their  meet- 
ing was  the  Campus  Martins,  and  all  Roman  citizens,  though  residing 
in  the  country,  as  well  as  city,  had  a  right  to  act,  in  their  several 
centuries. 

The  Comitia  Tributa  were  an  assembly  of  the  people  in  which 
they  voted,  as  they  were  separated  into  tribes,  according  to  their 
wards.  At  these  comitia  were  created  subordinate  magistrates,  as 
jEdiles,  Tribunes  of  the  people,  Quaestors,  &c.  The  laws,  called 
Plebiscita,  were  passed  at  these  assemblies. 

Persons  who  sought  offices  and  preferment  were  called  .candidati, 


201 

% 

from  a  white  garment  which  they  wore.    They  canvassed  the  people 
and  solicited  their  votes. 

After  the  time  of  Augustus,  the  comitia  fall  into  disuse.  The  for- 
malities were  observed,  but  these  were  soon  after  dropped,  and  the 
annual  magistrates  were  either  chosen  by  the  senate  or  nominated  by 
the  emperors. 

The  Roman  magistrates  were  elective,  and  divided  into 
ordinary,  extraordinary,  and  provincial.  The  ordinary  magis- 
trates, who  were  stated,  and  always  in  the  republic,  were  the 
consuls,  censors,  tribunes,  sediles,  and  quaestors.  The  extra 
ordinary,  who  were  temporary  magistrates,  were  the  dictator, 
the  decemvirs,  the  military  tribunes,  and  the  interrex.  The 
provincial  magistrates,  who  were  appointed  to  the  government 
of  the  provinces,  were  at  first  praetors,  afterwards  pro-consuls 
and  pro-praetors,  to  whom  were  joined  qusestors  and  lieu- 
.tenants. 

§  Consuls,  after  the  banishment  of  the  kings,  were  put  in  the  room 
of  the  latter,  to  perform  the  duties  of  royalty.  They  were  two  in 
number,  and  held  their  office  for  one  year.  At  first  they  had  nearly 
the  same  badges  of  authority,  except  the  crown.  The  eligible  age  to 
be  made  consul  was  forty-three,  but  extraordinary  circumstances 
might  justify  an  earlier  age. 

The  Tribunes  of  the  people  were  officers  whose  duty  it  was  to 
guard  and  protect  the  plebeians  in  their  rights,  when  the  patricians 
became  oppressive.  Their  power  was  contracted  at  first,  but  at  length 
became  very  great.  Unprincipled  men  in  this  office  often  converted 
the  public  assemblies  into  scenes  of  violence  and  blood. 

The  censors  were  appointed  to  take  an  account  of  the  number  and 
fortunes  of  the  people.  Their  power  at  first  was  limited,  but  after- 
wards, became  so  great,  that  it  was  deemed  the  most  honourable 
office  in  the  state.  There  were  two  censors  elected  every  five  years, 
and  they  continued  in  office  only  one  year  and  a  half. 

The  Praetors,  whose  rank  was  next  to  that  of  the  consuls,  and 
whose  place  when  vacant  they  supplied,  were  appointed  to  adminis- 
ter justice  and  convoke  assemblies  of  the  senate  and  people.  They 
also  presided  at  certain  public  games.  There  was  at  first  but  one 
praetor,  but  afterwards  several. 

The  Pro-consuls  and  Pro-pra3tors  usually  governed  the  provinces 
of  the  empire.  To  them  were  joined  quaestors  and  lieutenants.  They 
had  the  highest  rank  within  their  province.  The  power  of  the  pro- 
consuls and  pro-praetors  was  much  the  same,  the  former  being  sent  to 
the  larger  provinces. 

The  ^Ediles  were  so  named  from  their  having  a  particular  care 
of  the  aedes  or  buildings,  as  the  temples,  baths,  aqueducts,  theatres, 
&c.  They  were  distinguished  into  Curule  and  Plebeian  aediles.  The 
curule  sediles  superintended  the  public  games,  and  occupied  a  more 
honourable  place  in  the  senate  than  the  plebeian  sediles,  who  were 
assistants  to  the  tribunes 


202  GENERAL  VIEWS 


The  Quaestors  were  appointed  for  the  management  of  the  public 
revenues.  At  first  they  were  two  in  number,  but  afterwards,  as  the 
empire  extended,  they  amounted  to  many.  Two  of  them,  the  city 
quaestors,  remained  at  Rome,  and  the  rest,  who  were  military  and 
provincial  quaestors,  accompanied  the  army  and  provided  for  the 
payment  of  the  soldiers,  or  attended  the  consuls  or  praetors  into  their 
provinces,  and  regulated  the  tribute. 

The  Dictators  were  magistrates,  with  absolute  power,  appointed  on 
extraordinary  occasions,  or  in  cases  of  imminent  danger.  The  term 
of  their  office  was  six  months. 

Their  power  was  supreme  in  peace  and  war.  They  could  raise  and 
disband  armies,  and  decide  matters,  without  consulting  the  senate 
and  people.  The  consuls  submitted  to  their  commands.  As  a  check 
to  their  power,  they  were  liable  to  be  called  to  an  account  for  the 
abuse  of  it,  after  it  was  resigned. 

The  Decemviri  were  ten  men  appointed,  on  particular  occasions, 
to  collect  and  promulgate  laws,  &c.  They  were  chosen  for  one  year, 
but  had  interest  sufficient  to  be  reappointed  for  another.  They  pro- 
posed the  laws  of  the  twelve  tables. 

The  Military  Tribunes  had  consular  power  in  public  affairs ;  they 
mediated  between  the  patricians  and  plebeians,  at  a  time  when  they 
could  not  agree  in  the  election  of  consuls. 

An  interrex  was  appointed  to  hold  the  elections  at  Rome,  when  the 
consuls  or  dictators  were  absent. 

64.  Religion.  The  gods  of  the  Romans  were  nearly  the 
same  as  those  of  Greece.  The  priests  of  their  religion  did 
not  form  a  distinct  order  of  the  state  ;  but  were  selected  from 
the  most  honourable  citizens  for  that  office.  They  were  of 
two  kinds — those  that  were  common  to  all  the  gods  ;  and 
those  that  were  appointed  to  some  one  divinity  in  particular. 

Of  the  former,  the  principal  were  the  poritifices,  the  au- 
gur es,  the  haruspices,  the  quindecem-viri,  and  septem-viri. 
These  were  all  subordinate  to  the  pontifex  maximus,  or  high 

priest. 

}  The  pontifices  were  judges  in  sacred  things,  and  prescribed  what 
was  to  be  done  in  cases  where  there  was  ho  law.  The  pontifex  maxi 
mus  was  the  supreme  arbiter.  The  pontifices  were  15  in  number. 

The  augures,  who  were  the  same  in  number,  were  expected  to  pr 
diet  future  events,  and  to  determine  whether  any  action  would 
fortunate  or  not.     They  divined  in  various  ways,— among  others 
by  the  flight,  chirping,  or  feeding  of  birds.    They  had  great  authori- 
ty in  the  state,  as  nothing  important  in  peace  or  war  could  be  deter- 
mined without  them. 

The  haruspices  were  required  to  inspect  the  beasts  offered  hi  sacri 
fice,  and  by  them  to  obtain  omens  with  respect  to  the  future. 

The  quindecem-viri  were  15  officers  who  kept  the  sibylline  books, 
in  which  was  written  the  future  history  of  Rome.  These  were  said 
to  have  been  procured  from  a  woman  of  extraordinary  appearance  in 


i 


ROMANS.  203 

the  lime  of  Tarquin  the  Proud,  and  were  kept  in  a  stone  chest  unde» 
the  capitol.  The  quindecem-viri  consulted  these  books  in  times  of 
great  calamity,  to  provide  what  should  be  done,  and  thus  the  popular 
fear  was  assuaged. 

The  septem-viri  were  seven  priests  who  presided  at  sacred  feasts, 
games,  or  processions. 

As  an  instance  of  the  kind  of  priests  that  were  appropria- 
ted to  particular  deities,  we  may  mention  the  Yestal  Virgins. 
These  were  consecrated  to  the  worship  of  Vesta. 

§  The  Vestal  Virgins  guarded  perpetually  the  sacred  fire  of  Vesta. 
They  were  obliged  to  observe  strict  chastity  on  pain  of  death.  For 
ten  years  they  learned  the  sacred  rites,  for  ten  years  they  performed 
them,  and  other  ten  years  they  spent  in  teaching  others ;  and  after 
that  they  might  marry,  if  they  could. 

65.  Military  Affairs.  The  Romans  were  a  nation  of 
soldiers,  and  all  their  institutions  had  a  tendency  towards  the 
encouragement  of  a  military  spirit.  It  was  by  discipline,  skill, 
and  valour,  that  they  conquered  the  world. 

It  was  the  duty  of  every  citizen  to  be  a  soldier,  should  his 
country  call  for  his  services,  from  the  age  of  17  to  46. 
Those  affected  by  disease,  or  exercising  public  functions,  were 
exempted.  For  350  years  from  the  building  of  Rome,  no  pay 
was  allowed  to  those  who  served  in  the  army. 

§  No  man  could  be  appointed  to  any  honourable  magistracy,  with- 
out having  been  ten  years  in  the  army.  After  Latium  and  the  states 
of  Italy  were  subdued  or  admitted  into  alliance,  troops  were  raised 
among  them  in  the  same  manner  as  at  Rome. 

About  the  time  of  Marius,  a  very  great  change  took  place 
in  the  mode  of  enlisting  and  supporting  the  armies.  The 
infantry  after  that  time,  consisted  of  the  poorer  citizens,  and 
mercenary  soldiers  from  every  part  of  Italy.  The  cavalry  no 
longer  consisted  of  Roman  knights,  but  of  horsemen,  raised 
in  Italy  and  in  the  provinces,  serving  for  hire. 

The  Roman  legion  was  a  correct  display  of  military  ar- 
rangement and  discipline.  Each  legion,  when  full,  contained 
6000  men  divided  into  10  cohorts  or  battalions,  with  other 
subdivisions.  Each  legion  had  a  wing  of  300  horse  attached. 
*i.  is  to  be  noticed,  however,  that  the  numbers  of  the  legion 
varied  at  different  periods,  from  3000  to  10,000  and  11,000. 

The  dependence  of  the  Romans  was  on  the  strength  of 
their  infantry. 

§  Their  defensive  arms  consisted  of  a  helmet,  a  shield  four  feet 
long  and  two  broad,  a  coat  of  mail,  and  greaves  for  the  thighs.  Their 
weapons  of  assault  were  two  long  javelins  or  pila,  and  a  sword. 


204  GENERAL   VIEWS. 

The  pilum  was  a  long  heavy  spear,  and  a  terrible  weapon  in  the 
hand  of  a  Roman.  No  defensive  armour  or  covering  could  resist  its 
force,  when  propelled  so  as  to  reach  its  object.  Its  length  was  about 
six  feet,  and  its  head  consisted  of  a  triangular  point  of  steel  18  inches 
long.  The  distance  from  which  it  was  commonly  thrown,  varied 
from  ten  to  six  yards.  When  the  pila  were  discharged,  the  Roman 
soldiers  rushed  upon  the  enemy  with  their  swords. 

The  Roman  sword  was  a  short  two-edged  blade  of  fine  temper, 
adapted  to  the  purpose  of  striking  or  thrusting.  The  latter  was  deem- 
ed the  most  efficacious. 

The  legions  were  usually  drawn  up  in  three  lines.  The  first  was 
called  hastati,  and  consisted  chiefly  of  young  men.  The  second  line 
was  called  principes,  consisting  of  men  of  middle  age  ;  and  the  third 
line  triarii,  consisting  of  veterans  of  tried  valour. 

Besides  these  heavy  armed  legionaries,  there  were  light-armed 
troops,  who  were  chiefly  employed  in  using  slings,  bows  and  arrows, 
and  throwing  light  javelins.  They  advanced  before  the  rest  of  the 
army,  and  annoyed  the  enemy  as  much  as  possible. 

When  the  army  approached  the  enemy,  the  light-armed  troops 
discharged  their  arrows  and  slings,  and  as  they  drew  nearer,  threw 
their  darts  rapidly,  and  retreated  through  intervals  between  the 
ranks,  or  by  the  flanks,  and  rallied  in  the  rear.  The  hastati  then 
threw  their  long  javelins,  and  commenced  an  attack  with  their  swords. 

When  repulsed  or  fatigued,  they  retired  leisurely  into  the  ranks  oi 
the  principes,  or  behind  them,  if  necessary.  The  triarii  were  a  body 
in  reserve.  If  unable  to  drive  back  the  enemy,  a  retreat  was  all  that 
could  be  hoped  for, 

In  besieging  a  town,  the  method  of  the  Romans,  and  in- 
deed of  all  ancient  nations,  differed  much  from  that  of  the 
moderns,  since  the  use  of  cannons,  and  was  inferior  to  the 
latter. 

The  principal  engines  of  attack  among  the  Romans  were 
the  catapultee,  which  discharged  heavy  stones ;  the  balistaj, 
which  discharged  arrows,  and  the  avies  or  battering  ram, 
which  was  the  most  effective  as  applied  against  the  wall. 

§  The  aries  was  a  long  beam,  like  the  mast  of  a  ship,  armed^  at  one 
end,  with  iron  in  the  form  of  a  ram's  head.  It  was  suspended  in  such 
a  manner,  that  100  men,  who  were  frequently  changed,  by  violently 
thrusting  it  back  and  forth,  could  break  almost  any  wall,  that  it  could 
be  made  to  reach. 

To  protect  the  soldiers  in  this  work,  various  contrivances  were 
adopted,  such  as  sheds  called  testudines,  or  tortoises,  from  their  re- 
semblance to  the  shell  of  that  fish,  and  sheds  called  vinese,  con- 
structed of  wood  and  hurdles,  and  covered  with  earth  and  raw  hides, 
i-o  that  they  could  not  be  set  on  fire. 

The  form  of  a  Roman  camp  of  two  legions,  was  a  square 
of  nearly  700  yards  on  each  side,  with  tents  and  quarters,  laid 


ROMANS.  205 

out  in  the  most  regular  order.     A  rampart  of  12  feet  high 
surrounded  this  square,  and  it  was  enclosed  by  a  deep  am} 

broad  ditch. 

§  This  was  the  effect  of  caution,  an  excellent  feature  of  Roman  disci- 
pline. No  circumstances  as  to  fatigue,  or  the  absence  of  danger, 
could  induce  the  legions  of  Rome  to  neglect  a  regular  encampment. 
When  their  camps  were  to  be  left,  nothing  could  exceed  the  celerity 
of  their  movements.  Each  soldier  loading  himself  with  his  provi- 
sions and  utensils,  a  weight  of  60  pounds,  besides  his  very  heavy 
armour,  would  march  by  regular  step,  20  miles  in  the  space  of  six 
hours. 

The  Roman  soldiers  were  among  the  best  in  the  world.  From  the 
constant  practice  of  athletic  exercises,  they  were  inured  from  infancy 
to  hardiness  and  fatigue,  and  bred  to  that  species  of  life  which  a  sol- 
dier leads  in  actual  warfare.  Their  bravery  and  knowledge  in  the 
art  of  war  were  not  exceeded,  if  they  were  equalled,  by  any  nation  ot 
antiquity* 

The  rewards  of  soldiers  who  had  distinguished  themselves 
were  various  kinds  of  Towns,  ornaments  of  the  persons  and 
arms,  and  donations  in  money  or  lands.  But  the  highest 
object  of  Roman  ambition  was  the  honour  of  a  triumph.  Thip 
was  a  grand,  solemn  procession  through  the  city  to  ilxe  capi- 
tol,  granted  to  the  victorious  general  and  his  army  by  a  decree 
of  the  senate,  or  by  the  people. 

§  The  procession  which  constituted  a  triumph,  marched  from  the 
Campus  Martins  through  the  most  public  streets  to  the  capitol.  JVIu- 
sicians  of  various  kinds  led  the  way;  oxen,  with  gilt  horns  and  ribbons, 
intended  for  sacrifice,  followed,  with  priests  in  their  dresses  of  cere- 
mony. Then  the  standards  taken  from  the  enemy,  the  arms,  spoils^ 
&c.  were  carried  in  procession.  The  captives  followed  in  chains. 

At  length  came  the  general  in  a  robe  of  purple  and  gold,  with  a 
crown  of  laurel  on  his  head,  and  other  personal  brilliant  decorations. 
He  stood  in  a  gilded  chariot  adorned  with  ivory,  drawn  by  four  milk- 
white  horses.  His  friends  and  relations  accompanied  him,  and  the 
principal  officers  were  on  horseback  beside  his  chariot.  His  victori- 
ous army,  crowned  with  laurel,  and  singing  songs  of  victory,  came  last. 

An  ovation  was  a  triumph  also,  but  accompanied  with  less  splen- 
dour. 

66.  Fleets.  The  Roman  ships  were  extremely  small 
compared  with  modern  vessels.  They  were  quickly  con- 
structed and  quickly  manned.  Sailors  and  rowers  were  hired 
to  navigate.  Soldiers  were  put  on  board  to  fight. 

§  The  success  of  the  Romans  at  sea  was  owing  rather  to  the  valour 
of  their  men,  than  to  their  skill  as  mariners.  Their  object  in  sea- 
battles,  was  to  approach  the  enemy  as  quickly  as  possible,  fasten  the 
ships  together,  and  fight  hand  to  hand. 

Until  the  first  Punic  war,  the  Romans  were  wholly  ignorant  of  the 

8 


206  GENERAL    VIEWS. 


naval  military  art.  A  Carthaginian  galley  was  the  first  model.  So 
little  skill  was  required  in  building  their  ships,  that  we  find  them  on 
one  occasion,  fitting  out,  and  sending  to  sea,  a  fleet  within  45  days 
after  the  trees  were  cut  down. 

The  size  of  the  ships  was  reckoned  by  the  number  of  banks  of  oars, 
placed  in  benches  on  the  sides  of  the  ship,  called  triremes,  quadri- 
remes,  &c. 

67.  Agriculture.     In  the  earliest  and  best  ages  of  their 
existence,  the  Roman  people  were  much  given  to  agriculture. 
Except  that  they  were  frequently  interrupted  by  war,  they 
might  be  considered  as  an  agricultural  people.     They  were 
at  once  soldiers  and  farmers. 

Many  of  them  residing  out  of  the  city,  and  yet  denizens  of 
Rome,  were  called  from  the  plough  to  the  army.  This  was 
the  case  with  several  of  their  most  distinguished  men  and 
generals,  as  Q,.  Cincinnatus,  M.  Curius,  Cato  the  Censor,  and 
Scipio  Africanus. 

The  pursuits  of  agriculture  were  however  abandoned,  after 
the  acquisition  of  wealth  by  foreign  conquests  and  commerce. 
Menials  and  slaves  tilled  the  ground,  and  the  people  aban- 
doned themselves  to  every  species  of  luxury  and  sensuality. 

§The  attention  of  the  early  Romans  to  husbandry  was  partly  the 
effect  of  necessity.  The  lands  having  been  divided  into  equal  and 
nrnute  portions,  each  one  was  obliged  to  labour  for  a  subsistence. 

The  greater  number  of  the  farmers  visited  the  city  only  on  every 
ninth  day,  which  was  the  market  day.  They  went  there  for  the  pur- 
poses of  barter,  the  procuring  of  necessaries,  and  the  examination  of 
the  new  laws  which  were  posted  on  the  capitol  and  in  the  market- 
place, some  days  previously  to  their  adoption  by  the  people. 

We  may  obtain  a  better  conception  of  the  agricultural  turn  of  this 
people,  from  knowing  a  few  of  their  common  maxims  on  this  subject, 
than  from  any  description.  Those  maxims  were  such  as  the  fol- 
lowing : 

1.  He  is  a  thriftless  farmer  that  buys  any  thing  which  his  farm  can 
produce. 

2.  He  is  no  husbandman  who  does  any  work  in  the  day  time,  that 
can  be  done  in  the  night,  except  in  stormy  weather. 

3.  He  is  worse  who  does  on  work  days,  what  he  may  do  on  holy- 
days  ;  and 

4.  He  is  the  worst  of  all  who  in  a  clear  sky  works  within  doors, 
rather  than  in  the  field. 

68.  Amusements  and  Public  (Spectacles.     The  drama, 
though  the  government  was  long  unfriendly  to  it,  became  an 
amusement  of  the  Roman  people.     Comedies  were  the  mosl 
popular,  and  very  few  Roman  tragedies  remain. 


ROMANS.  2Q7 

On  the  stage,  pantomimes  were  much  in  use,  and  rope 
dancers  occasionally  diversified  the  entertainment. 

§  Rude  plays,  made  up  with  music,  dancing,  and  buffoonery,  were 
in  use  in  the  earlier  periods  of  the  republic ;  but  the  first  regular  play 
was  written  by  Livius  Andronicus,  in  the  year  of  th^^city  512. 

The  comic  actors  wore  a  low-heeled  shoe  called  soccus ;  the  tragic 
actors  wore  a  mask,  a  flowing  robe,  and  a  high-heeled  shoe  called  co- 
thurnus. Only  temporary  theatres  were  used  at  first. 

The  senate  correctly  judging  that  theatrical  amusements  were  injn 
rious  to  the  public  morals,  so  late  as  the  year  of  the  city  599,  ordered 
a  theatre,  building  under  the  direction  of  the  censors,  to  be  pulled 
down.  Pompey  the  Great,  was  the  first  who  built  a  theatre  of  hewn 
stone,  and  the  remains  of  this  vast  edifice  still  continue,  and  are  used 
by  the  present  Romans  for  the  baiting  of  bulls. 

There  were  various  public  games,  connected  however  with 
the  religion  of  the  Romans,  which  were  sources  of  much  licen- 
tious entertainment.  Those  of  the  Circus  Maximus  were 
most  frequented.  The  shows  exhibited  in  that  place  were 
chariot  and  horse-races  ;  contests  of  strength  and  agility ; 
mock-fights  on  horseback ;  combats  of  wild  beasts,  and  of 
men  with  wild  beasts ;  representations  of  horse  and  foot  bat- 
tles ;  and  mimic  naval  fights. 

§  The  ferocious  taste  of  the  Romans  was  much  gratified  with  the 
combats  of  wild  beasts,  and  of  men  with  the  latter.  Criminals  were 
condemned  to  fight  with  wild  beasts  j  others  did  so  for  hire,  or  from 
native  ferocity  of  character. 

For  the  amusement  of  the  people,  lions,  leopards,  bears,  elephants, 
and  all  kinds  of  wild  beasts,  were  sent  from  Africa  and  the  provinces. 
Pompey,  on  one  occasion,  treated  the  people  with  the  spectacle  of 
500  lions,  which  were  despatched  in  five  days. 

The  gladiatorial  shows,  however,  had  superior  attractions 
for  the  Romans.  It  is  painful  to  observe  this  most  distin- 
guished people  finding  their  chief  pleasure  in  the  combats. 
wounds,  and  death  of  multitudes  of  their  fellow-creatures. 
Yet  not  only  the  populace,  but  the  knights,  senators,  and 
Roman  ladies  of  distinction,  eagerly  crowded  to  the  sight. 

§  The  first  gladiatorial  shows  were  exhibited  about  the  year  of  the 
city  490,  by  two  brothers  called  Bruti,  at  the  funeral  of  their  father. 
Afterwards  they  were  exhibited  by  the  magistrates  at  regular  periods, 
arid  at  length  they  became  the  chief  means  of  obtaining  favour  with 
the  people.  They  were  not  entirely  abolished  till  the  reign  of  Theo- 
dosius  the  Great. 

Incredible  numbers  of  captives,  &c.  were  destroyed  on  these  occa- 
sions. Trajan  exhibited  games  for  123  days,  when  10,000  wild  beasts 
vyere  killed,  and  10,000  gladiators  fought.  During  the  reign  of  Clau- 
dius was  exhibited  the  spectacle  of  19,000  men  slaughtering  one  ano* 

v^  for  the  amusement  of  the  Roman  populace. 


208  GENERAL  VIEWS. 


Gladiators  consisted  chiefly  of  slaves,  captives,  and  condemned 
malefactors ;  but  sometimes  free-born  citizens  became  gladiators  for 
hire.  Even  persons  of  noble  birth  were  induced  to  display  their 
skill  and  courage  before  the  people,  in  these  combats. 

There  were^parious  sorts  of  armour,  and  various  modes  of  fighting. 
One  mode  was  the  use  of  the  net.  "With  that  a  gladiator  would  en- 
tangle his  opponent,  by  casting  it  over  his  head;  and  suddenly 
drawing  it  together,  could  despatch  him  with  his  dart.  If  he  missed 
his  aim,  he  betook  himself  to  flight,  preparing  his  net  for  a  second 
cast,  while  his  opponent  in  the  pursuit  endeavoured  to  despatch  him, 
before  ho  could  have  an  opportunity. 

Amphitheatres  were  erected  for  the  convenience  of  the  spectators. 
The  most  celebrated  was  the  Coliseum  already  mentioned.  Large 
coverings  were  drawn  over  the  amphitheatres,  as  a  screen  from  the 
heat  cf  the  sun,  or  from  rain. 

69.  Education.  The  system  of  education  among  the 
Romans,  when  in  their  most  intellectual  state,  that  is,  about 
the  time  of  Cicero,  was  much  to  be  admired.  The  utmost 
attention  was  bestowed  on  the  early  formation  of  the  mind 
and  character. 

The  Roman  matrons  themselves  nursed  their  children. 
Next  to  the  care  bestowed  upon  their  morals,  a  remarkable 
degree  of  attention  seems  to  have  been  given  to  the  language 
of  children.  The  attainment  of  a  pure  and  correct  expression 
was  a  great  object.  The  honours  of  the  state  were  the  prize 
of  eloquence.  The  politeness  which  characterized  the  Romans 
shewed  itself  particularly  in  their  speech  and  gesture. 

§  The  education  of  the  Romans  at  first  suited  their  rude  state  of  soci- 
ety and  their  simple  manner  of  life.  But  upon  their  intercourse  with 
the  Greeks,  a  more  liberal  form  of  education  was  adopted.  Public 
schools  were  opened  for  the  reception  of  youth  of  both  sexes.  In 
literature  and  the  accomplishments  of  polished  life  they  were  alike 
instructed. 

From  the  earliest  dawn  of  reason  a  course  of  discipline  was  pur- 
sued by  some  matron  of  the  family ;  and  as  children  grew  towards 
manhood,  they  were  habituated  to  all  the  athletic  exercises  that 
could  impart  agility  or  grace,  and  fit  them  for  the  profession  of  arms. 

At  the  age  of  17  they  were  invested  with  the  manly  robe,  and  young 
men  of  family  were  placed  under  the  protection  of  some  senator  of 
distinguished  reputation  in  jurisprudence.  Although  he  was  not  con- 
sidered a  preceptor,  yet  under  his  auspices  they  were  initiated  into 
public  business. 

Eloquence  and  the  military  art  were  the  surest  roads  to  preferment. 
These  accordingly  were  made  commanding  objects  of  pursuit  with 
the  Roman  youth.  Eloquence  was  taught  as  a  science  at  public 
schools. 

From  the  care  which  the  Romans  bestowed  upon  the  education  of 


ROMANS.  209 

their  youth,  both  male  and  female,  arose  the  large  number  of  great 
men  and  eminent  women  which  Rome  has  produced,  and  the  vir- 
tues with  which  they  were  adorned,  during  the  brilliant  era  of  the 
republic.  Happy,  could  their  history  be  closed  at  that  epoch  ;  but  the 
tide  of  luxury  afterwards  swept  away  the  most  valuable  of  their  in- 
stitutions. 

70.  Literature.  Previously  to  their  intercourse  with 
Greece,  the  Romans,  though  a  sensible  and  energetic,  were 
a  rude  and  illiterate  people.  Their  language  for  a  long  tim 
was  in  a  very  imperfect  state.  The  very  few  fragments  of 
sentences  which  have  come  down  to  us  from  an  early  period., 
such  as  are  found  in  the  "  Fratres  Arvales,"  and  "  Leges  Re- 
gise,"  show  a  great  difference  between  the  language  then  in 
use,  and  that  which  was  employed  during  the  age  of  Au- 
gustus. 

After  successive  improvements,  the  Romans  became  re- 
nowned in  literature  during  the  last  named  period.  The  mas- 
ter-pieces of  Greece,  kindled  the  fire  of  emulation.  Roman 
literature,  in  the  Augustan  era,  was  inferior  to  that  of  the 
Greeks,  only  because  it  was  necessarily  less  original  and  more 
imitative  than  theirs.  In  some  respects  the  Romans  improved 
upon  their  models.  Poetry,  history,  oratory,  philosophy,  and 
the  various  kinds  of  fine  writing,  were  cultivated  with  great 
success. 

§  The  dawning  of  Roman  literature  appeared  in  the  writings  of 
Livius  Andronicus,  Plautirs.  Ennrus,  Caecilius,  and  Terence.  These 
writers  improved  and  polished  the  language,  partly  by  original  com- 
positions, and  partly  by  translations  from  the  Greek. 

Poetry  among  the  Romans,  as  with  most  other  nations, 
appears  to  have  been  the  earliest  intellectual  effort.  Of  this  we 
have  an  instance  in  the  Fescennine  verses,  mentioned  by 
Livy,  which  are  supposed  to  have  been  a  rude  poetical  dia- 
logue. This  doubtless  proved  to  be  the  germ  of  the  stage. 
Other  species  of  poetry  naturally  followed. 
.  §  The  names  that  adorned  the  Roman  drama  were  Livius  Andro- 
nicus ;  Ennius,  who  more  especially  improved  it ;  Plautns,  who 
wrote  with  strength  and  spirit ;  Caecilius,  who  is  reckoned  the  best 
of  the  Roman  dramatists  ;  Terence,  who  excels  in  simplicity  and  pu- 
rity; Accius,  and  Pacuvius,  who  though  rough  in  style  shewed 
strength  of  genius.  All  these  except  the  two  last  were  comic  wri- 
ters. 

The  lyric  poetry  of  the  Romans  owns  the  names  of  Catullus,  the 
earliest  in  this  kind  of  poetry  ;  and  Horace,  the  greatest  among  the 
Romans,  if  not  of  antiquity,  though  he  is  highly  to  be  censured  on 
account  of  his  occasional  indelicacy. 

S2 


210  GENERAL  VIEWS. 

In  elegiac  poetry,  Propertius,  and  Tibullus  poured  their  tender  and 
elegant  strains,  and  Ovid  uttered  the  language  of  nature  and  passion. 
The  two  last  especially  offend  on  the  score  of  morals. 

Of  satiric  poetry,  Lucillius  is  said  to  be  the  inventor :  Horace  also 
excelled  in  this  species  of  poetic  composition.  Some  other  names 
among  the  Romans,  are  distinguished  as  satirists,  but  they  belong  to 
a  subsequent  era. 

In  didactic  poetry,  Lucretius  is  a  great  name  j  and  of  epic  poetry 
Virgil  is  prince  among  the  Romans.  Homer  among  the  Greeks,  and 
Virgil  among  the  Romans,  have  come  down  to  us  with  almost  equal 
renown. 

History  was  cultivated  by  the  Romans  with  much  success, 
particularly  during  the  Augustan  age. 

§'  The  most  eminent  of  their  historians  were  Sallust,  who  excelled 
in  the  philosophy  of  history ;  Caesar,  who  wrote  with  purity  and  sim- 
plicity ;  "but  especially  Livy,  whose  judgment,  perspicuity,  copious- 
ness, and  eloquence,  place  him  at  the  head  of  Roman  historical  wri- 
ters. 

Oratory  was  a  favourite  study  at  Rome,  as  it  led  to  the 
highest  honours  of  the  state.  The  most  distinguished  sena- 
tors are  said  to  have  exercised  their  talents  in  public  speak- 
ing, in  behalf  of  the  poor  and  oppressed.  The  characteristics 
of  Roman  eloquence  were  seriousness,  copiousness,  and  ma- 
jesty. 

§  J.  Caesar,  Hortensius,  and  particularly  Cicero,  distinguished  them- 
selves as  public  speakers.  Of  Caesar  it  is  said  that  "  he  spoke  with 
the  same  force  with  which  he  fought."  Hortensius  was  eclipsed 
only  by  Cicero.  And  Cicero  is  the  rival  of  Demosthenes  in  fame. 

Philosophy  made  its  first  appearance  at  Rome,  in  the  in- 
terval between  the  war  with  Perseus,  and  the  third  Punic 
war.  It  was  derived  from  Greece.  The  various  systems  of 
the  Greek  philosophy,  had  their  respective  partisans  at  Rome. 

§  A  few  learned  Achaeans,  banished  from  their  country,  and  arriving 
at  Italy,  diffused  a  taste  for  philosophy,  polite  learning,  and  the  edu- 
cation of  youth.  Fearing  foreign  manners  with  foreign  studies,  the 
senate  banished  the  Greek  philosophers  from  Rome.  But  the  Athe- 
nian embassy  arriving  soon  after,  brought  thither  Carneades  and 
Critolaus,  who  revived  the  taste  for  the  Greek  philosophy. 

The  system  of  the  Stoics  was  at  first  more  generally  received,  as 
this  comported  with  the  national  character.  Among  the  Roman  sto- 
ics, were  Scipio,  Laelius,  and  the  younger  Cato. 

The  philosophy  of  Aristotle  was  little  known  in  Rome  till  the  time, 
of  Cicero.    Cratippus  and  Tyrannion  then  taught  his  system  with 
great  reputation. 

The  Old  and  New  Academy  had  each  its  advocates  and  disciples 
Marcus  Brutus,  and  Terentius  Varro,  were  ornaments  of  the  former. 
Of  the  New  Academy,  Cicero  must  be  considered  as  the  principal 


ROMANS.  211 

supporter,  though  his  design  seems  to  have  been  rather  to  illustrate 
the  Greek  philosophy  in  general.  He  was  the  greatest  of  the  Roman 
philosophers,  if  not  on  the  whole  the  greatest  man  of  all  antiquity. 

With  the  introduction  of  luxury,  the  philosophy  of  Epicurus  be- 
came' fashionable.  The  poet  Horace  was  a  devotee  to  this  system,  as 
also  Lucretius,  and  many  others,  who  very  liberally  indulged  their 
appetites,  and  taught  others  to  indulge  them. 

Physics,  or  natural  philosophy,  seems  to  have  been  little 
cultivated  by  the  Romans  or  by  the  Greeks  Before  them. 
Varro  is  the  only  name  conspicuous  in  this  department,  in  the 
annals  of  antiquity. 

In  some  instances,  splendid  libraries  were  attached  to  the 
galleries  of  some  affluent  patricians,  who  patronized  learning. 
These  libraries  were  open  to  the  inspection  of  the  learned  and 
curious,  and  contributed  greatly  to  the  advancement  of  know- 
ledge at  Rome. 

§  Among  these,  the  library  of  Lucullus  was  remarkable,  not  only 
for  the  number  and  variety  of  the  books,  and  specimens  of  art,  but  for 
the  liberal  use  to  which  it  was  devoted. 

71.  Arts.  The  Romans  are  not  to  be  compared  with  the 
Greeks,  as  to  native  taste  and  inventive  genius,  as  the  fine 
arts  are  concerned.    They  admired  and  imitated  the  master- 
pieces of  Greece.  But  in  execution,  for  the  most  part,  they  fell 
short  of  their  models.  By  help  derived  from   Grecian  genius, 
they  have,  however,  left  many  wonderful  specimens  in  the 
arts,  particularly  in  architecture. 

§  Their  conquest  of  Greece  secured  to  them  as  spoils  the  noble 
productions  of  Greece  in  painting  and  statuary.  With  these  the 
wealthy  Roman  citizens  adorned  the  city,  its  temples,  and  porticoes, 
and  their  own  private  dwellings. 

The  names  of  few  Roman  artists  occur.  Vitruvius  wrote  the  only 
book  on  architecture  that  is  now  extant.  He  shews  that  he  was  a 
master  of  his  profession.  In  great  and  magnificent  works,  Rome  has 
manifested  her  unbounded  wealth  and  luxury. 

In  the  mechanic  arts  some  inventions  occur,  and  a  degree 
of  perfection  was  attained  among  the  Romans  of  ancient  his- 
tory. These  however  have  been  greatly  extended  and  im 
proved  in  more  recent  ages;  and  many  comforts  which  we 
enjoy,  derived  from  a  knowledge  of  mechanism,  were  un- 
known to  this  people. 

§  Such  conveniences  as  glass  windows  and  chimneys  in  houses, 
not  to  mention  many  others,  the  Romans  did  not  possess ;  though 
their  ingenuity  supplied  the  want,  in  part,  by  various  expedients. 

72.  Domestic  Life  and  Manners.  The  houses  and  furni- 
ture of  the  early  Romans  were  entirely  plain  in  their  con- 


212  GENERAL  VIEWS. 


struction.  When  luxury  commenced  in  Rome,  this  plainness 
was  laid  aside,  and  the  decorations  of  art  were  assumed  in  a 
degree.  At  this  latter  period,  and  before  luxury  reached  its 
utmost  bounds,  each  house  contained  one  spacious  hall,  in 
which  the  family  assembled,  and  which  served  all  the  pur 
poses  of  society. 

§  Towards  the  close  of  the  republic,  however,  various  apartments 
werg  constructed  for  the  reception  and  entertainment  of  company, 
and  in- the  time  of  the  emperors,  their  embellishment  was  carried  to 
the  highest  point  of  perfection.  The  eating  rooms  were  remarkable 
for  their  grandeur. 

The  tables  were  originally  made  of  ordinary  wood,  square,  and  on 
four  feet ;  but  the  form  was  afterwards  changed  to  circular,  or  oval, 
supported  on  a  single  carved  pedestal,  and  they  were  richly  inlaid 
with  ivory,  gold,  or  silver,  sometimes  with  the  addition  of  precious 
stones. 

We  read  of  a  single  table  formed  of  a  kind  of  wood,  called  citron 
wood,  with  which  we  are  unacquainted,  that  cost  upwards  of  eight 
thousand  pounds  sterling.  A  canopy  was  suspended  over  the  table, 
to  guard  it,  as  it  is  said,  from  dirt  of  the  ceiling.  This,  however  it 
may  have  added  to  the  decoration  of  the  apartments,  does  not  convey 
a  very  favourable  idea  of  the  cleanliness  of  the  Romans. 

Originally,  the  Roman  villa  was  nothing  raore  than  a  farm-house 
of  a  very  humble  description ;  but  at  length  the  word  lost  its  original 
signification,  and  was  used  to  denote  the  abode  of  luxury  and  opu- 
lence. We  have  fortunately  a  complete  and  beautiful  description  of 
one,  and  that  his  own,  in  the  works  of  Pliny  the  younger.  They 
were  very  numerous  about  Rome,  and  very  magnificent. 

The  meals  of  the  earlier  Romans  were  very  simple  and 
frugal.  The  articles  of  food,  and  the  furniture  of  the  table, 
were  coarse.  But  afterwards  they  became  costly  and  luxuri- 
ous to  the  highest  degree.  The  epicurism  of  the  later  Romans 
was  enormous. 

At  first  they  sat  upright  on  benches,  but  at  last  adopted 
the  habit  of  reposing  on  couches.  Their  principal  meal  was 
their  supper,  taken  a  little  before  four  o'clock,  P.  M.  Their 
breakfast  was  not  a  regular  meal ;  it  was  taken  by  each  one 
separately  and  without  order  ;  and  their  dinner  was  a  very 
slight  repast.  Their  supper  was  their  last  regular  meal, 
though  it  was  sometimes  followed  by  a  collation,  called  com- 

missatio. 

§  The  diet  of  the  earlier  Romans  consisted  of  milk  and  vegetables, 
with  a  coarse  kind  of  pudding  which  served  in  the  room  of  bread. 
They  rarely  indulged  in  meat,  and  wine  was  almost  unknown  to 
them.  They  banished  epicures  from  among  them. 

The  change  which  took  place  in  the  latter  days  of  the  republic 


ROMANS.  213 

and  in  the  beginning  of  the  empire,  was  very  striking.  Notwithstand- 
ing sumptuary  laws,  epicurism  advanced  with  great  rapidity,  till 
finally  it  reached  such  a  height,  that  viands  were  esteemed  only  in 
proportion  to  their  cost. 

Thus,  Maltese  cranes,  peacocks,  and  rare  singing  birds,  although 
hardly  eatable,  were  esteemed  great  delicacies,  and  their  tongues  and 
brains  still  greater ;  oysters  from  the  coast  of  Britain  were  more 
prized  than  their  own,  though  the  former  would  never  have  been 
eaten  fresh ;  and  we  are  told  of  a  singular  sur-mullet,  which  had 
reached  a  size  somewhat  larger  than  common,  having  been  sold  for 
a  sum  equivalent  to  fifty  guineas. 

The  Romans  used  wine  of  the  most  costly  kinds  at  their  feasts. 
The  age  of  it  was  often  very  great,  We  read  of  some  that  was  200 
years  old.  The  Grecian  wines  were  in  greater  estimation  than  even 
the  Italian.  They  used  also  mead,  metheglin,  and  other  fermented 
liquors.  Such  was  their  depravity,  they  contrived  that  even  water 
should  contribute  to  inebriate  them. 

Gluttony  was  indulged  to  such  a  disgusting  excess,  that  emetics 
were  used  to  enable  the  stomach,  already  gorged  with  a  full  meal,  to 
bear  a  further  load.  This  doubtless  was  not  a  universal  practice, 
neither,  however,  was  it  confined  to  a  few  individual  instances. 

The  services  of  the  tables  were  at  first  only  of  earthen-ware,  or 
wood.  The  use  of  plate  was  then  almost  unknown.  At  a  later  peri- 
od plate  became  so  general,  that  it  was  as  common,  as  it  had  been 
previously  rare,  and  in  the  time  of  the  emperors,  it  was  frequently 
of  gold. 

The  couches  on  which  they  lay  down  at  supper  were  somewhat 
similar  to  the  modern  sofa.  The  ladies  at  first  did  not  adopt  this 
practice,  and  the  indulgence  was  never  extended  to  young  people  of 
either  sex. 

Each  couch  could  accommodate  three  or  four,  but  seldom  five 
persons,  who  laid  in  a  reclining  posture,  on  the  left  arm,  having 
the  shoulders  elevated  with  cushions,  and  the  limbs  extended  be- 
hind whoever  was  next ;  so  that  the  head  of  the  one  was  opposite 
to  the  breast  of  the  other,  and  in  serving  themselves,  they  made  use 
only  of  the  right  hand.  There  were  many  other  singular  customs 
observed  at  their  suppers,  which  we  have  not  time  to  enumerate. 

Daily  Bathing  was  practised  by  the  Roman  people,  both  in 
warm  and  cold  water.  Vast  quantities  of  water  were  brought 
to  Rome,  for  this  and  other  purposes,  by  means  of  aqueducts. 
These  aqueducts  were  magnificent  works,  as  also  the  baths 
bcrh  public  and  private  which  were  erected. 

§  The  use  of  linen,  which  was  unknown  to  the  Romans,  has  ren- 
dered this  practice  for  a  long  time  obsolete  in  Italy ;  but  in  the  times 
of  which  we  speak,  it  was  necessary  for  the  purposes  of  cleanliness 
as  well  as  luxury.  The  remains  of  some  of  the  baths,  are  the  most 
astonishing  works  of  Roman  grandeur  and  magnificence. 

Bathing  commenced  with  warm  and  ended  with  cold  water.    On 


214  GENERAL   VIEWS. 

- 

leaving  the  bath  the  people  were  anointed  with  scented  oils,  and 
went  immediately  to  supper. 

The  Dress  of  the  Romans  consisted  chiefly  of  the  toga  and 
the  tunica.  The  toga  or  gown  worn  by  the  citizens  only,  was 
loose  and  flowing,  and  covered  the  whole  body :  it  was  made 
of  wool,  had  no  sleeves,  and  was  disposed  in  graceful  folds, 
with  a  view  to  improve  the  appearance  of  the  wearer. 

The  toga  virilis,  or  manly  gown,  was  assumed  by  young 
men  at  the  age  of  seventeen. 

The  tunica  or  tunic,  was  a  white  woollen  vest,  which  came 
down  a  little  below  the  knees  before,  and  to  the  middle  of  the 
leg  behind,  and  was  fastened  about  the  waist  by  a  girdle, 
which  also  served  as  a  purse. 

§  Women  wore  a  tunic  as  well  as  the  men,  but  with  this  difference, 
at  first,  that  it  reached  down  to  the  feet  of  the  women,  and  had 
sleeves.  Afterwards  the  men  wore  the  tunic  in  the  same  manner. 

Hats  and  Caps,  though  known,  were  worn  only  on  journeys  or  at 
the  public  games.  In  the  city  they  usually  went  bare  headed,  or  co- 
vered themselves  with  the  corner  of  the  toga. 

Ladies  of  distinction  had  many  waiting  maids,  who  were  appro- 
priated to  particular  services ;  and  the  duties  of  the  toilet,  though  not 
perhaps  so  well  understood  as  in  modem  times,  were  as  assiduously 
attended  to. 

Jewels,  bracelets,  rings,  and  various  expensive  ornaments,  were 
worn  in  great  profusion.  The  convenience  of  pins  was  not  known, 
nor  were  glass  mirrors,  though  there  were  substitutes  for  them. 
Pure  woven  silk  and  linen  were  little  known  and  used  till  the  time 
of  the  emperors,  and  not  at  all  known  during  nearly  the  whole  peri- 
od of  the  republic. 

Marriage  was  an  institution  highly  countenanced  among 
the  Romans.  Severe  laws  were  at  times  enacted  to  restrain 
celibacy,  though  never  with  much  effect.  Fathers  of  large 
families  were  particularly  respected.  Marriages  with  foreign- 
ers were  strictly  forbidden.  The  validity  of  the  transaction 
depended  on  the  legal  age  of  the  parties,  and  the  consent  of 

parents. 

§  Boys  were  considered  marriageable  at  fourteen  ;  girls  at  twelve. 
A  marriage  was  never  solemnized  without  consulting  the  auspices, 
and  offering  sacrifices  to  the  gods ;  particularly  to  Juno ;  and  the  ani- 
mals immolated  on  the  occasion,  were  deprived  of  their  gall,  in  allu- 
sion to  the  absence  of  every  thing  bitter  and  malignant  in  the  pro- 
posed union.  The  mode  of  marriage  and  the  multitude  of  ceremo- 
nies attending  it  cannot  here  be  described. 

Marriage,  among  the  Romans,  was  not  indissoluble.  A  husband 
might  repudiate  his  wife  for  several  reasons,  besides  that  of  having 
violated  her  conjugal  faith.  But  to  the  honour  of  the  Romans,  more 


ROMANS.  215 

than  four  centuries  elapsed  without  any  suit  among  them  for  divorce, 
or  complaint  of  adultery.  Afterwards  divorces  became  very  frequent, 
and  for  the  most  frivolous  causes. 

Fathers  at  Rome  were  generally  invested  with  the  power  of  life 
and  death  over  their  children.  Exposure  of  infants  was  at  first  some- 
what frequent,  but  at  length  nearly  ceased.  The  adoption  of  children 
by  married  persons  who  were  childless  was  very  common,  on 
count  of  the  privileges  connected  with  having  children,  whether 
issue  or  adoption. 

The  funeral  rites  of  the  Romans  were  solemn  and  impres- 
sive. During  the  greater  part  of  the  commonwealth,  the  dead 
body  was  buried.  Towards  the  close,  the  practice  of  burning 
the  dead  was  generally  introduced,  till  it  became  universal. 
After  the  introduction  of  Christianity  into  the  empire,  it  fell 

into  disuse. 

§  It  was  a  received  opinion  among  the  ancients,  that  the  manes  of 
the  deceased  were  propitiated  by  blood.  It  was  on  this  account  their 
custom  to  slaughter,  on  the  tomb  of  the  deceased,  those  animals  to 
which,  while  he  was  living,  he  was  most  attached ;  and  in  the  more 
barbarous  ages,  men  were  the  victims  of  this  horrid  superstition. 

"  Arms,  trappings,  horses,  by  the  hearse  were  led 
In  long  array — the  achievements  of  the  dead. 
Then  pinion'd,  with  their  hands  behind,  appear 
The  unhappy  captives,  marching  in  the  rear, 
Appointed  offerings  in  the  victor's  name, 
To  sprinkle  with  their  blood,  the  funeral  flame." 

Dryderts  Virgil. 

Many  of  the  Roman  sepulchres  still  exist  in  the  gardens  of  their 
villas  or  by  the  public  roads,  (for  inhumation  was  not  allowed  with- 
in the  walls,)  with  their  various  monumental  inscriptions. 

72k  Foreign  Commerce.  The  foreign  commerce  of'  the 
Romans  appears  very  unimportant,  compared  with  the  exten- 
sive mercantile  transactions  of  our  own  times.  Their  trade, 
if  we  except  the  corn  received  on  account  of  government  from 
Sicily  and  the  Levant,  consisted  of  little  else,  than  articles  of 
mere  luxury.  Their  purchases  were  made  in  bullion,  as  they 
had  no  exportable  manufactures  of  their  own.  This  circum- 
stance necessarily  restricted  their  commercial  dealings. 

§  They  traded,  it  is  true,  not  only  to  the  ports  of  the  Mediterrane- 
an, but  to  the  East  Indies,  and  occasionally  even  to  England ;  but  the 
interests  of  commerce  were  little  understood,  and  less  appreciated. , 
Traffic  was  dishonourable,  and  they  who  engaged  in  it  were  held  in 
contempt.  The  consequence  was,  that  it  was  relinquished  to  slaves 
and  freemen,  who  seldom  possessed  the  means  to  conduct  it  on  an 
extensive  scale. 

Their  merchant  ships  were  large,  if  they  reached  the  burthen  ol 
fifty  tons. 


216  GENERAL  VIEWS, 

Syria. 

73.  Situation  and  Cities.  Syria  lay  on  the  east  coast 
of  the  Mediterranean  below  Cilicia.  The  coast  was  called 
Phoenicia,  and  below  it  was  Palestine.  On  the  south  it  had 
Arabia  and  the  Euphrates. 

Its  towns  and  noticeable  places  were  Antioch,  Daphne, 
Seleucia,  Damascus,  Heliopolis,  and  Palmyra,  or  Tadmor. 

Antioch  at  one  time,  was  inferior  only  to  Rome  and  Alexandria 
in  greatness  and  population.  It  is  now  almost  depopulated,  though 
its  strong  walls  on  both  sides  of  the  Orontes,  remain. 

Daphne  was  a  place  consecrated  to  luxury,  and  enchanting  from 
its  cool  fountains  and  shady  groves  of  laurel,  cypress,  &c.  Milton 
compares  the  garden  of  Eden  to  it — 

— "  Nor  that  sweet  grove 
"  Of  Daphne  by  Orontes."— 

Seleucia  was  on  the  sea  near  the  mouth  of  the  Orontes. — The  bard 
again  speaks  of 

"  The  royal  towers 
Of  great  Seleucia,  built  by  Grecian  kings." 

Damascus  was  the  capital  of  the  Phoenicia  of  Libanus.  Its  fertile 
and  irriguous  valley  has  ever  been  famous  among  the  orientals. 

Heliopolis,  under  the  name  of  Baalbeck,  has  the  remains  of  a  mag- 
nificent temple  dedicated  to  the  sun.  The  whole  edifice,  and  parti- 
cularly the  roof,  glittered  with  gold. 

Palmyra  gave  the  name  of  Palmyrene  to  a  vast  plain,  which  was 
united  to  the  desert  of  Arabia.  The  bible  and  Josephus  inform  us  it 
was  founded  by  Solomon.  It  maintained  a  great  commerce  between 
two  divisions  of  the  ancient  hemisphere.  The  remains  of  lofty  edi- 
fices manifest  its  former  magnificence,  and  attract  the  curious  and 
astonished  traveller. 

74.  Character  of  the  ancient  Syrians.  The  ancient 
Syrians  were  miserable  idolaters.  • 

An  instance  of  their  worship  is  thus  described  by  the  poet  before 
named. 


•"Tammuz  came  next  behind, 


Whose  annual  wound  in  Lebanon  allur'd 
The  Syrian  damsels  to  lament  his  fate, 
In  am'rous  ditties  all  a  summer's  day : 
While  smooth  Adonis  from  his  native  rock 
Ran  purple  to  the  sea,  supposed  with  blood 
Of  Tammuz  yearly  wounded." 

They  were  also  somewhat  of  an  effeminate  race,  and  re 
markable  for  hiding  themselves  from  the  sun,  in  caves,  on  the 
decease  of  their  relatives. 

75.  Language.  The  Syrian  language  became  a  distinct 
tongue,  so  early  as  the  time  of  Jacob.  It  was  spoken  not 
only  in  Syria,  but  also  in  Mesopotamia,  Chaldeea,  and  Assy* 


PERSIA.  217 

ria.     After  the  Babylonish  captivity,  it  was  introduced  into 
Palestine. 

§  The  Syriac  is  an  easy  and  elegant,  though  not  a  very  copious 
tongue.  It  abounds  in  many  Greek  words. 

Carthage. 

76.  Extent.     Carthage  has  been  briefly  described  in  the 
body  of  this  work.     It  may  only  be  stated  here  that  with  its 
ports,  it  comprehended  an  enclosure  of  23  miles.  It  had  a  cita 
del  named  Byrsa,  on  an  eminence. 

§  Its  military  prowess  was  at  its  height,  under  Hamilcar  and  Hanni- 
bal. The  city'^vvas  destroyed  by  the  second  Scipio,  B.  C.  147.  It 
then  burned  incessantly  during  17  days.  It  was  rebuilt  by  Roman 
colonies.  Its  decay  may  be  traced  from  the  seventh  century,  when 
it  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Saracens. 

77.  Government  and  Character  of  the  People.     The 
Carthaginians  were  governed  as  a  republic,  and   had  two 
persons  yearly  chosen  among   them   with   regal  authority. 
They  were   very  superstitious   as  a  people,  and  generally 
offered  human  victims  to  their  gods.     They  also  bore  the 
character  of  being  faithless  and  treacherous,  and  the  proverb, 
Punic  faith,  is  well  known. 

Parthia. 

78.  Situation,  fyc.     Parthia  had  Hyrcania  on  the  north  ; 
Aria  on  the  east ;  Carmania  on  the  south  ;  and  Media  on  the 
west.     It  was  a  healthy  country,  but  sterile.     The  people 
were  governed  by  an  absolute  monarch. 

§  The  ancient  Parthians  were  originally  a  tribe  of  Scythians,  who 
being  expelled  from  their  native  land,  took  up  their  abode  in  this  part 
of  Asia.  They  were  a  strong  and  warlike  people,  and  accustomed 
from  their  infancy  to  the  exercises  of  horsemanship  and  arChery. 

The  peculiar  custom  of  discharging  their  arrows  while  they  were 
retiring  full  speed,  has  been  greatly  celebrated  by  the  ancients. 
Their  flight  was  more  formidable  than  their  attack. 

They  totally  neglected  agriculture,  trade  and  navigation,  and  their 
morals  were  dreadfully  depraved.  Their  religious  principles  were 
much  the  same  as  those  of  the  Persians.  Their  sovereigns  affected 
to  be  gods. 

Persia. 

79.  Extent   and   Situation.     Ancient   Persia   extended 
about  2800  miles  in  length  from  the  Hellespont  to  the  mouth 
of  the  river  Indus  ;  and  about  2000  miles  in  breadth,  from 
Pontus  to  the  mouth  of  the  Arabian  gulf. 

80.  Government.    The  government  of  Persia  was  an  ab- 


218  GENERAL  VIEWS. 

solute  monarchy.  The  crown  was  hereditary,  and  generally 
bestowed  on  the  eldest  of  the  deceased  king's  legitimate  chil- 
dren. 

§  The  kings  of  Persia  received  almost  divine  honours  from  their 
subjects.  No  one  could  approach  the  seat  of  majesty  without  pros- 
trating himself,  or  remain  in  the  presence,  without  holding  his  hands 
within  his  sleeves.  Death  was  the  consequence  of  violating  this 
ceremony. 

Herodotus  mentions  that  Xerxes  being  once  in  great  danger  by 
sea,  many  of  his  attendants  strove  who  should  first  leap  overboard  to 
lighten  the  vessel,  and  sacrifice  themselves  for  the  preservation  of 
their  prince. 

The  royal  palace  at  Persepolis  was  extremely  magnificent.  The 
roofs  and  sides  of  the  apartments  were  entirely  covered  with  ivory, 
silver,  gold,  or  amber.  The  throne  was  of  fine  gold  and  adorned 
with  precious  stones.  The  royal  bed  was  also  of  gold,  and  two  cof- 
fers were  placed  by  it,  both  containing  8,000  talents. 

The  Persian  monarchs,  for  the  most  part,  lived  only  to  gratify  their 
sensual  appetites.  All  the  delicacies  and  rarities  of  the  world  were 
sought  for  their  table.  Cicero  informs  us,  that  the  revenues  of  whole 
provinces  were  lavished  on  the  attire  of  their  favorite  concubines,  one 
city  being  compelled  to  supply  them  with  ornaments  for  their  hair, 
another  for  their  necks,  &c. 

81.  Education.      The  Persians  are  said  to  have  paid 
more  particular  regard  to  the  education  of  their  children,  than 
any  other  nation.     A  son  was  never  admitted  into  the  pre- 
sence of  his  father,  till  he  had  arrived   at   the  age  of  five 
years,  lest,  if  he  should  die  before  that  period,  his  parents 
might  be  too  heavily  afflicted  by  his  loss. 

§  At  the  age  of  five,  learned  masters  taught  the  children  of  the  better 
families,  in  learning  and  moral  virtues,  taking  with  them  the  utmost 
pains,  and  bestowing  upon  them  the  greatest  care. 

82.  Punishments.     The  punishments  in  general  were  se- 
vere, as  cutting  off  the  right  hand,  decapitation,  pressing  to 
death  between  two  large  stones,  &c. 

§  The  most  severe  punishment  known  in  Persia,  was  the  inhuman 
one  of  fastening  the  culprit  between  two  boats,  in  such  a  manner  that 
he  was  unable  to  move,  though  his  head,  hands  and  feet  were  left 
uncovered.  His  face,  exposed  to  the  rays  of  the  sun,  was  smeared 
with  honey,  which  invited  innumerable  swarms  of  flies  and  wasps  to 
torment  him,  while  the  worms  that  bred  in  his  excrements  devoured 
his  bowels ;  and  the  executioners  compelled  him,  by  thrusting  sharp 
iron  instrument  into  his  eyes,  to  receive  nourishment  for  the  express 
purpose  of  prolonging  his  excruciating  agonies.  One  victim  is  re- 
corded to  have  lived  17  days  under  this  complication  of  torments. 

83.  Military  Art.    The  Persians  were  all  trained  to  mili- 
tary exercise,  but  more  particularly  to  the  use  of  the  bow, 


MYTHOLOGY.  219 

They  never  fought  in  the  night,  nor  used  any  stiatagem  in- 
dependent of  their  own  valour. 

§  When  they  designed  to  make  war  upon  any  nation,  they  had  the 
singular  custom  of  sending  heralds  to  demand  of  them  earth  and 
water,  thereby  commanding  them  to  acknowledge  the  king  of  Persia, 
as  sovereign  lord  of  their  country. 

84.  Religion.  Their  religion  was  in  a  degree  idolatrous, 
though  less  so  than  that  of  the  nations  around  them.  They 
professed  to  worship  the  one  all-wise  and  omnipotent  God 
though  they  held  fire  to  be  holy,  and  the  purest  symbol  of 
the  divine  nature.  In  connexion  with  this,  they  had  a  super- 
stitious regard  of  the  sun.  They  honoured  also  other  elements, 

as  the  earth,  the  air,  and  water. 

§  The  Persians  are  supposed  to  have  been  originally  instructed 
in  the  worship  of  the  true  God  by  their  progenitor  Elam,  but  soon 
to  have  fallen  into  the  heresy  of  Zabiism.  From  this  they  are 
thought  to  have  been  recovered,  and  to  have  afterwards  engaged  in 
superstitious  acts  of  reverence  to  the  celestial  bodies. 

In  ancient  times,  they  were  destitute  of  temples,  but  erected  altars 
for  the  preservation  of  their  sacred  fires,  on  the  tops  of  mountains. 
At  length  Zoroaster  persuaded  them,  for  the  sake  of  convenience, 
to  build  over  each,  a  pyreum  or  fire-temple.  This  Zoroaster  is  sup- 
posed by  some  to  have  been  a  native  of  Persia,  and  a  restorer  of  the 
religion  of  the  Magi. 

MYTHOLOGY  OF  ANCIENT  NATIONS. 

1.  All  the  nations  of  antiquity,  except   the   Jews,  were 
heathens  and  idolaters.     Their  system  of  religion  was  called 
Polytheism,  as  acknowledging  a  plurality  of  gods.     They 
worshipped  divinities  by  various  representations,  called  idols. 
Forsaking  the  service  of  the  only  living  and  true  God,  as 
made  known  at  first  by  traditionary,  and  afterwards  by  written 
revelation,  they  paid  that  homage  which  is  due  to  him,  to 
those  that  are  by  nature  no  God. 

2.  Besides  angels,  as  presiding  over  particular  kingdoms, — 
the  heavenly  bodies,  men,  beasts,  birds,  fishes,  virtues,  vices, 
diseases,  and  evil  demons,  were  esteemed  deities,  and  had  tem- 
oles  built  for  their  worship. 

Among  the  Egyptians,  the  principal  deities  were  Osiris  and  Isis, 
supposed  to  be  the  sun  and  moon.  The  people  however  bestowed 
divine  honours  on  animals,  birds,  insects,  and  even  vegetables,  as  leeks 
and  onions.  The  poet  Juvenal  intimates  that  their  religious  exercises 
were  not  greatly  esteemed  by  the  Romans.  In  fact,  they  exceeded 
all  the  other  ancients  m  these  absurdities,  and  were  extremely  de- 
based by  their  vile  superstitions. 


220  GENERAL    VIEWS. 

• 

The  Babylonians  and  Arabians  adored  the  heavenly  bodies.  They 
supposed  that  the  angels  resided  in  the  stars,  and  governed  the  world 
under  the  supreme  deity.  Among  the  later  Babylonians,  Belus  be- 
came their  Jupiter,  to  whom  a  magnificent  temple  was  erected  in 
Babylon. 

The  Canaanites  and  Syrians  worshipped  Baal,  Tarn  muz,  Magog, 
and  Astarte.  Moloch  was  the  Saturn  of  the  Phosnicians  and  Car- 
thaginians. To  him,  human  victims,  particularly  children,  were  im- 
molated. Baal-peor  was  the  idol  of  the  Moabites — his  rights  were 
detestable  and  cruel.  Dagon  was  the  chief  god  of  the  Philistines ;  his 
figure  was  compounded  of  a  man  and  a  fish. 

In  the  mythology  of  the  Scythians,  the  god  of  war  was  their 
favourite  divinity,  and  to  him  were  consecrated  groves  of  oaks  of 
extraordinary  size.  Horses  were  sacrificed,  and  every  hundredth 
man  taken  in  battle. 

In  the  mythology  of  the  Celts,  the  Druids  had  the  direction  of  theo- 
logical concerns.  Their  rites  were  performed  in  groves,  and  they  paid 
superstitious  reverence  to  the  misletoe.     Human  victims  were  often 
offered;  colossal  images  of  wicker-work,  filled  with  human  criminals, 
•'were  consumed  by  fire. 

The  Persians  in  their  religion  rejected,  for  the  most  part,  the  com- 
plicated popular  system  of  polytheism.     They  believed  in  one  su- 
preme God  who  formed  and  governed  all  things.    They,  however, 
preserved  the  sacred  fire,  as  it  was  called,  which  was  kindled  by  con 
secrated  sun-beams.    Their  rites  at  first  were  plain  and  simple,  and 
their  priests  were  called  magi.    These  tenets  of  their  primitive  reli 
gion  gradually  degenerated  into  Zabiism,  or  the  adoration  of  celestial 
bodies. 

The  mythology  of  the  ancient  Hindoos  resembles,  in  some  of  its 
features,  that  of  the  Egyptians,  Persians,  and  Scythians.  It  is  a 
strange  mixture  of  a  few  truths  with  many  wild  fables.  It  divides 
the  world  into  ten  parts,  setting'  over  each  a  guardian  spirit.  The 
deity  Brahma  is  made  the  creating  power,  Vishnu  is  the  preserver 
and  pervader,  and  Narayda,  the  mover  on  the  waters. 

3.  The  multitude  of  gods  as  an  object  of  faith,  is  preposter- 
ous and  wicked ;  but  the  elegant  forms  and  agreeable  fictions 
that  mythology  furnishes,  are  admirably  adapted  to  the  pur- 
poses of  poetry,  statuary,  and  painting.  The  imagination 
revels  in  a  region  fairy  and  enchanting. 

§  The  theology  of  Pagan  antiquity,  according  to  Scaevolaand  Var- 
ro,  was  of  three  sorts.  The  first  of  these  may  well  be  called  fabulous, 
as  treating"  of  the  theology  and  genealogy  of  their  deities,  in  which 
they  relate  such  things  as  are  infinitely  unworthy  of  the  divinity, 
ascribing  to  them,  thefts,  murders,  adulteries,  and  all  manner  of 
crimes. 

This  kind  of  theology  is  condemned  by  the  wiser  sort  of  heathens 
as  trifling  and  scandalous.  The  writers  of  this  sort  of  theology  were 
Sanchoniathon  the  Phoenician;  and  Orpheus,  Hesiod,  Pherecydes, 
&c.,  among  the  Greeks. 


MYTHOLOGY. 

The  second  kind  called  physic  or  natural,  was  studied  and  taught 
by  the  philosophers,  who  rejecting  the  multiplicity  of  gods  introduced 
by  the  poets,  brought  their  theology  to  a  more  natural  and  rational 
form.  They  supposed  that  there  was  but  one  supreme  God,  which 
they  commonly  make  to  be  the  sun,  at  least  an  emblem  of  him ;  but 
at  too  great  a  distance  to  mind  the  affairs  of  the  world,  and  therefore 
devised  certain  demons,  \vhich  they  considered  as  mediators  between 
the  supreme  God  and  man. 

The  speculations  of  the  philosophers  related  to  the  doctrines  of  these 
demons,  to  their  nature,  their  office,  and  regard  to  men.  Writers  Oi 
this  class  were  Thales,  Pythagoras,  Plato,  and  the  Stoics. 

The  third  kind  of  theology  called  politic  or  civil,  was  instituted  by 
legislators,  statesmen,  and  politicians.  The  first  among  the  Romans 
was  Numa  Pompiiius.  This  part  of  the  Pagan  system  chiefly  re- 
spected their  gods,  temples,  altars,  sacrifices,  and  rites  of  worship, 
and  was  properly  their  idolatry,  the  care  of  which  belonged  to  the 
priests.  The  whole  was  enjoined  on  the  common  people,  to  keep 
them  in  obedience  to  the  civil  state. 

4.  In  the  fictions  of  mythology,  particularly  those  of  Greece 
and  Rome,  many  things  are  allegorical  and  mystical,  the 
true  sense  of  which,  though  not  accommodated  to  the  vul- 
gar apprehension,  the  refined  and  liberal  may  explain.  This 
suggests  one  use  to  be  derived  from  the  study  of  the  Pagan  sys- 
tems of  religion.  We  learn  the  religious  views  of  antiquity. 

Another  use  of  it  is,  that  the  classic  authors  cannot  be 
read  with  advantage  without  a  knowledge  of  mythology ;  and 
the  classic  authors,  it  is  not  to  be  doubted,  are  the  best 
models  of  fine  writing  extant,  and  are  necessary  to  improve 
the  taste.  Connected  with  this  also  is  the  fact,  that  a  know- 
ledge of  mythology  can  alone  enable  us  to  understand  and  he- 
come  acquainted  with  antique  statues,  medals,  paintings,  (fee. 

§  The  gods  of  ancient  paganism  were  some  mundane,  and  others 
supermundane.  The  mundane  are  those  who  were  supposed  to  fab- 
ricate the  world,  and  the  supermundane  are  those  who  produce 
essences,  intellects,  and  souls.  Hence  they  are  distinguished  into 
three  orders.  Of  the  mundane  gods  likewise,  some  are  the  causes  of 
the  existence  of  the  world ;  others  animate  it ;  others  again  harmo- 
nize it,  thus  composed  of  different  natures ;  and  lastly,  others  guard 
and  preserve  it  when  harmoniously  arranged. 

Since  also  these  orders  are  four,  and  each  consists  of  things  first, 
middle,  and  last,  it  is  necessary  that  the  governors  of  these  should  be 
twelve.  Hence  Jupiter,  Neptune  and  Vulcan  fabricate  the  world.  Ce- 
res, Juno  and  Diana  animate  it;  Mercury,  Venus  and  Apollo  harmo- 
nize it ;  and  lastly,  Vesta,  Minerva  and  Mars  preside  over  it  with  a 
guardian  power. 

But  the  truth  of  this  may  be  seen  in  statues  as  in  enigmas.  For 
Apollo  in  marble  holds  in  his  hands  a  lyre ;  Minerva  is  invested  wife 

T2 


222  GENERAL  VIEWS. 

arms;  and  Venus  is  naked,  since  harmony  produces  beauty  and 
beauty  is  not  concealed  in  subjects  of  sensible  perception. 

As  these  gods  primarily  possess  the  world,  it  is  necessary  to  con- 
sider the  other  mundane  gods  as  subsisting  in  them,  as  Bacchus  in 
Jupiter,  ^Esculapius  in  Apollo,  and  the  Graces  in  Venus.  We  may 
also  behold  the  spheres  with  which  they  are  connected,  viz.  Vesta 
with  the  earth,  Neptune  with  water,  Juno  with  air,  and  Vulcan  with 
fire.  But  Apollo  and  Diana  are  assumed  for  the  sun  and  moon ;  the 
sphere  of  Saturn  is  attributed  to  Ceres ;  ether  to  Minerva;  and  heaven 
is  common  to  them  all. 

The  above  are  a  few  instances  of  the  real  sense  of  the  fictions  of 
mythology.  Many  of  the  philosophers  in  these  fictions  concealed 
their  better  knowledge,  often  conveying  lessons  of  wisdom  under  the 
veil  of  allegory.  The  genuine  Pagan  creed,  as»  given  by  a  heathen 
philosopher,  Maximus  Tyrius,  is  the  following  : 

"  There  is  one  God,  the  king  and  father  of  all  things,  and  many 
gods,  sons  of  God,  ruling  together  with  him.  This  the  Greek  says, 
and  the  barbarian  says,  the  inhabitant  of  the  continent,  and  he  that 
dwells  near  the  sea ;  and  if  you  even  proceed  to  the  utmost  shores  of 
the  ocean,  there  too  there  are  gods,  rising  very  near  to  some,  and 
setting  very  near  to  others."  By  the  rising  and  setting  gods  he  means 
the  stars,  which  according  to  the  Pagan  theology,  are  divine  animals, 
co-operating  with  the  first  cause  in  the  government  of  the  world. 

5.  A  survey  of  the  heathen  mythology  presents  little  to 
view  but  absurdity,  and  the  various  forms  in  which  human 
corruption  is  exhibited.  The  people  at  large,  whatever  the 
philosophers  understood  by  these  "  phantasms  arid  monsters," 
received  them  as  literal  truths,  till  it  became  dangerous  to 
shake  the  faith  of  communities,  or  disturb  the  public  religion. 

§  In  this  state  of  things  continued  the  gentile  world,  until  the  light 
of  the  gospel  was  sent  among  them.  Those  were  times  of  ignorance. 
The  people  were  unacquainted  with  the  true  God  and  the  worship 
of  him — with  the  Messiah  and  salvation  by  him. 

The  moral  world  at  present  is  gloriously  illuminated.  The  Bible 
has  scattered  the  dark  shades  of  spiritual  and  intellectual  night.  We 
behold  "  one  God  and  one  Mediator  between  God  and  men,"  seated 
upon  the  throne  of  the  universe ;  possessed  of  boundless  wisdom, 
power,  purity,  goodness ;  the  Creator,  the  Preserver,  the  Ruler,  and 
the  Redeemer  of  his  creatures ;  ever  present  in  all  parts  of  his  crea- 
tion,'--ever  providing  for  its  general  happiness. 


I 


DISCOVERIES,    INVENTIONS,  &C.  223 

Discoveries,   Inventions,   and    Improvements   of  Early 

Ages. 


SECT.  1.  The  little  that  can  be  gathered  concerning  the 
state  of  society,  and  the  progress  in  inventions  and  improve- 
ments before  the  flood,  has  already  been  exhibited.  In  the 
account  of  individual  nations,  something  also  has  been  said 
concerning  their  intellectual  culture  and  useful  works  of  "ait. 
A  few  particulars  may  be  added  on  these  topics,  with  a  view 
to  illustrate  more  fully  the  advancement  of  society  in  the  states 
of  antiquity.  Special  reference  will  here  be  had  to  mecha- 
nic inventions,  respecting  which,  less  has  been  said  hitherto, 
than  on  the  subject  of  the  fine  arts  and  general  literature. 

Sufficient  evidence  exists,  that  mankind  at  a  remote  period  of  an- 
tiquity, must  have  made  considerable  progress  in  the  arts  of  life.  The 
circumstances  under  which  Egypt  is  presented  to  us  by  Moses,  in 
the  book  of  Genesis,  indicate  that  its  inhabitants  were  at  that  time  a 
cultivated  people.  No  doubt,  the  progress  of  invention  in  their  very 
favourable  situation  was  quite  rapid.  From  them,  even  the  Israelites, 
at  the  early  period  in  which  Moses  wrote,  must  have  learned  much 
In  respect  to  the  useful  arts.  The  same  was  the  case  with  the  Ba- 
bylonians, Phoenicians,  and  other  nations.  Still,  though  some  arts 
have  been  lost  during  the  lapse  of  ages,  antiquity  cannot  compare 
with  modern  times  in  the  necessaries,  comforts,  and  luxuries  of  life. 

2.  At  first,  necessity,  and  afterwards  convenience,  urged 
the  cultivation  of  the  arts.  The  useful  arts  are  the  product 
of  necessity.  The  higher  branches  of  knowledge  are  the 
fruit  of  comparative  ease  and  leisure. 

Among,  the  earliest  arts,  is  the  construction  of  huts,  and 
of  weapons,  adapted  to  war  and  hunting. 

Astronomy  is  among  the  earliest  of  the  sciences,  and  is  said 
to  have  originated  with  the  Chaldeans,  probably,  through  the 
influence  of  superstition.  The  occupation  of  the  Chaldeans, 
many  of  whom  were  shepherds,  wratching  their  flocks  by 
night,  was  favourable  for  the  observation  of  the  heavenly 
bodies. 

Geometry  was  found  out  by  the  Egyptians.  They  were 
led  to  the  cultivation  of  this  science,  by  having  occasion  to 
measure  the  lands  annually  disturbed  by  the  overflowing  of 
the  Nile. 

Medicine  was  among  the  early  sciences.  The  simplest 
means  of  cure  answer  for  rude  nations.  More  complex  means 
ore  required  for  cultivated  nations,  who  have  more  complex 
diseases. 


224  ANCIENT    HISTORY. 

Agriculture  is  not  practised  till  the  tribes  of  men  become 
stationary,  and  hold  property  in  the  soil.  The  acquirement, 
protection,  and  recognition  of  property,  generally,  is  the  first 
step  from  a  savage  towards  a  civilized  life.  The  first  property 
consisted  of  sheep,  goats,  and  oxen  ;  and  the  care  of  these 
was  the  earliest  and  simplest  occupation  of  husbandmen.  In 
this  stage  of  husbandry,  all  the  country  was  open  and  com- 
mon to  any  occupier ;  but  as  soon  as  any  man  could  call  a 
spot  his  own,  and  could  secure  to  his  family  the  produce  of  it, 
its  cultivation  would  be  a  great  object.  Hence,  arose  the  art 
and  science  of  agriculture,  properly  so  called. 

§  Agriculture  flourished  less  in  Greece  than  in  Rome.  The  Romans 
were  remarkably  versed  in  the  knowledge  of  this  useful  branch  of 
human  pursuit.  Their  greatest  citizens  and  warriors  were,  by  turns, 
cultivators  of  the  soil.  The  Israelites  before  them,  and  the  Egyp- 
tians also,  were  devoted  to  this  employment.  The  moderns,  however, 
it  is  believed,  have  made  the  greatest  proficiency  in  agriculture,  as  they 
have  in  most  of  the  sciences  and  practical  arts  of  life.  This  is  the 
natural  effect  of  time,  of  prolonged  study,  and  multiplied  experi- 
ments. In  many  of  the  fine  arts,  the  ancients  are  still  our  masters. 

Architecture  was  an  elegant  art,  in  which  antiquity  excelled. 
The  necessary  and  useful  were  all  that  was  first  sought  in 
buildings.  Luxury  aimed  at  ornament.  Hence,  arose  the 
five  beautiful  orders  of  architecture,  yiz.  the  Tuscan,  the  Do 
ric,  the  Ionic,  the  Corinthian,  and  the  Composite.  The  Greeks 
perfected  this  art. 

3.  But  we  may  properly  notice  a  few  of  the  minuter  divi- 
sions of  ancient  art  and  contrivance.  Among  these  were  the 
following : 

Embalming. — The  ancients  had  an  imperfect  knowledge 
of  the  mode  of  preserving  those  bodies  that  were  subject  to 
decay.  They  relied  principally  on  brine,  honey,  or  a  covering 
of  wax ;  but  each  of  these  Avas  defective,  and  far  inferior  to 
that  by  spirits  of  wine,  which  combines  the  advantage  of  pre- 
venting putrefaction,  with  that  of  perfect  transparency.  The 
more  scientific  modern  process,  employed  in  anatomical  prepa- 
rations, was  wholly  unknown.  The  Egyptians,  however, 
were  famous  for  embalming  dead  bodies. 

§  The  method  of  preventing  corruption  by  means  of  brine,  was 
the  most  ancient,  as  it  was  the  most  apparent,  and  the  easiest  of 
execution.  It  has  been  supposed  to  have  originated  in  Persia,  and 
Dion  Cassius  says,  that  when  Pharnaces  sent  the  body  of  his  father, 
Mithridates,  to  Pompey,  he  had  it  placed  in  brine  j  but  it  seems  pro 


DISCOVERIES,  INVENTIONS,  &C.          225 

bable,  that  in  the  East,  nitre  was  more  frequently  employed  for  this 
purpose  than  common  salt. 

The  custom  of  preserving  dead  bodies  in  honey,  was  also  employ- 
ed at  a  very  early  period.  The  remains  of  several  Spartans,  who 
died  in  foreign  countries,  were  thus  prepared  for  transmission  to 
their  native  home.  The  body  of  Alexander  the  Great,  is  also  said, 
by  some  authors,  to  have  been  thus  deposited,  although  we  are  told 
by  others,  that  it  was  embalmed  in  the  manner  of  the  Egyptians. 

In  the  East,  dead  bodies  were  sometimes  covered  over  with  wax, 
and  this  practice,  which  was  early  introduced  into  Europe,  gave  rise 
to  that  of  wrapping  the  remains  of  persons  of  distinction  in  waxed 
cloths,  which  has  continued  down  even  to  the  present  day. 

The  Egyptian  method  of  embalming,  consisted  in  first  extracting 
the  brain  through  the  nostrils,  and  injecting  some  viscous  unguent 
in  their  stead ;  then  opening  the  belly,  and  taking  out  the  intestines, 
the  cavity  being  washed  with  palm  wine,  impregnated  with  spices, 
and  filled  with  myrrh  and  other  aromatics ;  this  done,  the  body  was 
laid  in  nitre  during  seventy  days,  at  the  end  of  which,  it  was  taken 
out,  cleansed,  and  swathed  in  fine  linen,  which  was  gummed,  and 
ornamented  with  various  painted  hieroglyphics,  expressive  of  the  de- 
ceased's character  and  rank.  This  was  done  only  for  persons  of  the 
highest  distinction.  Less  expensive  methods  were  used  for  others. 

Roads  and  Street  Pavements. — The  public  accommoda- 
tions of  the  most  splendid  capitals  of  antiquity,  were  few  in 
comparison  with  those  of  modern  large  towns.  The  streets 
of  ancient  Rome  were  only  partially  paved,  during  its  most 
brilliant  era,  and  are  described  by  authors  of  that  period  as 
being  filled  with  dirt.  A  few  other  cities  are  supposed  to 
have  been  paved,  but  this  is  a  matter  of  doubt. 

Though  the  Greeks  and  Romans  were  indifferent  to  their 
streets,  yet  they  paid  particular  attention  to  their  great  public 
roads.  These,  in  some  instances,  were  magnificent  works. 
Travelling,  however,  was  not  generally  rapid  in  those  times. 
§  There  was  no  part  of  the  Roman  policy  which  so  effectually  pro- 
moted the  good  of  mankind,  or  which  has  transmitted  such  exalted 
ideas  of  the  imperial  grandeur,  as  the  number  and  magnificence  of 
the  roads.  Though  constructed  principally  for  military  purposes, 
they  were  of  vast  utility  to  the  districts  which  they  traversed,  and 
proved  the  most  efficacious  means  of  promoting  the  comfort  and 
civilization  of  the  conquered  people.  Occasionally,  there  were  in- 
stances of  extraordinary  celerity  in  travelling.  We  are  informed 
by  Pliny,  that  Tiberius  travelled  two  hundred  miles  in  a  day  and 
night,  on  being  despatched  by  Augustus  to  console  his  sick  brother, 
Germanicus.  But  the  ordinary  rate  of  travelling,  even  on  their  ex- 
cellem  roads,  was  slow  in  comparison  of  what  it  is  at  present. 
Cicero  speaks  of  a  messenger  coming  from  Rome,  to  his  government 
of  Cilicia,  in  Asia  Minor,  in  forty -seven  days  :  heu  tarn  longe !  as 
the  orator  exclaims,  on  finding  himself  so  far  removed  from  the 


226  ANCIENT    HISTORY. 

scene  of  his  glory  and  exertions.  To  convey  letters  from  Rome  to 
the  neighbourhood  of  Gibraltar,  required,  according  to  Pollio,  forty 
days. 

Mode  of  conveying  Intelligence. — The  oldest  method  of 
communicating  the  news,  with  which  we  are  acquainted,  was 
by  means  of  public  criers.  Another  mode  was  to  post  up  a 
written  advertisement  against  a  column  in  some  public  place. 

§  Public  criers  among  the  Greeks  and  Romans  were  under  the  su- 
perintendence of  the  police,  and  were  generally  employed  by  indi- 
viduals, in  the  same  manner  as  they  still  are  in  the  country  towns  ol 
England.  The  mode  of  posting  was  resorted  to  by  the  Roman 
government,  to  promulgate  its  edicts,  and  even,  it  is  supposed,  for 
imparting  more  trivial  information  of  general  import.  Historians 
appear  to  have  collected  materials  from  them ;  nor  is  it  improbable, 
that  copies  were  taken  by  individuals  and  dispersed  about  the  city, 
or  sent  to  their  friends  in  the  provinces. 

Glass. — The  origin  of  the  art  of  making  glass,  like  that 
of  many  other  valuable  inventions,  is  probably  due  to  chance. 
It  is  said  to  have  been  discovered  in  Syria.  From  ancient  au- 
thors, it  is  supposed  not  to  have  been  made  in  Rome,  before 
the  reign  of  Tiberius. 

§  Pliny  mentions  that  glass  was  first  accidentally  discovered  by 
some  travellers  while  dressing  their  food  by  the  river  Belus,  in  Syria. 
Being  obliged  to  make  a  fire  on  the  ground,  where  there  was  a  great 
quantity  of  the  herb  kali,  that  plant  burning  to  ashes,  its  salts  incor- 
porated with  the  sand,  and  thus  became  vitrified.  The  accident  be- 
coming known,  the  inhabitants  of  the  neighbouring  city  of  Sidon, 
availed  themselves  of  it,  and  soon  brought  the  art  into  use.  It  seems 
to  be  a  corroboration  of  this  account,  that  the  most  ancient  glass- 
houses, with  which  we  are  acquainted,  were  erected  in  Tyre.  Pre- 
viously to  the  time  of  Tiberius,  the  Romans  imported  glass  from  the 
East,  and  vessels  of  glass  were  among  their  most  costly  pieces  of 
household  furniture. 

Mirrors. — There  is  reason  to  believe,  that  artificial  mirrors 
were  made  almost  as  soon  as  the  ingenuity  of  man  was  ex- 
erted on  mechanical  objects,  and  as  every  solid  body  capable 
of  receiving  a  fine  polish,  would  suit  this  purpose,  we  find, 
that  the  oldest  mirrors  mentioned  in  history,  were  of  metal. 
Silver,  however,  afterwards  came  into  use,  and  the  greatest 
number  of  ancient  mirrors  was  made  of  that  metal,  as  it  is  the 
most  fit  of  the  unmixed  metals  for  this  purpose.  Inferior  mir- 
rors were  also  made,  some  of  a  mixture  of  copper  and  tin,  and 
bset ;  some  of  obsidian  stone,  and  others  of  other  substances. 
Glass  mirrors  were  most  probably  unknown  to  the  ancients. 

§  Metal  mirrors  are  spoken  of  in  the  Bible,  under  the  term  looking 
glass,  as  incorrectly  translated. 


DISCOVERIES,    INVENTIONS,  &C.  227 

At  Rome,  as  the  satirists  declare,  no  young  woman  was  without  a 
silver  mirror. 

The  date  of  the  invention  of  glass  mirrors  is  somewhat  a  matter 
of  dispute.  From  Pliny,  it  is  thought,  that  they  were  attempted  in 
the  glass-houses  of  Tyre,  but  it  does  not  appear  that  the  experiments 
he  speaks  of,  whatever  they  were,  met  with  success ;  and  moreover, 
it  is  certain,  that  though  glass  was  used  by  the  Romans,  their  mir- 
rors were  alluded  to  among  articles  of  plate. 

Linen. — Linen,  it  is  supposed,  was  first  manufactured  in 
Egypt.  It  is  certain,  that  it  was  first  obtained,  and  Europe 
was  for  a  long  time  supplied,  from  that  country ;  and  that  the 
invention  was  very  ancient  appears  from  the  fact,  that  mum- 
mies are  generally  found  swathed  in  linen.  The  Greeks, 
however,  were  unacquainted  with  it,  and  it  was  not  until 
the  second  century  of  the  Christian  era,  that  it  was  first  intro- 
duced into  Rome.  Before  that  period,  the  tunic  or  under  gar- 
ment of  the  Romans  was  made  of  wool. 

Woollen.- -The  oiigin  of  the  arts  of  spinning  and  weaving 
is  lost  in  the  obscurity  of  fable.  The  Egyptians  ascribe  the 
invention  to  their  Isis,  and  the  Hindoos  trace  it  to  the  remo- 
test period  of  their  fabulous  history ;  but  this  applies  only  to 
cotton  and  flax ;  for  in  those  countries  wool  is  not  produced. 
Varro  says,  that  the  sheep  was  introduced  into  Greece  by  Her- 
cules, and  it  is  probable,  that  the  first  attempts  to  manufac- 
ture wool  in  Europe,  were  made  by  the  Athenians.  The 
chief  seat  of  the  Roman  manufacture  was  at  Padua,  whose 
workmen  are  to  this  day  highly  celebrated. 

§  Sheep  came  originally  from  Africa,  but  in  that  country,  the  ani- 
mal bears  hair  instead  of  wool ;  and  it  is  only  in  colder  countries 
that  its  covering  gradually  acquires  a  woolly  texture.  It  was  long, 
most  probably,  before  sheep  became  domesticated  in  the  northern 
countries,  whose  inhabitants,  living  in  immense  woods,  were  con- 
tented, for  ages,  with  their  fine  furs.  It  was  only  till  a  late  period  of 
ancient  history,  that  the  people  of  the  north  of  Europe  employed 
artificial  means  of  clothing. 

Among  both  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  spinning  was  the  chief  em- 
ployment of  the  women.  In  weaving,  the  machinery,  though  perhaps 
rude  in  its  construction,  was,  in  principle,  similar  to  that  still  in  use. 
The  process  of  fulling  and  preparing  the  cloth,  seems  to  have  re- 
sembled the  modern  practice  in  every  essential  point,  except  that  of 
shearing  the  nap,  with  which  the  ancients  do  not  appear  to  have  been 
acquainted. 

Dyeing. — Pew  arts  can  lay  claim  to  greater  antiquity 
than  that  of  dyeing,  and  still  fewer  attained,  in  ancient  times, 
so  great  a  degree  of  perfection.  It  certainly  preceded  paint- 


228  ANCIENT  HISTORY. 

ing,  and  appears  to  have  been  known  in  the  earliest  ages  of 
the  Jews,  Babylonians,  and  Egyptians,  who  selected  and  ap- 
plied colours  for  stuffs,  cotton,  linen,  and  silk,  with  the  greatest 
judgment  and  dexterity.  These  were  extracted  from  the  ani- 
mal, vegetable,  and  mineral  kingdom ;  and  without  confining 
themselves  to  cloth  or  silk,  they  dyed  equally  well,  leather, 
ivory,  tortoise-shell,  the  hair  of  animals,  wood,  earth,  wax, 
and  even  imparted  a  permanent  colour  to  marble. 

Steel. — The  invention  of  steel  is  of  very  great  antiquity. 
Although  we  do  not  find  any  distinct  mention  of  it  in  the  Old 
Testament,  still,  it  is  clear,  that  it  was  known  to  the  Greeks,  in 
the  time  of  Homer,  and  received  from  them  several  names,  the 
most  common  of  which  was  stomoma.  Chalybs,  was  also  a 
name  given  to  steel,  from  the  Chalybes,  a  people  inhabiting  the 
southern  shore  of  the  Euxine,  between  Cholcis  and  Paph- 
lagonia,  a  country  which  was  renowned  for  its  works  of  iron 
and  steel. 

§  The  steel  of  the  ancients  was  capable  of  being  hammered,  and 
was  not  near  so  brittle  as  the  hardest  with  which  we  are  acquainted. 

These,  and  many  other  inventions  and  discoveries,  which  cannot 
here  be  described,  characterized  ancient  times ;  but  modern  ages  have 
added  greatly  to  the  number,  and  improved  many  of  those  which 
were  before  known. 


THE 

WORLD    DISPLAYED 


IN  ITS 


HISTORY  AND  GEOGRAPHY; 


EMBRACING   A 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WORLD, 

FROM   THE 

CREATION  TO  THE  PRESENT  DAY. 


WITH  GENERAL  VIEWS  OF  THE  POLITICS,  RELIGION,  MILITARY  AND  NAVAL 

AFFAIRS,  ARTS,  LITERATURE,  MANNERS,  CUSTOMS,  AND  SOCIETY, 

OF  ANCIENT  AS  WELL  AS  MODERN  NATIONS. 


BY  REV.  ROYAL  ROBBINS. 

TO  WHICH  IS  ADDED, 

AN  OUTLINE  OF  MODERN  GEOGRAPHY. 


TWO   VOLUMES   IN  ONE. 

VOL.    II. 


NEW  YORK. 

PUBLISHED     BY     H.    SAVAGE. 

1839. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1835, 

By  EDWARD  HOPKINS, 
In  the  Clerk's  office  of  the  District  Court  of  Connecticut 


•  T  m 


PREFACE. 

MODERN  HISTORY  presents  so  wide  and  varied  a  field, 
that  a  volume  of  the  ordinary  size  is  scarcely  adequate  to  the 
purpose,  of  pointing  out  all  even  of  the  more  striking  objects . 
which  such  a  field  contains.  Indeed,  comparatively  little  can 
be  hoped  to  be  achieved  in  a  very  condensed  narrative  of  the 
events  of  modern  ages,  on  the  common  plan.  It  would  be 
apt  to  become  a  barren  outline,  or  dry  abstract,  with  litlle  to 
interest  or  instruct  the  mind  of  the  reader,  and  this,  almost 
from  the  necessity  of  the  case.  The  conciseness  which  is 
studied  would  preclude  all  minute  relation,  and  with  that,  the 
chief  charm  of  history.  The  character  of  many  publications 
of  this  class,  otherwise  very  valuable,  has  suffered  from  such 
a  cause.  By  the  use  of  two  sizes  of  type,  this  inconvenience 
is  remedied  in  a  degree,  if  there  be  sufficient  skill  in  the  e  lo- 
cution ;  and  a  considerable  space  within  a  given  compass,  is 
thus  allowed,  for  lively  and  entertaining  matter  not  essen- 
tially connected  with  the  leading  facts  or  frame- work  cf 
history.  The  latter,  necessarily  dry  in  themselves,  and  having 
few  attractions  for  common  minds,  but  very  important  <o 
every  one  who  would  obtain  a  correct  idea  of  the  course  cf 
events,  may  be  all  confined  to  the  larger  type :  and  thus, 
while  a  very  brief  epitome  of  history  is  presented  in  thai 
part,  the  reader  is  at  the  same  time,  by  means  of  the  smaller 
type,  made  acquainted  with  details  which  will  enliven  the 
narrative,  and  the  better  impress  the  more  material  facts  on 
his  mind.  This  is  one  great  advantage  of  reading  history  on 
the  plan  of  the  present  work — a  plan  which  has  of  late  been 
adopted  with  much  success ; — though  the  work  possesses  other 
peculiarities;  which,  whether  they  are  happy  or  not,  tho 


PREFACE. 

reader,  it  is  believed,  will  not  fail  to  perceive.  The  author 
would  only  add,  that  in  preparing  this  outline  of  history,  he 
has  consulted  a  large  number  of  valuable  authors,  from 
whom  he  has  taken  whatever  was  suited  to  his  purposes,  in 
many  instances  with  little  variation  even  in  language,  though 
he  has  generally  endeavoured  to  maintain  a  homogeneous 
style  and  manner — that  he  has  exercised  much  care  in  select- 
ing the  materials  and  topics,  and  in  connecting  and  arranging 
them — that  he  has  aimed  at  scrupulous  fidelity  in  the  state- 
ment of  facts,  and  impartiality  in  estimating  their  value- 
and  that  he  has  occasionally  interwoven  in  the  narrative  such 
moral  remarks,  and  attempted  throughout  to  exhibit  such  a 
spirit,  as  to  render  history  not  merely  an  agreeable  exercise 
to  the  understanding,  but  an  impressive  lesson  to  the  heart. 


CONTENTS 


General  Remarks, 
Ten  periods,       . 


INTRODUCTION. 

•  •  •  • 

GENERAL  DIVISION. 

•  •  • 

Period  I. 


History  of  the  Roman  Empire, 

Judea,  . 

Parthia, 

Persia,  . 

China, 
Distinguished  Characters, 

Period  II. 

History  of  the  Roman  Empire,  continued, 

Persia,  continued,      :  :  : 

China,  continued,      .  .  . 

Distinguished  Characters, 

Ptnocc  111. 

Hist  01  y  of  the  Roman  Empire,  continued,          : 

Kingdom  of  Italy, 

Persia,  continued, 

China,  continued, 

Spain,  . 

France, 

England, 
Distinguished.  Characters, 

Period  IV. 

History  of  the  Arabs  or  Saracens, 

Eastern  or  Greek  Empire,     . 

Kingdom  of  Italy,  continued, 

Spain,  continued, 

France,  continued,     . 
Distinguished  Characters, 


Period  V. 


History  of  the  New  Western  Empire, 

France,  continued,     . 

Italy,  continued,         . 

Spain,    continued; 

Germany, 

England,   continued. 

Eastern  Empire,  continued, 

China,  continued, 

Saracens,  continued, 
Distinguished  Characters, 


Period  VI. 


Crusades,  : 

>  History  of  France,  continued,    . 

S  England,  continued,  , 

>  Germany,  continued, 
Eastern  Empire,   continued, 
Saracens,  continued,  . 

China,  continued, 
Distinguished  Characters, 


10 
41 

44 
45 
46 
47 


61 
6$ 
07 
67 


69 
76 
78 
78 
79 
80 
81 
83 

84 
89 
SO 
92 
92 
96 

98 
102 
105 
106 
107 
111 
119 
120 
120 
122 

125 
143 
146 
156 


169 
100 


CONTENTS. 


Period  VH. 
History  of  the  Turkish  Empire, 

Italian  States,   continue^ 

France,  continued,     . 

England,  continued, 

Germany,  continued, 

China,  continued, 
Distinguished  Characters, 

Period  VJU 
History  of  the  Turkish  Empire,  continued,        . 

Italian  States,  continued,       .  . 

France,  continued,      .  . 

England,  continued, 

Germany,  continued,  ,  . 

Spain,  continued,       .  , 

Holland,        .  :  .  : 

America,        .... 
Distinguished  Characters,          . 

Period  I3L 

flutory  of  France,  continued,     .  . 

Great  Britain,  continued,'    „  . 

Germany,  continued,  .  . 

Spain,    continued,      .  .  . 

Turkish  Empire,  continued,  . 

British  Colonies  in  North  America, 
Russia,  .  .  .  . 

Sweden,         .... 
Distinguished  Characters,          .  .  . 

Period  X. 

History  >f  Sweden,  continued,    . 

Prussia,         .  .  i 

Germany,   continued, 

Poland,         .  .  , 

Russia,  continued,     .  . 

England,  continued, 

France,  continued, 

Italian  States,  continued, 

Spain,  continued, 

Netherlands,  continued, 

Turkish  Empire,  continued, 

China,  continued^ 

Persia,  continued, 

India, 

United  States, 

South  America, 
Distinguished  Characters, 

GENERAL  VIEWS. 

Feudal  System, 

Chivalry, 

Romances, 

Pilgrimages, 

Manners  and  Character  of  the  Gothic  or  Scandinavian  nations,  . 

Learning  and  Arts,          ........ 

Discoveries  and  Inventions,       ...•••• 

Incidents  and  Curious  Particulars,         ...» 

Present  state  of  several  Nations  in  Agriculture,  Roads,  Conveyances,  Intereourse, 

Education,  Trade,  Manufactures,  &c,  .  , 

Christian  Church,  .  .  ,  •  • 


164 
165 
167 
171 
178 
181 
182 

185 
1S7 

189 
195 
207 
210 
211 
213 
213 

224 
230 
246 
248 
250 
252 
259 
261 
263 

271 
273 
277 
283 
286 
292 
299 
313 
313 
315 
316 
318 
318 
319 
321 
343 
344 


360 
363 
376 
377 
378 
381 
394 
400 

404 

412 


MODERN   HISTORY. 


INTRODUCTION. 

SKC.  1.  Writers  who  have  divided  History  into  Ancient 
and  Modern,  are  not  agreed  as  to  the  most  convenient  sepa- 
rating- line  between  them.  Some  have  taken  the  subversion 
of  the  Western  Empire  of  the  Romans  as  the  dividing 
period  ;  and  others  the  establishment  of  the  New  Empire  of 
the  West,  under  Charlemagne.  We  however  agree  with  a 
third,  and  probably  a  more  numerous  class,  who  adopt  the 
commencement  of  the  Christian  Era  as  the  line  of  separa- 
tion. In  this  there  is  an  evident  propriety. 

2.  It  is  the  epoch  from  which  civilized  nations  reckon  time, 
both  backwards  to  the  beginning  of  creation,  and  forwards  to 
the  end  of  the  world.  Add  to  this,  the  event  (the  birth  of 
Christ)  that  forms  this  era,  is  the  most  important  of  events 
It  has  had  a  commanding  influence  upon  all  subsequent  his- 
tory. It  has  altered  the  aspect  of  all  human  affairs,  and 
it  will  alter  them  more  and  more,  as  Christianity  becomes  ex- 
tended. The  state  of  the  civilized  world  was  also  singular. 
A  change  had  taken  place  in  the  establishment  of  a  mighty 
despotism,  which  was  destined  to  oppress  the  nations,  through 
many  successive  generations. 

§  The  period  from  which  we  commence  Modern  History,  cannot 
be  contemplated  with  too  deep  an  interest.  It  was  a  remarkable  era 
in  Divine  Providence.  "  The  fullness  of  the  time  was  come" — the 
ancient  order  of  things  was  drawing  to  a  close,  and  new  scenes  in 
the  moral  world,  werfrhenceforth  to  be  presented  to  the  view  of  mar 
kind.  It  is  therefore  associated  with  our  most  solemn  thoughts  of 
the  dispensations  of  the  Supreme  Being  towards  his  creatures.  It 
is  the  period  whence  we  date  the  commencement  of  the  spiritual  re- 
novation of  the  world. 

The  state  of  the  world,  in  a  political  point  of  view,  also  deserves 
consideration.  The  principal  nations  were  reduced  under  one  head. 
Wars  and  dissentions,  of  long  continuance  and  infinite  ferocity,  ha- 
ving terminated  in  one  most  formidable  power,  the  whole  earth  en- 
joyed an  unheard  of  calm.  Mankind,  for  a  short  time,  tasted  the 
sweets  of  peace,  though  in  servitude.  One  man  was  master  of 


U  MODERN  HISTORY, 

the  lives  and  fortunes  of  all  the  rest,  and  therefore  even  the  spirit  ul 
conquest  could  scarcely  desire  more. 

3.  The  authenticity  and  the  abundance  of  the  materials 
of  modern  history,  will  be  hailed  with  peculiar  satisfaction  by 
the  inquirer  after  truth.  A  considerable  portion  of  ancient 
history  is  plunged  into  darkness  and  uncertainty,  from  a  va- 
riety of  causes.  And  the  scantiness,  in  some  instances,  of 
the  materials  from  which  it  is  drawn,  is  often  perplexing 
Hut  both  the  ecclesiastical  and  civil  records  of  modern  histo- 
ry,  illustrate,  with  desirable  fullness,  the  state  of  the  times, 
It  must  be  owned,  however,  that  the  rage  of  the  barbarians 
who  subverted  the  Roman  Empire,  has  deprived  us  of  somes 
means  of  information  which  we  should  otherwise  have  pos- 
sessed. But  it  is  wonderful,  *after  all,  that  so  many  monu- 
ments of  the  earlier  periods  of  modern  history,  have  conic 
down  to  us. 

§  The  causes  that  have  operated  to  render  some  portions  of  an- 
cient history  obscure,  are  such  as  the  lapse  of  numerous  ages;  a  se- 
ries of  great  revolutions,  in  consequence  of  which  the  memory  of 
many  events  was  lost ;  the  fury  of  barbarians,  by  which  numerous 
monuments  of  early  times  have  been  destroyed  ;  and  more  than  all 
the  rest,  the  designed  or  accidental  destruction  of  libraries. 

Some  noble  collections  of  books  perished  before  the  Christian  era, 
particularly  the  celebrated  library  of  Alexandria.  This  library  was 
founded  by  Ptolemy  Philadclphus,  about  284  years  B.  (1,  and  con- 
sisted of  a  vast  collection  of  records,  histories,  poems,  and  othei 
works.  The  number  of  volumes  was  reckoned  at  400.000,  and  the) 
might  have  been  as  many  as  were  in  all  the  world  beside.  Beforb 
the  art  of  printing,  books  were  comparatively  scarce ;  and  of  some, 
there  might  have  been  no  other  copies  than  those  contained  in  this 
library.  It  perished  in  the  flames  of  Alexandria,  when  Julius  Caesar 
took  that  city. 

In  later  ages,  large  libraries  have  been  destroyed,  particularly  the 
same  library  at  Alexandria  after  it  was  revived,  and  collections  had 
been  made  during  several  centuries.  In  the  latter  instance  700,000 
volumes  perished.  But  books  by  this  time  had  been  much  more 
multiplied,  and  though  numerous  destructions  took  place,  many  have 
survived  the  wrecks  of  ages, 

GENERAL  DIVISION. 

MODERN  HISTORY  may  be  divided  into  ten  periods.  They  have 
each  their  peculiar  characteristic,  by  which  they  may  be  always  re- 
membered, and  by  which  distinct  views  of  the  subject  are  designed 
to  be  imparted  to  the  mind, 

PERIOD  I,  will  extend  from  the  Nativity  of  Jesus  Chnst? 


INTRODUCTION.  9 

lo  the  reign  of  Constantine  the  Great,  306  years  A.  0.    This 
is  the  period  of  the  Ten  Persecutions  of  Christians. 

PERIOD  II,  will  extend  from  the  reign  of  Constantine  the 
Great,  306  years  A.  C.,  to  the  Extinction  of  the  Western 
Empire,  476  years  A.  C.  This  is  the  period  of  the  Nor- 
thern Invasions. 

PERIOD  III,  will  extend  from  the  Extinction  of  the  Wes- 
tern Empire,  476  years  A.  C.,  to  the  Flight  of  Mahomet, 
622  years  A.  C.  This  is  the  period  of  the  Justinian  Code} 
and  the  Wars  of  Belisarius. 

PERIOD  IV,  will  extend  from  the  Flight  of  Mahomet,  622 
years  A.  C.,  to  the  Crowning  of  Charlemagne  at  Rome,  800 
years  A.  C.  This  is  the  period  of  the  Establishment  of  the 
Saracen  Dominion. 

PERIOD  V,  will  extend  from  the  Crowning  of  Charle- 
magne at  Rome,  800  years  A.  C.,  to  the  First  Crusade,  1 095 
years  A.  C.  This  is  the  period  of  the  New  Western  Em- 
pire. 

PERIOD  VI,  will  extend  from  the  First  Crusade,  1095 
years  A.  C.,  to  the  Founding  of  the  Turkish  Empire,  1299 
years  A.  C.  This  is  the  period  of  the  Crusades. 

PERIOD  VII,  will  extend  from  the  Founding  of  the  Tui- 
kish  Empire,  1299  years  A.  C.,  to  the  Taking  of  Constanti- 
nople, 1453  years  A.  C.  This  is  the  period  of  the  Papal 
Schism. 

PERIOD  VIII,  will  extend  from  the  Taking  of  Constan- 
tinople, 1453  years  A.  C.,  to  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  (Nantzf) 
1598  years  A.  C.  This  is  the  period  of  the  Reformation. 

PERIOD  IX,  will  extend  from  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  1598 
years  A.  C.,  to  the  Death  of  Charles  XIT,  of  Sweden,  1718 
years  A.  C.  This  is  the  period  of  the  English  Common- 
wealth. 

PERIOD  X,  will  extend  from  the  Death  of  Charles  XII, 
of  Sweden,  1718  years  A.  C.,  to  the  final  Restoration  of  the 
Bourbons,  1815  years  A.  C.  This  is  the  period  of  the  Ame- 
rican and  French  Revolutions. 


10  MODERN  HISTORY. PERIOD  1. 


PERIOD  I. 

The  period  of  the  Ten  Persecutions  of  Christians^  extend 
ing  from  the  Nativity  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  the  Reign 
of  Const  antine  the  Great,  306  A.  C. 

THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE, 

SEC.  1.  The  great  event  with  which  this  period  properly 
commences,  is  the  BIRTH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  It  belongs  to 
the  Roman  History,  only  from  the  fnct  that  Judca,  the  coun- 
try of  Our  Saviour,  was  held  in  subjection  to  Rome.  It  is 
strictly  an  event  of  the  Jewish  History,  and  is  hereafter  to  be 
more  fully  noticed  under  that  head. 

Here  it  may  he  mentioned  only,  that  the  Birth  of  Jesus  oc- 
curred, according  to  the  common  reckoning,  in  the  31st  year  of 
die  reign  of  Augustus,  752  years  after  tlie  building  of  Rome, 
and  in  the  195th  Olympiad,  under  the  consulship  of  Caius  Ju- 
lius Caesar.  It  is  the"  general  opinion  of  the  learned,  how- 
ever, that  our  Saviour  was  born  four  years  earlier  than  this 
date,  viz.  in  the  27th  of  Augustus,  and  that  the  common 
reckoning  or  era  is  a  mistake. 

According  to  this  opinion,  Jesus,  in  the  year  1,  A.  C..  (the 
vulgar  date)  was  really  four  years  old. 

§  It  is  a  circumstance  worthy  of  remark,  that  the  temple  of  Janus, 
at  Rome,  which  was  always  open  in  time  of  war,  and  shut  only  du- 
ring peace,  was  shut  at  the  period  of  our  Saviour's  birth,  and  that, 
for  the  third  instance  only,  during  the  space  of  more  than  700  years. 

2.  Rome  had  been  an  empire  in  the  more  proper  sense  of 
the  word,  from  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Augustus.  At 
the  time  of  the  nativity  of  Christ,  the  empire  was  at  the  me- 
ridian of  its  splendour,  or  perhaps  a  little  past  it.  Most  of  the 
nations  had  bowed  to  the  Roman  yoke  ;  and  luxury  and  the 
arts  poured  in  upon  the  queen  of  cities. 

It  had  been  for  some  years  the  most  powerful  dominion  of 
the  ancient  world,  and  continued  thus  to  be  for  several  suc- 
ceeding centuries.  The  times,  however,  were  degenerate, 
and  the  real  strength  of  the  Roman  empire,  if  it  had  not  be- 
gun to  diminish  at  this  epoch,  was  certainly  not  greater  than 
during  the  last  days  of  the  republic.  A  few  nations  after- 
wards were  added  to  its  sway,  but  these  rather  weakened  than 
augmented  the  power  of  Rome.  The  wide  extent  of  its  do- 


ROMAN    EMPIRE.  II 

minions,  we  shall  hereafter  see,  was  one  of  the  causes  of  its 
decline  and  downfall. 

But  the  pomp  and  glory  of  so  great  a  monarchy,  continu- 
ed long  after  the  seeds  of  weakness  and  decay  were  sown. 
Distant  nations  admired  and  dreaded  the  splendid  spectacle. 
Ambassadors  from  every  region  daily  arrived  at  Rome,  to  do  ho- 
mage to  her  greatness,  or  to  seek  her  friendship  and  assistance. 

3.  Augustus,  who  first  established  a  despotism  over  the 
Roman  people,  died  14  years  after  the  birth  of  Christ.     The 
events  which  took  place  between  the  birth  of  Christ  and  the 
death  of  Augustus,  pertaining  to  the  Romans,  were  neither 
many  nor  important. 

During  this  interval,  Augustus  adopted  Tiberius,  and  fi- 
nally associated  him  in  the  empire.  Archelaus,  king  of  Ju- 
dea,  was  deposed,  and  that  country  became  strictly  a  Roman 
province.  Germanicus,  grandson  of  Augustus,  successfully 
commanded  in  Pannonia,  and  Q,.  Yarus  was  signally  defeat- 
ed by  the  Germans,  with  the  loss  of  three  Roman  legions. 

4.  Luxury  and  the  arts  having  enervated  the  Roman  peo- 
ple, and  the  former  civil  wars  and  the  consequent  calamities 
having  paved  the  way  for  a  different  order  of  things,  in  the 
quiet  establishment  of  despotism  under  Augustus,  their  fate 
from  this  time  was  fixed.     He  found  no  difficulty  in  riveting 
their  chains,  and  for  long  ages,  a  series  of  despots,  most  of 
them  (monsters  of  vice  and  cruelty,  ruled  with  a  rod  of  iron, 
this  once  liberty-loving  people,  and  mistress  of  nations. 

§  Amidst  the  refinements  and  elegancies  of  modern  times,  con- 
nected with  our  ideas  of  the  progressive  improvement  of  society,  we 
are  perhaps  inclined  to  overlook  and  undervalue  the  ages  of  antiqui- 
ty. Many  seem  to  forget  what  scenes  of  brightness  and  grandeur 
have  illumined  the  nations  before  us,  and  how  mournfully  those 
scenes  are  departed. 

The  pensive,  contemplative  mind,  however,  does  justice  to  such  a 
subject ;  and  no  instance  of  human  greatness  of  old,  strikes  such  a 
*nind  more  forcibly,  than  that  of  the  proud  empire  of  Rome,  under 
tier  Ceesars.  The  memorial  is  both  pleasant  and  mournful  to  the 
soul.  The  mixture  of  misery  with  its  splendour,  renders  it,  if  any 
thing,  mors  touching  and  impressive. 

5.  Tiberius,  who  had  been  named  in  the  will  of  Augus- 
tus as  his  successor,  immediately  assumed  the  government, 
14  years  A.  C.     He  was  the  son  of*  Augustus's  wife,  Livia, 
by  a  former  husband,  and  had  distinguished  himself  in  war. 

During  the  first  eight  or  nine  years  of  his  reign,  he  put  on 


12  MODERN  HISTORY. PERIOD  I. 

the  appearance  of  justice  and  moderation,  practising  the  most 
consummate  dissimulation.  His  vicious  and  tyrannical  disposi- 
tion was  indulged  during  this  time  in  a  very  covert  manner ;  but 
afterwards  it  was  openly  manifested,  and  carried  to  a  most  ter- 
rible extreme.  His  cruelties  and  debaucheries  were  enormous. 
The  first  objects  of  his  suspicions  were  Agrippa  Posthu- 
mus,  a  grandson  of  Augustus,  whom  he  ordered  to  be  execu- 
ted in  compliance  with  the  pretended  will  of  that  emperor  ; 
and  the  accomplished  Germanicus,  his  nephew  and  distin- 
guished general,  whom  he  caused  to  be  secretly  poisoned.  The 
Roman  people  indulged  in  unbounded  sorrow,  upon  the  death 
of  Germanicus. 

Afterwards,  when  he  gave  a  loose  to  his  passions,  the  best 
blood  in  Rome  flowed.      By  means  of  Sejanus,  a  Roman 
knight  whom  he  took  into  his  confidence,  and  who  exceeded 
even  Tiberius  in  dissimulation,  he  exercised  the  most  shock- 
ing cruelties  towards  his  subjects.     Sejanus  first  fell  a  victim 
to  his  crimes,  in  attempting  to  assume  the  government  him 
self;  and  a  few  years  after  Tiberius  was  strangled  or  poison 
ed  by  one  of  his  officers. 

§  From  the  12th  year  of  his  reign,  Tiberius  was  persuaded  by  Se 
janus  to  abandon  Rome,  and  to  retire  to  the  island  of  Caprea,  as  a 
more  convenient  place  for  the  indulgence  of  his  indolence  and  de- 
baucheries. His  gloomy  and  cruel  disposition  also  followed  him 
there,  and  by  means  of  this  base  minion,  he  perpetrated  all  manner 
of  crimes. 

At  this  time  he  was  67  years  old,  and  the  unpleasantness  of  his 
person  comported  with  the  deformity  of  his  mind.  He  was  quite 
bald  in  front ;  his  face  was  disgustingly  ulcerated,  and  covered  over 
with  plasters;  his  body  was  bent  forward,  while  its  unnatural  tallness 
and  leanness  increased  its  ugliness.  He  now  gave  himself  up  to  every 
excess.  He  spent  whole  nights  in  eating  and  drinking,  and  he  ap- 
pointed two  of  his  table  companions  to  the  first  posts  of  the  empire,  for 
no  other  merit,  than  that  of  having  sat  up  with  him  two  days  and  two 
nights,  without  interruption.  These  he  called  his  friends  of  all  hours. 

His  libidinous  indulgences  were  still  more  detestable,  and  the  most 
eminent  women  of  Koine  were  obliged  to  sacrifice  to  him  their  virtue 
and  honour. 

His  jealousy,  which  fastened  on  persons  of  the  highest  distinction, 
induced  him  to  condemn  them  to  death  on  the  slightest  pretences! 
Indeed  to  such  an  extent  were  legalized  murders  carried,  that  he  be- 
gan to  grow  weary  of  particular  executions,  and  therefore  gave  or- 
ders that  all  the  accused  should  be  put  to  death  together,  without 
further  examination.  The  whole  city  of  Rome  was  filled  with 
el  aughter  and  mourning.  The  place  of  execution  was  a  horrible  scene 


ROMAN    EMPIRE.  13 

dead  bodies  putrifying  lay  heaped  on  each  other,  while  even  the  friends 
of  the  wretched  convicts  were  denied  the  satisfaction  of  weeping. 

In  putting  to  death  sixteen  out  of  twenty  senators  whom  he  had 
chosen  for  his  council,  he  uttered  a  sentiment  never  to  be  forgot- 
ten in  the  records  of  human  cruelty.  "  Let  them  hate  me,  so  long 
as  they  obey  me."  This  monster  often  satisfied  his  eyes,  with  the 
tortures  of  the  wretches  who  were  put  to  death  before  him ;  and  in 
the  days  of  Suetonius,  the  rock  was  still  shown  from  which  he  or- 
dered such  as  displeased  him  to  be  thrown  headlong. 

He  died  in  the  seventy-eighth  year  of  his  age,  and  twenty-third 
of  his  reign.  37  A.  C. 

6.  At  this  time  the  Romans  were  arrived  at  the  highest 
pitch  of  effeminacy  and  vice.     The  wealth  of  almost  every 
nation  in  the  empire,  having  long  circulated  through  the 
city,  brought  with  it  the  luxuries  peculiar  to  each  country. 
Rome  was  one  vast  mass  of  pollution,  and  sensuality.     It 
was  thought  a  refinement  upon  pleasure  to  make  it  unnatu- 
ral.    Abating  their  genius,  there  never  was  a  more  detesta- 
ble people,  than  the  Romans  at  this  epoch,  and  indeed,  du- 
ring the  continuance  of  the  empire.     Cruelty  and  lust  were 
Essential  ingredients  in  the  Roman  character. 

§  It  was  a  burst  of  joy,  says  Chateaubriand,  which  Tiberius  was 
unable  to  repress,  on  finding  the  Roman  people  and  senate  sunk 
below  even  the  baseness  of  his  own  heart. 

Again,  according  to  this  writer,  death  formed  an  essential  part  of 
the  festivities  of  the  Romans.  It  was  introduced  as  a  contrast,  and 
for  the  purpose  of  giving  a  zest  to  the  pleasures  of  life.  Gladiators, 
courtezans,  and  musicians,  were  procured  to  enliven  entertainments. 
A  Roman  on  quitting  a  haunt  of  infamous  pleasure,  went  to  enjoy 
the  spectacle  of  a  wild  beast  devouring  human  victims,  and  quaffing 
their  blood. 

7.  Caligula  had  been  adopted  by  Tiberius  for  his  heir  and 
successor  in  the  empire.     He  was  the  son  of  Germanicus, 
and  grand-nephew  of  Tiberius,  and  so  called  from  Caliga, 
a  short  buskin  which  he  wore,  in  imitation  of  the  common 
sentinels.     He  commenced  his   reign  immediately   on  the 
death  of  Tiberius,  37  years  A.  C.  and  at  his  accession,  was 
popular  from  the  virtues  of  his  father. 

He  commenced  his  reign  with  a  show  of  clemency  and 
moderation.  He  restored  some  of  the  forms  of  the  republic 
which  his  predecessor  had  entirely  disregarded,  and  he  abol- 
ished arbitrary  prosecutions  for  crimes  of  state.  But  tyranni- 
cal by  nature,  in  less  than  eight  months  he  acted  out  his 
real  disposition,  in  cruelties,  extortions,  and  impieties,  which 

surpassed  even  those  of  Tiberius. 

2 


14  M0BERN   HISTORY. — PERIOD  I. 

Joining  absurdity  and  extravagance  to  vice,  lie  became 
supremely  contemptible,  as  well  as  detestable.  Indeed,  his 
follies  and  absurdities  were  peculiar  to  himself,  so  that  accord- 
ing to  an  idea  of  Seneca,  he  was  one  of  those  productions  of 
nature,  in  which  there  was  the  greatest  possible  combination 
of  vice  and  power.  He  died  by  assassination,  in  the  fourth 
year  of  his  reign  and  29th  of  his  age.  A,  C.  41 . 

§  Among  the  cruelties  of  this  imperial  monster,  were  his  murder 
of  Gemellus  his  kinsman,  of  Silemis  his  father-in-law,  of  Grecinus 
a  senator  of  noted  integrity,  who  refused  to  witness  falsely  against 
Silenus ;  afterwards,  his  killing  many  of  the  senate,  and  then  citing 
them  to  appear  as  if  they  had  killed  themselves  ;  indeed,  the  sacri- 
fice of  crowds  of  victims  to  his  avarice,  or  suspicion. 

He  condemned  many  persons  of  the  highest  quality  to  dig  in  the 
mines,  and  to  repair  the  high-ways,  for  ridiculing  his  profusion. 
He  cast  great  numbers  of  old  and  infirm  men,  and  poor  decrepid 
housekeepers,  to  wild  beasts,  in  order  to  free  the  state  from  such  un- 
serviceable citizens.  He  frequently  had  men  racked  before  him 
while  he  sat  at  table,  ironically  pitying  their  misfortunes,  and  blam- 
ing their  executioner.  And  as  the  height  of  insane  cruelty,  he  once 
expressed  the  wish  "  that  all  the  Roman  people  had  but  one  neck, 
that  he  might  dispatch  them  at  a  single  blow." 

His  impieties,  and  the  depravation  of  his  appetites,  made  him 
still  more  a  disgrace  to  human  nature.  He  claimed  divine  honours, 
and  caused  temples  to  be  built  and  sacrifices  to  be  offered  to  him- 
self, as  a  God.  He  caused  the  heads  of  the  statues  of  Jupiter  and 
some  other  gods  to  be  struck  off,  and  his  own  to  be  put  in  their 
places.  He  employed  many  inventions  to  imitate  thunder,  ana 
would  frequently  defy  Jupiter,  crying  out  in  a  sentence  of  Homer 
"  Do  you  conquer  me  or  I  will  conquer  you."  Scarcely  any  lady 
of  quality  in  Rome  escaped  his  depraved  solicitations.  He  com- 
mitted incest  with  his  three  sisters,  two  of  whom  he  prostituted  to 
his  vile  companions,  and  then  banished  them,  as  adulteresses  and 
conspirators  against  his  person. 

His  follies  and  prodigality  completed  the  infamy  of  his  charac- 
ter. The  luxuries  of  the  former  emperors  were  trifling,  compared 
to  his.  He  invented  dishes  of  immense  value,  and  had  even  jewels 
dissolved  among  his  sauces.  He  sometimes  had  services  of  pure 
gold,  instead  of  meat,  presented  before  his  guests ;  observing,  "that  a 
man  should  be  an  economist  or  an  emperor." 

For  his  favorite  horse  Incitatus,  he  built  a  stable  of  marble,  and 
a  manger  of  ivory;  and  appointed  it  a  house,  furniture,  and  a 
kitchen,  in  order  to  a  respectful  entertainment  of  its  visitors.  Some- 
times indeed,  the  emperor  invited  Incitatus  to  his  own  table ;  and  it 
is  said  that  he  would  have  appointed  it  to  the  consulship,  had  he 
not  been  prevented  by  death. 

These  and  a  thousand  other  follies,  particularly  the  building  of  a 
bridge  three  miles  and  a  half  across  an  arm  of  the  sea  in  a  ridicu- 


ROMAN    EMPIRE.  15 

lous  manner,  and  which  the  first  etorm  annihilated,  constituted  such 
a  drain  upon  the  public  resources,  as  hecame  exceedingly  oppressive. 
6f  a  fortune  of  £18,000,000  sterling  left  by  Tiberius,  none  remained 
in  a  space  little  beyond  one  year.  He  of  course  put  in  practice  all 
kinds  of  rapine  and  extortion.  Professor  Heeren  remarks,  that 
"  he  was  more  pernicious  to  the  state  by  his  insane  prodigality, 
than  by  his  savage  cruelty." 

Against  such  a  wretch,  we  naturally  look  for  treason  and  conspiracies. 
After  several  attempts,  his  death  was  at  length  accomplished  by  Cassius 
Cherea,  tribune  of  the  pratorian  bands,  who  was  an  ardent  lover  of 
freedom.  Leagued  with  a  number  of  conspirators,  he  met  the  em- 
peror in  a  little  vaulted  gallery  that  led  to  one  of  his  baths,  and 
struck  him  to  the  ground,  crying  out,  "  tyrant,  think  upon  this." 
He  was  immediately  dispatched  by  the  other  conspirators,  who 
rushed  in  and  pierced  him  with  thirty  wounds. 

8.  A  temporary  confusion  followed  the  death  of  Caligula, 
and  in  this  crisis  of  affairs,  the  senate  attempted  to  restore 
the  republic.  But  the  spirit  of  Roman  liberty  had  fled  ;  the 
populace,  and  in  general  the  army,  opposed  the  design. 
Claudius  at  this  juncture,  having  been  accidentally  found 
in  a  lurking  place,  to  which  he  had  repaired  through  fear, 
some  of  the  praetorian  guards  proclaimed  him  emperor,  at 
the  moment  he  expected  nothing  but  death ;  41  A.  C. 
Claudius  was  the  uncle  of  Caligula,  and  grand  son  of  Mark 
Antony  and  Octavia,  the  sister  of  Augustus. 

Claudius  was  a  man  below  mediocrity  in  understanding 
and  education  ;  and  his  capacity  for  business  was  even  con- 
temptible. He  became  almost  of  course  infamous  for  his  vi- 
ces, arid  the  dupe  of  his  associates  and  even  of  his  domestics. 
Many  were  the  cruelties  committed  during  his  reign,  though 
they  seem  to  have  been  suggested  principally  by  his  wicked 
directors,  among  whom  was  the  notorious  Mes^alina,  his  wife. 

§  The  stupidity  of  Claudius  was  such,  that  he  was  alike  indifferent, 
whatever  was  done,  and  often  was  he  so  operated  upon  by  his  fears, 
that  he  would  consent  to  any  act  however  unjust.  His  own  family 
on  one  pretence  or  another  was  almost  exterminated,  and  great  num- 
bers of  others  fell  a  sacrifice  to  the  jealousy  of  Messalina  and  her 
minions,  who  ruled  him  at  will.  The  historian,  Suetonius,  assures 
us,  that  there  were  no  less  than  thirty-five  Senators  and  above  three 
hundred  knights,  executed  in  his  reign. 

One  enterprise  of  importance  marked  his  reign,  and  that 
was  his  expedition  into  Britain,  43  A.  C.  He  undertook  to 
reduce  the  island,  and  after  visiting  it  in  person,  left  his  gene- 
rals, Plautius  and  Vespasian,  to  prosecute  a  war,  which  waa 
carried  on  for  several  years  with  various  success.  The  Silures 


16  MODERN  HISTORY. — PERIOD  I. 


or  inhabitants  of  South  Wales,  under  their  king,  Caractacus, 
(Caradoc,)  made  a  spirited  resistance,  though  without  avail  in 
the  end.  Their  king  was  led  captive  to  Rome. 

Messalina  advanced  in  boldness  as  in  profligacy,  but  her 
excesses  became  the  occasion  of  her  destruction.  The  em- 
peror was  persuaded  to  put  her  to  death  for  her  shameless  in- 
fidelity to  him.  Afterwards  he  married  Agrippina,  the  daugh- 
ter of  his  brother  Germanicus,  who  had  poisoned  her  former 
husband,  and  who  at  length  poisoned  him. 

Making  every  effort  to  secure  the  succession  to  the  empire 
to  her  son  Domitius  Aenobarbus,  (called  Nero,)  she  prevail- 
ed on  Claudius  to  adopt  him,  and  then  effecting  the  death  of 
her  husband,  she  opened  the  way  to  the  throne  for  one,  who 
was  destined  to  exceed  in  wickedness,  if  that  were  possible, 
any  that  went  before  him.  Claudius  was  put  to  death  in  the 
fifteenth  year  of  his  reign  and  sixty -third  of  his  age. 

§  Among  the  illustrious  sufferers  in  the  reign  of  Claudius,  were 
Petus  and  his  faithful  Arria.  whose  story  ought  not  to  be  passed  over. 
Cecina  Petus  associated  in  the  revolt  of  Camillus,  had  endeavoured 
to  escape  into  Dalmatia.  Being  apprehended,  he  was  conveyed  in 
a  ship  to  Rome.  Arria,  who  had  been  long  the  partner  of  his  affec- 
tions and  misfortunes,  entreated  his  keepers,  to  be  taken  in  the  same 
vessel. 

"  It  is  usual,"  said  she,  "  to  grant  a  man  of  his  quality  a  few  slaves 
to  dress,  and  undress,  and  attend  him ;  but  I  will  perform  all  these 
offices,  and  save  you  the  trouble  of  a  more  numerous  retinue."  Her 
fidelity,  however,  could  not  prevail.  She  therefore  hired  a  fisher- 
man's bark,  and  thus  kept  company  with  the  ship  in  which  her  hus- 
band was  conveyed,  through  the  voyage. 

They  had  an  only  son,  equally  beautiful  and  virtuous.  This  youth 
died  at  the  time  his  father  was  confined  to  his  bed,  by  a  dangerous 
disorder.  However,  the  affectionate  Arria  concealed  her  son's  death, 
and  in  her  visits  to  her  husband,  manifested  her  usual  cheerfulness. 
Being  asked  how  her  son  did,  she  replied  that  he  was  calm,  and  only 
left  her  husband's  chamber  to  give  vent  to  her  tears. 

When  Petus  was  condemned  to  die  by  his  own  hands,  Arria 
used  every  art  to  inspire  him  with  resolution ;  and  at  length  finding 
him  continue  timid  and  wavering,  she  took  the  poinard,  and  stabbing 
herself  in  his  presence,  presented  it  to  him  saying,  "  it  gives  me  no 
pain,  my  Petus." 

9.  Rome  at  this  era  contained  nearly  seven  millions  inhabi 
tants,  a  number  so  prodigious  that  nothing  but  the  best  evi- 
dence could  prevent  our  doubt  of  its  accuracy.      Corruption 
and  luxury  were  excessive.      The  Roman  military  spirit, 


ROMAN    EMPIRE.  17 

though  much  relaxed,  still  continued  to  awe  mankind,  by  the 
terror  of  its  name. 

10.  Nero  Claudius,  (the  name  he  assumed,)  the  son  of 
Agrippina,  succeeded  to  the  empire  (54  A.  C.)  under  favora- 
ble circumstances,  and  like  his  predecessors,  for  a  short  time, 
promised  to  govern  with  moderation  and  justice.  So  well 
did  he  conceal  his  innate  depravity,  that  scarcely  any  sus- 
pected that  his  virtues  were  feigned. 

The  care  of  his  education  had  been  entrusted  to  Seneca, 
the  famous  philosopher,  though  he  seemed  not  to  have  pro- 
fited under  his  instructor  any  otherwise  than  to  become  af- 
fected and  pedantic.  While,  however,  he  was  controled  by 
Seneca,  and  Burrhuss  captain  of  the  preetorian  guards,  a  wor- 
thy and  experienced  officer,  Nero  appeared  just  and  humane ; 
but  he  could  not  long  restrain  the  feelings  of  his  base  nature. 

At  the  expiration  of  five  years,  he  broke  over  all  the  bounds 
of  dece-ncy  and  moderation,  and  pursued  a  course  of  conduct 
exceeding  in  puerility,  levity,  ferocity,  and  tyranny,  what- 
ever had  been  done  before  him.  He  became  one  of  the  most 
odious  characters  recorded  in  history.  His  flagitiousness  was 
manifested  in  the  murder  of  his  mother,  his  wife  Octavia, 
his  tutor  Seneca,  and  Lucan  the  poet,  and  Burrhuss  his  bene- 
factor ;  in  extirpating  many  of  the  principal  families  of 
Rome  on  suspicion  of  treason ;  in  setting  the  city  on  fire, 
charging  the  crime  on  the  Christians,  and  then  punishing 
them  with  unheard  of  tortures ;  and  in  unnumbered  other 
acts  in  which  he  outraged  reason,  and  nature  itself. 

His  meanness  and  puerility  almost  surpass  belief,  and 
Rome  contained  not  another  so  despicable  a  wretch  in  the 
character  of  an  actor,  musician  or  gladiator.  At  length  hav- 
ing become  an  object  of  perfect  hatred  and  contempt,  a  re- 
bellion of  his  subjects  headed  by  Yindex,  an  illustrious  Gaul, 
and  Galba  who  commanded  in  Spain,  crushed  this  imperial 
monster,  in  the  thirtieth  year  of  his  age,  after  a  reign  of  four- 
teen years,  A.  C.  69.  Too  cowardly  to  kill  himself,  he  died 
by  the  hand  of  a  slave,  just  as  he  was  on  the  point  of  being 
taken,  arid  delivered  up  to  public  justice. 

§  The  burning  of  Rome  by  Nero  was  an  act  of  mere  wantonness. 
Some  one  happening  to  say  in  his  presence,  that  the  world  might  be 
burnt  when  he  was  dead,  "Nay,"  replied  Nero,  "let  it  be  burnt 
while  I  am  living."  Accordingly,  as  most  historians  report,  he  set  ft 
on  fire,  and  standing  upon  a  high  tower,  he  indulged  the  pleasure  ®$ 

2* 


18 


MODERN    HISTORY. — PERIOD   I. 


fancying  it  a  representation  of  the  burning  of  Troy.  The  confla- 
gration continued  nine  days,  and  a  great  part  of  the  city  was  con- 
sumed. 

A  conspiracy  formed  against  him  by  Piso,  but  which  was  prema- 
turely discovered,  opened  a  train  of  suspicions,  that  almost  turned 
Rome  into  a  field  of  blood.  All  who  were  implicated  or  suspected 
of  being  so,  he  executed  without  mercy.  It  was  at  this  time  that 
Seneca  and  Lucan  suffered. 

No  master  was  secure  from  the  vengeance  of  his  slaves,  nor  even 
parents  from  the  baser  attempts  of  their  children.  Not  only 
throughout  Rome,  but  the  whole  surrounding  country,  bodies  of  sol- 
diers were  seen  in  pursuit  of  the  suspected  and  the  guilty ;  whole 
crowds  of  wretches  loaded  with  chains,  were  led  every  day  to  the 
gates  of  the  palace,  to  wait  their  sentence  from  the  tyrant's  own  lips, 
who  always  presided  at  the  tortures  in  person,  attended  by  Tigelli- 
nus,  one  of  the  most  abandoned  men  in  Rome,  but  now  his  principal 
minister. 

"  The  principal  reason  why  the  despotism  of  Nero  and  his  pre- 
decessors was  so  quietly  borne  by  the  nation,  lay  in  the  fact,  that  a 
great  part  of  them  were  fed  by  the  emperors.  From  the  monthly 
distribution  of  corn  of  the  times  of  the  republic,  there  now  sprang 
up  the  extraordinary  congiaria  (gifts  in  corn  or  money)  and  vi- 
cerationes  (distributions  of  raw  flesh.)  The  times  of  tyranny 
were  generally  the  golden  days  of  the  rabble." 

During  the  reign  of  Nero,  the  Britons,  under  their  queen 
Boadicea  revolted,  and  defeated  the  Romans  with  the  loss  of 
70,000  men.  The  latter,  however,  avenged  this  loss  at  length 
by  the  slaughter  of  80,000  Britons,  which  completely  broke 
the  British  spirit  and  power. 

A  war  was  also  carried  on  against  the  Parthians,  under 
the  conduct  of  Corbulo,  who  obtained  many  victories  over 
them.  About  this  time  also,  67  A.  C.,  the  Jews,  who  had 
revolted  under  the  tyranny  of  Florus  the  Roman  governor, 
were  massacred  in  great  numbers. 

11.  Galba,  who  was  associated  with  Vindex,  in  the  in- 
surrection which  issued  in  the  destruction  of  Nero,  succeeded 
the  latter  in  the  empire  68  A.  C.  Vindex,  at  the  commence- 
ment of  his  revolt,  generously  proclaimed  Galba  emperor, 
and  after  the  death  of  Nero,  both  the  senate  and  the  legions 
under  his  command,  sanctioned  this  measure. 

Before  his  elevation  mankind  thought  well  of  Galba.  His 
descent  was  illustrious.  His  reputation  as  a  commander 
vtood  high,  and  no  stain  was  cast  on  his  courage  or  virtue. 
Compared  with  his  predecessors,  he  was  certainly  a  respecta- 
ble emperor.  In  seeking  to  accomplish  two  important 


ROMAN    EMPIRE  19 

iects,  viz.?  the  punishment  of  the  enormous  vices  then  preva- 
lent, and  the  replenishing  of  the  treasury,  he  was  unduly 
severe ;  and  as  he  was  naturally  parsimonious,  he  became 
an  object  of  contempt  and  ridicule. 

§  It  was  impolitic  in  Galba,  to  think  of  making  the  Roman  people 
pass  at  once  from  the  extreme  of  luxury  to  that  of  sobriety  and 
economy.  The  state  was  too  much  corrupted  to  admit  of  such  an 
immediate  and  total  change.  The  emperor's  intentions,  however, 
should  have  shielded  him  from  reproach ;  and  had  he  not  suffered 
his  assistants  to  abuse  his  confidence,  and  had  he  been  a  little  more 
equal,  moderate,  and  conciliatory  in  his  administration,  he  would 
have  been  as  well  thought  of  when  an  emperor,  as  he  was  when  a 
private  person. 

It  is  mentioned  as  an  instance  of  his  severity,  that  upon  some  dis- 
respectful treatment  of  him  from  a  certain  body  of  his  subjects,  he 
ordered  a  body  of  horse  attending  him  to  ride  in  among  them,  and 
thus  killed  7000  of  them,  and  afterwards  decimated  the  survivors. 

His  parsimony  is  indicated  by  the  following  circumstances.  He 
once  groaned  upon  having  an  expensive  soup  served  up  for  him  at 
his  table.  To  a  steward  for  his  fidelity  he  presented  a  plate  of 
beans.  And  a  famous  player  upon  the  flute,  named  Canus,  having 
greatly  delighted  him,  he  drew  out  his  purse  and  gave  him  five- 
pence,  telling  him  it  was  private  and  not  public  money.  His  popu- 
larity sunk  by  such  ill-timed  parsimony.  Through  his  love  of 
money,  some  notorious  villains  purchased  their  safety. 

Galba  reigned  only  seven  months.  He  perished  in  the 
seventy-third  year  of  his  age,  in  consequence  of  the  attempt 
of  Otho,  one  of  his  generals,  to  obtain  the  throne.  Otho  ex- 
pected to  be  adopted  by  Galba  for  his  successor ;  but  the 
emperor,  discarding  all  favouritism,  sought  the  good  of  the 
empire  by  nominating  the  virtuous  Piso.  Otho  consequent- 
ly had  recourse  to  arms,  and  thus  accomplished  the  death  both 
of  Galba  and  Piso. 

12.  Otho  was  now  raised  to  the  throne,  having  received 
from  the  senate  the  titles  usually  given  to  the  emperors,  69 
A.  C.  He  began  his  reign  with  several  signal  acts  of  mercy 
and  of  justice.  The  character  of  this  prince,  an  unusual  oc- 
currence, was  improved  by  advancement;  in  a  private  station 
he  was  all  that  was  detestable  ;  but  as  an  emperor  he  ap- 
peared courageous,  benevolent,  and  humane. 

The  good  course,  however,  which  he  had  marked  out  for 
himself,  was  soon  terminated.  He  reigned  only  ninety-five 
days.  Vitelhus,  who  had  been  proclaimed  emperor  by  his 
army  in  Germany,  gave  Otho  battle  at  a  place  near  Mantua, 


20  MODERN    HISTORY. — PERIOD    I. 

where  the  army  of  the  latter  was  defeated,  and  he  in  a  fit  of 
despair  ended  his  life  hy  his  own  hand,  69  A.  C. 

§  Otho  was  descended  from  the  ancient  kings  of  Etruria. 

It  has  been  observed  that  tl*e  last  moments  of  Otho's  life  were 
those  of  a  philosopher.  He  comforted  his  soldiers  who  lamented 
his  fortune,  and  he  expressed  his  concern  for  their  safety,  when  they 
earnestly  solicited  to  pay  him  the  last  friendly  offices  before  he  stab- 
bed himself;  and  he  observed  that  it  was  better  for  one  man  to  die, 
than  that  all  should  be  involved  in  ruin  for  his  obstinacy. 

No  circumstance,  however,  can  excuse  the  crime  of  suicide,  a 
vice  which  was  awfully  prevalent  among  the  Romans. 

13.  Vitellius,  upon  his  success,  assumed  the  government 
69  A.  C.,  but  he  retained  it  only  eight  months.  This  wretch 
was  not  more  given  to  cruelty,  than  to  the  infamous  indul- 
gence of  his  appetites.  Like  Nero,  he  abandoned  himself  to 
every  species  of  fiagitiousness  and  excess. 

He  perished  justly.  Vespasian,  who  at  this  time  com- 
manded the  Roman  army  in  Egypt,  was  proclaimed  emperor 
by  his  legions.  Entering  Italy,  a  great  part  of  the  country 
submittted  to  his  arms,  and  even  Vitellius  meanly  capitu- 
lated to  save  his  life,  hy  a  resignation  of  the  empire.  This 
act  of  cowardice  rousing  the  indignation  of  the  people,  he 
was  compelled  to  oppose  Vespasian  by  force,  but  without 
effect.  One  of  the  generals  of  the  conqueror  took  possession 
of  Rome  ;  and  Vitellius,  falling  into  the  hands- of  a  party  oi 
the  enemy,  was  ignominiously  put  to  death. 

§  Instances  of  the  cruel  disposition  of  this  emperor  are  the  follow- 
ing. Going  to  visit  one  of  his  associates  who  was  in  a  violent  fever, 
he  mingled  poison  with  his  water,  and  delivered  it  to  him  with  his$ 
own  hands,  in  order  to  obtain  his  possessions.  He  never  pardoned 
money-lenders  who  presumed  to  demand  payment  of  his  former 
debts ;  but  taking  away  their  lives  he  both  cancelled  their  claims., 
and  succeeded  to  their  estate. 

A  Roman  knight  being  dragged  away  to  execution,  and  crying 
out  that  he  had  made  the  emperor  his  heir,  Vitellius  demanded  to 
see  the  will,  where  finding  himself  joint  inheritor  with  another,  he 
ordered  both  to  be  executed,  that  he  might  enjoy  the  legacy  alone. 

Gluttony,  however,  was  his  predominant  vice.  In  order  to  be  able 
to  renew  his  meals  at  pleasure,  he  brought  himself  to  an  habit  of 
vomiting.  His  entertainments  were  prodigiously  expensive ;  but 
oftener  to  others,  than  to  himself.  It  has  been  remarked  that  had 
he  reigned  long,  the  whole  empire  would  not  have  been  sufficient  to 
maintain  his  table. 

In  one  particular  dish,  did  this  imperial  glutton  out-do  all  the  for- 
mer profusion  of  the  most  luxurious  Romans.  This  was  of  such 
magnitude  as  to  be  called  the  shield  of  Minerva,  and  was  filled  with 


ROMAN    EMPIRE. 

a  medley,  made  from  the  air-bladders  of  the  fish  called  scarr1,  the 
brains  of  pheasants  and  woodcocks,  the  tongues  of  the  most  costly 
birds,  and  the  spawn  of  lampreys  brought  from  the  Carpathian  sea. 
14.  Vespasian,  having  been  declared  emperor,  by  the 
unanimous  consent  of  the  senate  and  the  army,  70  A.  C. 
was  received  with  the  greatest  joy  on  his  arrival  at  Rome. 
Though  of  mean  descent,  he  deserved  the  purple,  and  reign- 
ed during  ten  years,  with  great  popularity.  He  was  distin- 
guished by  clemency,  affability,  and  a  simple,  frugal  mode  of 
life.  His  frugality,  however,  bordered  upon  avarice,  which 
was  the  principal  defect  of  his  character. 

In  his  administration  of  government,  he  acted  under  the 
forms  of  the  republic,  and  even  restored  the  senate  to  its  de- 
liberative rights.  The  famous  war  against  the  Jews,  was 
terminated  during  the  reign  of  Vespasian,  by  the  arms  of  his 
son  Titus.  After  this,  the  empire  was  in  profound  peace,  and 
the  emperor,  having  associated  Titus  in  the  government,  soon 
departed  this  life,  to  the  universal  regret  of  the  Roman  peo- 
ple, in  the  70th  year  of  his  age,  79  A.  C. 

§  It  was  some  time  before  Vespasian  could  give  security  and 
peace  to  the  empire.  When  this  object  was  effected,  he  began  to 
correct  the  abuses  which  had  grown  up  under  the  tyranny  of  his 
predecessors.  He  restrained  the  licentiousness  of  the  army — degra- 
ded such  senators  as  were  unworthy  of  their  station — abridged  the 
tedious  processes  in  the  courts  of  justice — re-edified  such  parts  of 
the  city  as  had  suffered  in  the  late  commotions — and  extended  his 
paternal  care  over  all  parts  of  the  empire. 

Vespasian  was  liberal  in  the  encouragement  of  learning  and  the 
arts.  He  was  particularly  kind  to  Josephus,  the  Jewish  historian. 
Quintillian  and  Pliny,  who  flourished  in  his  reign,  were  highly  es- 
teemed by  him ;  and  indeed  the  professors  of  every  liberal  art  or 
science,  were  sure  to  experience  his  bounty. 

He  died  by  disease,  a  death  quite  unusual  with  the  masters  of 
Rome.  Taken  with  an  indisposition  at  Campania,  which  from  the 
beginning  he  declared  would  be  fatal,  he  cried  out  in  the  spirit  of  pa- 
ganism, "  Methinks  I  am  going  to  be  a  god."  When  brought  to  the 
last  extremity,  and  perceiving  that  he  was  about  to  expire,  he  decla- 
red that  an  emperor  ought  to  die  standing;  and  therefore  raising  him- 
self upon  his  feet,  he  breathed  his  last  in  the  arms  of  his  supporters. 

15,  Titus  succeeded  to  the  empire  upon  the  death  of  his 
father,  79  A.  C.  His  character  is  celebrated  as  that  of  a 
highly  humane,  just  and  generous  prince.  He  so  devoted 
himself  to  acts  of  beneficence,  that  recollecting  one  evening 
that  he  nad  done  none  during  the  day,  he  exclaimed,  "  O,  my 
friends,  I  have  lost  a  day  !"  His  reign  was  a  short,  but  pros 


22 


MODERN  HISTORY. — PEJ 


He  died  in  his  41st 


hav 


perous  and  happy  one 

reigned  but  little  more  than  two  years.      His  brother  Domi- 

tian  was  suspected  as  being  the  author  of  his  death. 

§  Before  he  came  to  the  throne,  his  character  was  thought  not  to 
be  unexceptionable ;  but  whatever  vices  he  had  indulged  in,  he 
seems  to  have  abandoned  upon  that  event.  It  is  related  as  an  in- 
stance of  the  government  of  his  passions,  that  he  relinquished  the 
hand  of  his  beloved  Berenice,  sister  to  king  Agrippa,  a  woman  ol 
the  greatest  beauty,  and  the  most  refined  allurements.  Knowing 
that  the  connection  with  her  was  disagreeable  to  the  Roman  people, 
he  conquered  his  affections,  and  sent  her  awa}^  notwithstanding 
their  mutual  affection,  and  all  her  arts. 

He  was  so  tender  of  the  lives  of  his  subjects,  that  he  took  upon 
him  the  office  of  High  Priest,  in  order  to  keep  his  hands  undefiled 
with  blood.  He  so  little  regarded  such  as  censured  or  abused  him, 
that  he  was  heard  to  say,  "  When  I  do  nothing  worthy  of  censure, 
why  should  I  be  displeased  at  it  ?" 

During  his  reign,  Rome  was  three  days  on  fire,  without  intermis- 
sien ;  and  this  was  followed  by  a  plague,  in  which  10,000  person? 
were  buried  in  a  day.  Titus,  from  his  own  resources,  repaired  the 
devastations  of  the  city,  and  in  all  respects  acted  as  a  father  to.his 
people  in  their  calamities.  About  this  time  the  towns  of  Campania 
were  destroyed*  by  an  eruption  of  Vesuvius.  Upon  this  occasion 
Pliny,  the  naturalist,  lost  his  life,  by  venturing  too  near  the  volcano. 

When  Titus  was  taken  ill,  he  retired  into  the  country  of  the  Sa- 
bines,  to  his  father's  house.  There  his  indisposition  was  increased 
by  a  burning  fever.  Modestly  lifting  his  eyes  to  heaven,  though 
with  a  spirit  which  Christianity  cannot  approve,  and  without  the 
hope  it  inspires,  he  complained  of  the  severity  of  his  fate,  which 
was  about  to  remove  him  from  the  world,  where  he  had  been  em- 
ployed in  making  a  grateful  people  happy. 

Dornitian  has  incurred  the  suspicion  of  hastening  his  brother's 
end,  by  ordering  him  to  be  placed,  during  his  agony,  in  a  tub  full  of 
snow,  where  he  expired. 

15-|  Domitian,  upon  the  death  of  his  brother,  assumed  the 
purple,  81  A.  C.  The  beginning  of  his  reign  promised  a  con- 
tinuance of  their  happiness  to  the  Roman  people.  But  the 
scene  soon  changed,  and  Domitian  became  a  most  execrable 
villain  and  tyrant.  He  condemned  to  death  many  of  the 
most  illustrious  Romans,  and  witnessed,  with  the  most  fero- 
cious pleasure,  the  agonies  of  his  victims.  He  caused  him- 
self to  be  styled  God  and  Lord,  in  all  the  papers  that  were 
presented  to  him.  Though  not  destitute  of  learning  himself, 
he  banished  the  philosophers  from  Rome. 

His  reign  was  an  era  of  prodigality  and  luxury,  as  well  as 
of  inhumanity  and  baseness.  The  people  were  loaded  with 


ROMAN    EMPIRE.  23 

insupportable  taxes,  to  furnish  spectacles  and  games  for  their 
amusement.  His  leisure  was  spent  in  the  most  degrading 
pursuits.  One  of  the  most  constant  occupations  of  his  pri- 
vate hours,  was  the  catching  and  killing  of  fl ies. 

In  his  reign  occurred  the  second  great  persecution  of  the 
Christians,  (that  under  Nero  being  the  first)  in  which  40,000 
of  that  profession  were  destroyed. 

His  general,  Agricola,  met  with  signal  success  in  the  ex- 
pedition against  Britain,  though  Domitian  derived  iio  renown, 
but  rather  disgrace  from  it,  in  consequence  of  his  ungrateful 
treatment  of  Agricola.  •  After  a  reign  of  15  years,  he  was 
assassinated  at  the  instigation  of  his  wife. 

$  To  the  senate  and  nobility,  Domitian  was  particularly  hostile, 
frequently  threatening  to  extirpate  them  all.  He  delighted  to  ex- 
pose them  both  to  terror  and  ridicule.  He  once  assembled  the  au- 
gust body  of  the  senate,  to  know  in  what  vessel  a  turbot  might  be 
most  conveniently  dressed. 

At  another  time,  inviting  them  to  a  public  entertainment,  he  received 
them  all  very  formally  at  the  entrance  of  his  palace,  and  introduced 
them  into  a  large  gloomy  hall,  hung  with  black,  and  lighted  with  a 
few  glimmering  tapers.  All  around  nothing  was  to  be  seen  but  cof- 
fins,- with  the  name  of  each  of  the  senators  written  upon  them,  and 
other  frightful  objects,  and  instruments  of  execution. 

While  the  company  beheld  all  these  preparations  with  silent 
agony,  on  a  sudden,  a  number  of  men  burst  into  the  room,  clothed 
in  black,  with  drawn  swords  and  flaming  torches,  and  after  they 
had  for  some  time  terrified  the  guests,  a  message  from  the  emperor, 
gave  the  company  leave  to  retire. 

His  death  had  been  predicted  by  the  astrologers.  This  circum- 
stance gave  him  the  most  tormenting  inquietude.  His  jealousies 
increasing  with  a  sense  of  his  guilt,  he  was  afraid  by  day  and  by 
night ;  and  in  proportion  to  his  fears,  he  became  more  cruel.  His 
stern  air  and  fiery  visage,  directed  and  added  poignancy  to  the  tor- 
tures of  his  enemies.  The  gallery  in  which  he  was  accustomed  to 
walk,  he  ordered  to  be  set  round  with  a  pellucid  stone,  which  served 
as  a  mirror,  to  reflect  the  persons  of  all  such  as  approached  him  from 
behind.  But  happily  all  his  precautions  were  unavailing. 

"The  fall  of  Domitian,"  says  Heeren,"  confirms  the  result  of  uni* 
versal  experience,  that  a  tyrant  has  little  to  fear  from  the  people, 
out  so  much  the  more  from  individuals,  whose  throats  are  in  dan- 
ger." 

His  wife  Domitia,  having  accidently  discovered  that  her  name 
was  on  the  list  of  those  whom  he  intended  to  put  to  death,  at  once 
concerted  measures  to  secure  her  safety  by  the  destruction  of  the 
emperor.  Engaging  some  of  the  officers  of  his  household,  and  others 
who  were  also  on  the  proscribed  list,  to  enter  into  her  plan,  she  had 
the  good  fortune  soon  t©  learn,  that  he  was  dispatched  at  midnight 


MODERN    HISTORY. — PERIOD    I. 


in  one  of  the  most  secret  recesses  of  his  palace,  whither  he  had  re- 
tired to  rest. 

The  twelve  Caesars,  as  they  have  been  denominated  in 
history,  ended  with  Domitian.  In  this  number,  however, 
Julius  Csesai  is  included,  although  Augustus  was  the  first 
emperor  strictly  so  called,  and  Nero  was  the  last  emperor  of 
the  Augustan  family. 

16.  Nerva  was  elected  emperor  by  the  senate,  upon  the 
death  of  Domitian,  96  A.  C.     He  was  the   first  Roman 
emperor  of  foreign  extraction,  (being  a  native  of  Crete),  and 
chosen  on  account  of  his  virtues.     His  advanced  age  and  the 
clemency  of  his  disposition,  with  perhaps  a  want, of  energy, 
unfitted  him  to  stem  the  torrent  of  corruption,  and  to  cure 
the  disorders  of  the  empire.     He  however,  adopted  the  ex- 
cellent Trajan  as  his  successor,  and  thus  rendered  a  service 
to  mankind  which  his  administration  otherwise  could  never 
have  accomplished.     He  died  98  A.  C.  in  the  seventy-se- 
cond year  of  his  age,  having  reigned  sixteen  months. 

§  During  his  short  reign,  Nerva  made  several  good  laws  and  regu- 
lations, and  in  every  respect  conducted  himself  like  an  indulgent  fa- 
ther to  his  people.  No  statues  would  he  permit  to  be  erected  to 
his  memory,  and  he  converted  into  money,  such  of  Domitian's  as 
had  been  spared  by  the  senate.  He  sold  many  rich  robes,  and 
much  of  the  splendid  furniture  of  the  palace,  and  retrenched  seve- 
ral unreasonable  expenses  at  court,  yet  he  was  not  at  all  avaricious 
of  money. 

The  following  is  a  striking  instance  of  his  lenity.  He  had  so- 
lemnly sworn  that  no  senator  of  Rome  should  be  put  to  death  by 
his  command,  during  his  reign,  from  any  cause  whatever. 

This  oath  he  observed  with  such  sanctity,  that  when  two  sena- 
tors had  conspired  bis  death,  he  sent  for  them,  and  carried  them 
with  him  to  the  public  theatre.  There  presenting  each  a  dagger, 
he  desired  them  to  strike,  as  he  was  determined  not  to  ward  off  the 
blow. 

17.  Trajan,  now  in  the  possession  of  the  throne,  98  A.  C. 
was  a  native  of  Seville  in  Spain.     He  proved  to  be  one  of 
Rome's  best  sovereigns,  splendid,  warlike,  munificent,  cour- 
teous, and  modest.     The  few  vices  he  possessed  were  scarcely 
noticed  amidst  the  blaze  of  his  virtues,  and  the  fame  of  his 
exploits.     This,  perhaps,  is  an  instance  of  human  infirmity 
in  the  estimation  of  character,  since  no  vice  should  pass  un- 
condemned.     It  is  a  matter  of  deep  regret,  that  his  equity, 
so  visible  in  other  respects,  should  be  implicated  by  his  con- 
duct towards  the  Christians,  whom  he  suffered  to  be  mo- 


ROMAN    EMPIRE.  25 

Jested.    The  thud  great  persecution  of  them  took  place  during1 
fiis  reign. 

The  boundaries  of  the  empire  were  greatly  enlarged  by 
the  victories  of  Trajan,  in  Dacia  and  the  East.  They  never 
were  so  extensive,  either  before  or  after  his  time.  The  em- 
pire, however,  was  not  improved  by  these  conquests  ;  it  soon 
lost  them,  for  the  conquered  countries  immediately  re-appeared 
in  arms,  and  at  length  effected  their  independence. 

Learning  and  learned  men  were  signally  encouraged  by  the 
emperor's  liberality.  His  public  works  are  also  much  cele- 
brated. By  his  direction,  the  column  still  to  be  seen  un- 
der the  name  of  Trajan's  column,  was  erected.  It  is  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  monuments  of  ancient  Rome.  He  died 
after  a  reign  of  nineteen  years,  at  the  age  of  sixty-three, 

118  A.  C. 

§  It  was  a  characteristic  of  Trajan,  that  he  so  little  feared  his 
enemies,  that  he  could  scarcely  be  induced  to  suppose  he  had  any. 
Being  once  told  that  his  favorite,  Sura,  was  false  to  him  ;  Trajan, 
to  show  how  much  he  relied  upon  his  fidelity,  went  in  his  ordinary 
manner  to  sup  with  him.  There  he  commanded  Sura's  surgeon  to 
be  brought,  whom  he  ordered  to  take  off  the  hair  about  his  eye- 
brows. He  then  made  the  barber  shave  his  beard,  after  which,  he 
went  unconcerned  into  the  bath  as  usual.  The  next  day,  when 
Sura's  accusers  were  renewing  their  complaints ;  Trajan  informed 
them  how  he  had  spent  the  night,  remarking,  that  "if  Sura,  had  any 
designs  against  his  life,  he  had  then  the  fairest  opportunity." 

The  first  war  in  which  the  emperor  was  engaged,  was  with  the 
Dacians,  who,  in  the  reign  of  Domitian,  had  committed  numerous 
ravages  upon  the  provinces.  Trajan,  suddenly  appearing  in  arms 
on  the  frontiers  of  their  country,  awed  them  at  once  into  a  treaty  of 
peace.  As,  however,  this  was  soon  after  violated,  he  entered  the 
hostile  territory,  and  obtained  a  complete  victory,  though  with  a 
prodigious  slaughter  of  his  troops;  and  Dacia  became  a  Roman 
province.  At  his  return  to  Rome  he  entered  the  city  in  triumph  ; 
and  the  rejoicings  for  his  victories  lasted  for  the  space  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty  days. 

Trajan  aferwards  turned  his  arms  eastward  and  speedily  reduced 
Mesopotamia,  Chaldea,  and  Assyria,  and  took  Ctesiphon,  the  capi- 
tal of  the  Parthian  empire.  At  length,  sailing  down  the  Persian 
gulph,  he  entered  the  Indian  ocean,  conquering  even  the  Indies , 
part  of  which  he  annexed  to  the  Roman  empire.  This  enterprise, 
which,  at  one  time,  he  intended  to  pursue  to  the  confines  of  the 
earth,  he  was  obliged  to  relinquish  on  account  of  the  inconveniences 


of  increasing  age. 


Preparing  to  return  to  his  capital  in  a  style  of  unparalleled  mag- 
nificence, he  was  unable  from  infirmity  to  reach  home ;  and  he  died 

3 


MODERN  HISTORY. PERIOD  I. 


in  the  city  of  Seleucia,  having  refused  to  nominate  a  successor,  lest 
he  should  adopt  a  person  that  was  unworthy. 

It  may  serve  to  show  how  highly  Trajan  was  esteemed  by  his 
subjects,  that  it  was  the  practice,  during  two  hundred  years  in 
blessing  his  successors,  to  wish  them  "  the  fortune  of  Augustus,  and 
the  goodness  of  Trajan." 

18.  Adrian  succeeded  Trajan  118  years  A.  C.  The 
wife  of  Trajan  forged  a  will  in  the  emperor's  name,  declar- 
ing Adrian  his  successor.  This  designation  was  supported 
by  the  army,  and  Adrian  ventured  to  assume  the  govern- 
ment. This  emperor  was  a  nephew  of  Trajan,  and  in  most 
respects  worthy  of  being  his  successor.  He  chose  to  cultivate 
rather  the  arts  of  peace  than  war,  and  judging  that  the  limits 
of  the  empire  were  too  extensive,  he  abandoned  all  the  con- 
quests of  Trajan,  and  bounded  the  eastern  provinces  by  the 
river  Euphrates.  He  was,  however,  remarkably  expert  in 
military  discipline. 

Daring  an  expedition  of  thirteen  years,  he  visited  in  per- 
son all  the  provinces  of  his  empire,  and  dispensed  wherever 
he  went  the  blessings  of  peace,  justice,  and  order.  In  his  ca- 
pacity as  a  sovereign,  he  rendered  important  services  to  his 
subjects — in  private  life,  however,  it  is  said  that  his  virtues 
were  mingled  with  an  alloy  of  vices,  arising  chiefly  from  ir- 
resolution. He  indulged  in  vanity,  envy,  and  detraction,  in  a 
degree  which  was  too  manifest  to  be  palliated  in  a  person  of 
his  exalted  station.  His  virtues,  however,  were  predominant, 
and  Rome  had  few  better  emperors.  His  general  knowledge, 
and  his  taste  in  the  arts,  were  highly  honourable  in  a  sovereign. 
He  died  in  the  seventy-second  year  of  his  age,  A.  C.  138. 

§  Among  his  exploits,  it  is  known  that  when  he  came  to  Britain, 
he  built  a  wall  of  wood  and  earth,  between  the  modern  towns  of 
Carlisle  and  Newcastle,  eighty  miles  in  length,  to  protect  the  Britons 
from  the  incursions  of  the  Caledonians.  In  a  war  with  the  Jews, 
he  killed  in  battle  five  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  of  that  people 
who  had  become  rebellious,  and  built  a  city  on  the  ruins  of  Jerusa- 
em  which  he  called  Aelia  Capitolina.  In  performing  his  long 
marches  with  his  army,  Adrian  generally  travelled  on  foot,  and  went 
without  any  covering  on  his  head. 

His  character  was  in  many  respects  extraordinary,  and  none  of 
the  Roman  emperors  excell  cd  him  in  variety  of  endowments.  He  was 
highly  skilful  in  all  the  exercises  both  of  body  and  mind.  He  was  an 
author,  orator,  mathematician,  musician  and  painter.  His  memory 
was  so  retentive,  that  he  recollected  every  incident  of  his  life,  and 
he  knew  all  the  soldiers  of  his  army  by  name. 

He  was  the  first  emperor  who  wore  a  long  heard,  a  fashion  which 


ROMAN    EMPIRE.  27 

he  adopted  to  hide  the  warts  on  his  face.    His  successor  followed 
his  example  for  the  sake  of  ornament. 

Though  Adrian  aimed  at  universal  reputation,  he  strictly  attended 
to  the  duties  of  his  station.  Through  his  cares  he  began  to  fail  in 
health  and  strength,  and  adopting  for  his  successor  Titus  Antoninus, 
he  sought  the  repose  which  he  needed.  His  bodily  infirmities  how- 
ever, daily  increased,  and  his  pain  becoming  nearly  insupportable, 
he  vehemently  desired  death.  Antoninus  with  difficulty  persuaded 
him  to  sustain  life,  though  the  emperor  frequently  cried  out  in  his 
agonies, "  How  miserable  a  thing  is  it  to  seek  death,  and  not  to  find 
it."  Alas  !  how  pointed  is  the  moral,  that  no  station,  however  ex- 
alted, can  exempt  one  from  the  infirmities  of  life  and  the  sting  of 
death.  As  he  was  expiring,  the  emperor  repeated  the  following 
lines,  as  translated  into  English. 

O  fleeting  spirit,  wand'ring  fire, 

That  long  has  warmed  my  tender  breast, 
Wilt  thou  no  more  my  frame  inspire  ? 

No  more  a  pleasing  cheerful  guest ') 
Whither,  ah  !  whither  art  thou  flying  ? 

To  what  dark,  undiscovered  shore  'I 
Thou  seemest  all  trembling,  shivering,  dying, 

And  wit  and  humour  are  no  more. 

His  reign  was  a  prosperous  one  of  twenty-two  years.     He  died  139 
A.  C.  aged  seventy-two. 

19.  Titus  Antoninus,  sumamed  Pius,  having  been  adopt- 
ed by  Adrian,  succeeded  to  the  empire  138  A.  C.  His  vir- 
tues were  an  ornament  to  human  nature,  and  conferred  innu- 
merable blessings  on  mankind.  He  preferred  peace  to  con- 
quest, and  yet  whenever  war  became  necessary,  he  carried 
it  on  with  vigour  and  success.  He  was  conspicuous  for  jus- 
tice and  clemency,  and  his  love  of  the  religion  of  his  country. 

His  reign  was  marked  by  few  events,  as  the  reigns  of 
peaceable  monarchs  usually  are.  The  most  remarkable  for- 
eign occurrences  were  the  enlargement  of  the  province  of 
Britain  by  the  conquests  of  Urbicus,  and  the  suppression  of 
some  forminable  rebellions  in  Germany,  Dacia,  and  the  East. 
He  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-four,  having  reigned  twenty- 
two  years.  A.  C.  161. 

§  Such  was  the  munificence  of  Antoninus,  that  in  cases  of  famine 
or  inundation,  he  supplied  with  his  own  money  the  wants  of  the 
sufferers.  Such  were  his  humanity  and  love  of  peace,  that  when 
told  of  conquering  heroes,  he  said  with  Scipio,  that  "  he  preferred 
the  life  and  preservation  of  one  subject  to  the  death  of  an  hundred 
enemies !"  His  regard  of  the  Christians  was  extraordinary  for  a 
heathen  emperor.  He  declared  that  "  if  any  should  proceed  to  dis- 
turb them  on  account  of  their  religion,  such  should  undergo  the 
same  punishment  which  was  intended  against  the  accused."  A  de- 


28 


MODERN    HISTORY. — PERIOD   I. 


grec  of  persecution  nevertheless  took  place,  contrary  to  the  princi 
pies  of  the  emperor. 

He  was  a  distinguished  rewarder  of  learned  men,  whom  he  invi 
ted  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  and  raised  to  wealth  and  honour 
Among  the  rest,  he  sent  for  Apollonius  the  famous  stoic  philosopher, 
to  instruct  his  adopted  son,  Marcus  Aurelius,  whom  he  had  previous 
ly  married  to  his  daughter. 

Apollonius  being  arrived  8t  Rome,  the  emperor  desired  his  atten 
dance :  but  the  philosopher  arrogantly  answered  that  it  was  the 
scholar's  duty  to  wait  upon  the  master,  and  not  the  master's  to  wait 
upon  the  scholar.  To  this  reply,  Antoninus  only  returned  with  a 
smile,  "  that  it  was  surprising  how  Apollonius,  who  made  no  difficul- 
ty in  coming  from  Greece  to  Rome,  should  think  it  so  hard  to  walk 
from  one  part  of  Rome  to  the  other,"  and  immediately  sent  Marcus 
Aurelius  to  him. 

In  the  midst  of  his  labours  in  rendering  his  subjects  happy,  he  was 
seized  with  a  lingering  illness,  which  terminated  in  death  in  the 
seventy-fifth  year  of  his  age,  and  the  twenty-third  of  .his  reign. 

20.  Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus,  the  adopted  son  of  Pius, 
now  came  to  the  throne,  161  A.  C.  His  name  before  was 
Annius  Verus,  and  he.  together  with  Lucius  Verus,  his  too- 
ther, had  been  designated  by  Adrian  to  succeed  to  the  govern- 
ment, whenever  Antoninus  Pius  should  decease.  Pius  con- 
firmed the  adoption  of  Marcus,  without  once  naming  Lucius 
Verus.  Marcus,  however,  upon  assuming  the  empire,  admit- 
ted his  brother  as  a  partner  in  the  administration. 

They  wrere  perfectly  opposite  in  character;  Marcus  Aurelius 
being  as  much  distinguished  for  his  energy  and  virtue,  as 
Verus  was  for  imbecility,  meanness,  and  vice.  Aurelius  was 
in  every  respect  equal  to  his  predecessor,  and  was  even  more 
conspicuous  for  his  attachment  to  philosophy.  This,  as  the 
stoics  professed  it,  he  has  admirably  taught  and  illustrated  in 
his  Meditations. 

In  the  wars  which  were  carried  on  during  this  joint  reign, 
the  worthless  Verus  brought  disgrace  upon  the  Roman  name, 
wherever  he  commanded.  The  Parthians,  however,  were 
repulsed  by  the  legions  of  the  empire,  and  a  rebellion  of  the 
Germans  was  subdued. 

After  the  death  of  Verus,  which  happily  soon  took  place, 
Aurelius  directed  all  his  energies  for  the  improvement  and 
happiness  of  his  empire.  For  purposes  of  beneficence  he 
visited  the  remotest  corners  of  the  Roman  world.  He  died 
at  length  in  Pannonia,  in  the  fifty-ninth  year  of  his  age,  and 
nineteenth  of  his  reign,  A.  G.  180. 


ROMAN    EMPIRE. 

It  was  an  infelicity  of  the  otherwise  admirable  reign  of 
Aurelius,  that  the  Christians  at  one  time  were  violently  perse- 
cuted. The  fanatical  Pagan  priests  were,  however,  the  im- 
mediate instruments  in  this  persecution,  inasmuch  as  they 
ascribed  to  the  Christians  the  various  calamities  which  the 
empire  endured,  under  the  excesses  of  Verus,  the  attacks  of 
the  barbarians,  and  the  devastations  occasioned  by  earth- 
quakes, famines,  pestilences,  and  inundations. 

§  Aurelius  loved  retirement  and  philosophical  contemplation,  ami 
improved  for  mental  cultivation  and  enjoyment,  all  the  leisure  h«J 
could  command.  That,  however,  was  far  less  than  his  wishes  d  c, 
tated.  The  disturbances  in  the  empire  called  him  frequently  into 
the  field,  and  until  the  death  of  his  colleague,  he  suffered  no  small 
inquietude  on  his  account.  He  was,  however,  successful  in  his  mili- 
tary excursions. 

One  deliverance  which  he  and  his  army  experienced  on  a  certain 
occasion,  borders  on  the  miraculous.  In  a  contest  with  the  barba- 
rians beyond  the  Danube,  the  Roman  legions  unexpectedly,  through 
the  artifice  of  the  enemy,  found  themselves  inclosed  in  a  place  where 
they  could  neither  fight,  nor  retreat.  In  this  situation  they  became 
at  length  totally  disheartened,  from  their  long  continued  fatigue,  the 
excessive  heat  of  the  place,  and  their  violent  thirst. 

In  these  suffering  circumstances,  while  sorrow  and  despair  were 
depicted  on  every  brow,  Aurelius  ran  through  the  ranks,  and  used 
every  effort  to  rekindle  their  hopes  and  courage.  But  all  was  in 
vain.  At  this  crisis,  and  just  as  the  barbarians  were  ready  to  follow 
them,  we  are  told  that  the  solemn  prayers  of  a  Christian  legion, 
then  serving  among  them,  produced  such  a  shower  of  rain  as  instant- 
ly revived  the  fainting  army.  From  the  same  clouds,  was  discharged 
such  a  terrible  storm  of  hail  with  thunder  against  the  enemy,  as  dis- 
mayed them,  and  made  them  an  easy  prey  to  the  refreshed  and  in- 
spirited Romans. 

These  circumstances  are  related  by  pagan  as  well  as  Christian 
writers,  only  with  this  difference,  that  the  latter  ascribe  the  victory 
to  their  own  prayers,  the  former  to  the  prayers  of  their  emperor 
Aurelius,  however,  it  seems,  was  favourably  impressed  in  regard  to 
the  Christians,  since  he  immediately  relaxed  the  persecution  against 
them. 

Some  other  particulars  will  be  related  respecting  Aurelius,  in  our 
biographical  sketches. 

Upon  the  death  of  Aurelius  the  empire  evidently  declined. 
The  emperors  who  succeeded  were  generally  a  weak  or 
vicious  race.  The  colossal  size  of  the  empire  caused  it  to 
sink  by  its  own  weight.  Enemies  on  its  borders  oppressed 
it  from  without,  and  tumults  and  factions  paralized  it  within ; 
patriotism  and  genius  were  becoming  rare,  and  corruption 

pervaded  all  orders  of  the  community. 

3* 


SO  MODERN    HISTORY.— PERIOD    1. 

At  the  period  of  Trajan's  death,  the  empire  comprehend 
ed  the  greater  part  of  Britain,  all  Spain,  France,  the  Ne 
therlands,  Italy,   part  of  Germany,  Egypt,  Barbary,  Bile- 
dulgerid,  Turkey  in  Europe  and  in  Asia,  and  Persia.     At 
the  demise  of  Aurelius,  it  Avas  a  little  diminished  in  size,  but 
still  too  large  to  be  preserved  entire,  amidst  the  profligacy  of 
he  times. 

21.  Commodus,  the  son  of  Aurelius,  had  been  nominated 
by  his  father  to  succeed  him,  and  he  accordingly  now  mounted 
the  throne,  180  A.  C.  He  had  nothing  but  the  merits  of  his 
father  to  commend  him  to  the  Roman  people.  He  inherited 
the  disposition  of  his  infamous  mother,  Faustina,  rather  than 
of  Aurelius.  The  change  from  the  reign  of  the  father  to 
the  son  was  indeed  a  most  gloomy  one.  It  is  a  singular  fact, 
that  the  most  detestable  of  all  the  emperors  was  the  son  of 
the  best. 

Commodus  was  given  to  low  vices  and  mean  pursuits--- 
was  fond  of  the  sports  of  the  circus  and  amphitheatre,  the 
hunting  of  wild  beasts,  and  the  combats  of  boxers  and  gla- 
diators. His  administration  of  the  government  was  entirely 
weak,  contemptible,  and  tyrannical.  He  perished  by  assas- 
sination, in  the  thirty-second  year  of  his  age,  and  the  thir- 
teenth  year  of  his  reign,  193  A.  C. 

§  It  had  been  happy  for  himself  and  mankind,  had  Commodus  cul- 
tivated his  mind,  as  he  did  his  body,  (for  he  was  wonderfully  expert 
in  all  corporeal  exercises :)  but  he  was  averse  to  every  rational  and 
liberal  pursuit.  He  spent  the  day  in  feasting,  and  the  night  in  the 
vilest  debaucheries. 

His  cruelty  combined  with  avarice  and  levity,  cannot  be  too  strong- 
ly held  up  for  the  detestation  of  mankind.  If  any  person  desired 
to  be  revenged  on  an  enemy,  by  bargaining  with  Commodus  for  a 
sum  of  money,  he  was  permitted  to  destroy  him  in  such  a  manner 
as  he  chose.  He  commanded  a  person  to  be  thrown  among  wild 
beasts,  for  reading  the  life  of  Caligula  in  Suetonius.  He  would 
sometimes,  in  a  frolic,  cut  off  men's  noses,  under  a  pretence  of  shav- 
ing their  beards  ;  yet  he  was  himself  so  jealous  of  mankind,  that  he 
was  obliged  to  be  his  own  barber ;  or  as  some  have  said,  he  used  to 
burn  his  beard,  after  the  example  of  Dionysius,  the  tyrant. 

In  imitating  Hercules  with  his  club  and  lion's  skin,  he  would  fu- 
riously fall  upon  a  company  of  beggars  in  the  streets,  and  beat  them 
to  death ;  having  first  dressed  them  up  like  giants  and  monsters,  and 
giving  them  sponges  to  throw  at  him,  instead  of  stones. 

In  such  a  manner  did  this  wretch  spend  his  time,  while  the  trou- 
bles of  his  empire  were  daily  increasing,  ari'l  its  strength  and 


ROMAN    EMPIRE.  3  . 

tories  were  diminishing  by  frequent  warfares  on  the  frontiers.  He 
narrowly  escaped  destruction  several  times,  from  his  personal  exas- 
perated foes.  But  he  was  destined  at  length  justly  to  fall.  His 
favourite  concubine,  Marcia,  who  accidentally  discovered  the  em- 
peror's determination  to  put  her  to  death,  with  other  conspirators, 
found  the  means  of  destroying  him,  partly  by  poison  and  partly  by 
strangling. 

22.  Pertinax,  who  had  been  fixed  upon  by  the  conspirators 
as  the  successor  of  Commodus,  was  joyfully  proclaimed  by 
the  praetorian  guards,  193  A.  C.     Originally  he  was  the  son 
of  an  enfranchised  slave,  but  rose  to  esteem  by  his  virtues 
and  military  talents.     Applying  himself  to  the  correction  of 
abuses  with  too  unsparing  and  rash  a  hand,  he  alienated  the 
affections  of  a  corrupted  people,  and  was  deposed  and  mur- 
dered by  the  same  guards  that  had  placed  him  on  the  throne, 
after  a  reign  of  only  three  months,  aged  sixty-eight  years. 
The  loss  which  the  empire  felt  in  the  death  of  such  a  man 
is  greater  than  can  be  well  conceived. 

23.  Didius  Julianus,  next  succeeded  to  the  empire  193  A. 
C.,  having  purchased  it  of  the  praetorian  guards,  who  put  it 
up  to  the  highest  bidder.     At  the  same  time,  several  com- 
manders in  the  distant  provinces,  were  each  proclaimed  by 
their  respective  forces.     These,  however,  lost  their  lives  ex- 
cept Septimius  Severus,  who  marched  to  Rome  and  seized 
the  government.     Didius  was  hereupon  deposed  and  put  to 
death  by  the  senate  in  the  fifth  month  of  his  reign. 

§  Didius  presents  a  striking  instance  of  the  cupidity  of  the  hu- 
man mind  for  power,  and  of  the  infelicities  that  attend  it.  He  was 
a  man  of  consular  rank,  and  the  richest  citizen  of  Rome.  Hearing 
the  singular  proclamation  of  the  praetorian  guards,  and  charmed 
with  the  prospect  of  unbounded  dominion,  he  hastened  to  the  camp, 
and  bid  the  largest  price  for  the  empire.  He  gave  to  each  soldier 
(10,000  in  number)  the  sum  of  6250  drachmas,  which  amounts  to 
nearly  9,000,000  dollars,  in  the  whole. 

From  this  period  he  was  exposed  to  disappointment,  mortifica- 
tion, insult,  and  danger.  Indulging  his  ease  and  his  avaricious  dis- 
position, he  soon  offended  those  who  made  him  emperor.  He  was 
contemptuously  treated  at  home,  while  two  or  more  generals  in  the 
provinces  abroad,  disclaimed  his  authority.  Upon  the  approach  of 
Severus,  he  could  raise  no  forces  to  meet  him.  He  was  nearly  dis- 
tracted by  the  multiplicity  of  counsels,  and  finally  his  perplexity 
and  distress  became  extreme  and  overwhelming. 

The  senate,  at  this  crisis,  perceiving  his  timidity  and  irresolution, 
resolved  to  abandon  him,  and  to  proclaim  Severus.  His  death  then 
was  no  longer  problematical ;  and  though  he  persisted  that  he 


MODERN   HISTORY. — PERIOD    I. 

a  right  to  enjoy  his  purchase  for  the  natural  period  of  his  life,  as  he 
had  been  guilty  of  no  crime,  all  did  not  avail.  The  executioners, 
obliging  him  to  stretch  his  neck  forward  according  to  custom,  im- 
mediately struck  off  his  head. 

24.  Septimius  Severus  was  now  at  the  head  of  the  Roman 
world,  193  A.  C.  He  was  an  African  by  birth,  and  possessed 
a  restless  activity  with  an  unbounded  share  of  ambition. 
He  was  endowed  with  a  hardihood  and  decision  of  character, 
which  fitted  him  for  any  enterprise.  His  military  talents 
were  conspicuous,  and  the  credit  of  the  Roman  arms  was 
sustained  during  his  reign.  In  his  administration  of  govern- 
ment he  was  generally  wise  and  equitable,  though  highly 
despotic. 

In  his  expedition  into  England,  he  built  a  stone  wall  ex- 
tending from  Solway  Frith  to  the  German  Ocean,  nearly  on 
a  parallel  with  that  of  Adrian.  Severus  died  at  York  in 
England,  in  the  sixty-sixth  year  of  his  age,  after  a  reign  of 
eighteen  years,  211  A.  C.  He  left  the  empire  to  his  two 
sons  Caracalla  and  Geta,  whose  dispositions  gave  the  em- 
peror the  greatest  inquietude. 

§  The  first  act  of  Sever  us,  even  before  he  entered  Rome,  was  to 
degrade  the  praetorian  soldiers,  whose  irregularity  had  already  be- 
come too  conspicuous.  These  he  stript  of  their  title,  and  banished 
one  hundred  miles  from  the  city.  He  soon  after  engaged  in  a  terri- 
ble conflict  with  Niger,  his  competitor  in  the  East,  whom  he  finally 
conquered  on  the  plains  of  Issus.  Albinus  also,  his  other  competi- 
tor, who  commanded  in  Britain,  was  soon  after  conquered  in  battle; 
in  one  of  the  severest  engagements  recorded  in  the  Roman  history. 
It  was  fought  in  Gaul,  and  lasted  from  morning  till  night,  without 
any  apparent  advantage  on  either  side.  It  was  decided  at  length  by 
a  body  of  reserve,  in  favour  of  Severus. 

His  activity  and  love  of  conquest  led  him  into  the  East,  where  he 
signalised  his  arms,  and  whence  he  returned  in  triumph  to  Rome. 
Having  escaped  a  conspiracy  formed  by  Plautian,  to  whom  he  had 
committed  his  domestic  policy,  he  spent  a  considerable  time  in  visit- 
ing the  cities  of  Italy ;  and  finally  in  affording  protection  to  all  parts 
of  his  empire,  he  made  an  expedition  into  Britain.  The  wall  which 
he  here  built  was  eight  feet  broad  and  twelve  feet  high,  planted  with 
towers  at  a  mile's  distance  from  each  other,  and  communicating  by 
pipes  of  brass  in  the  wall,  which  conveyed  intelligence  from  one 
garrison  to  another  with  incredible  dispatch. 

Having  given  peace  to  the  island,  and  secured  it  against  the  irrup- 
tions of  the  Caledonians,  he  began  to  feel  the  effects  of  age  and 
fatigue ;  but  he  was  more  broken  down  by  the  irreclaimable  life  of 
Caracalla.  Calling  for  the  urn  in  which  his  ashes  were  to  be  en- 
closed, he  moralized  on  his  melancholy  condition  in  me  following 


ROMAN    EMPIRE.  33 

remark.  "  Little  urn,"  said  he,  "  thou  shalt  now  contain  what  the 
world  could  not  contain."  It  is  recorded  that  he  hastened  his  death 
by  purposely  loading  his  stomach  with  food,  in  his  weak  state. 

25.  Caracalla  and   Geta  were  now   established  on  the 
throne,  211  A.  C. '  Their  association  in  the  empire  created 
a  mutual  enmity,  and  indeed  they  were  very  unlike  in  native 
character.     Caracalla  was  fierce  and  cruel  to  an  extreme 
degree.     Geta  was  mild  and  merciful.     The  former  resolv- 
ing to  reign  alone,  seized  an  opportunity  to  murder  Geta  in 
the  arms  of  his  mother.     During  his  reign  of  six  years,  he 
committed  a  continued  series  of  atrocities.     He  was  taken  off 
by  assassination,  217  A.  C. 

Within  this  short  period  the  empirb  was  every  day  declin- 
ing ;  the  soldiers  were  entirely  masters  of  every  election ; 
and  both  discipline  in  the  army,  and  subordination  in  the 
state,  were  almost  destroyed. 

§  The  worst  qualities  of  the  worst  emperors  centered  in  this  impe- 
rial wretch.  He  slew  his  friend  Lretius,  his  own  wife  Plautina,  and 
Papinian,  the  renowned  civilian,  for  refusing  to  write  in  vindication 
of  his  cruelty — that  upright  man  answering  the  emperor's  request 
by  observing,  "  that  it  was  much  easier  to  commit  a  parricide  than 
.o  defend  it." 

He  commanded  all  the  governors  to  be  slain,  whom  his  brother 
^ad  appointed,  and  destroyed  not  less  than  2000  of  his  adherents. 
Upon  a  certain  occasion,  he  ordered  his  soldiers  to  fall  upon  a  crowd- 
id  audience  in  the  theatre,  only  for  discountenancing  a  charioteer, 
whom  he  happened  to  favour. 

As  might  be  expected,  he  was  harrassed  with  awful  terrors.  He 
feared  the  day  of  his  death,  and  that  day  was  fast  approaching.  One 
Martial,  a  centurion  of  the  guards,  was  prevailed  upon  by  a  higher 
officer,  Macrinus,  to  give  the  emperor  his  death-wound,  on  a  con- 
venient occasion,  which  was  readily  seized,  and  thus  the  world  was 
freed  from  a  monster,  who  was  not  only  infinitely  unfit  to  govern 
an  empire,  but  was  unworthy  to  live. 

26.  Macrinus,  who  instigated  Caracalla's  death,  was  pro- 
claimed emperor,  217  A.  C.     Little  is  recorded  respecting 
him.     He  was  a  person  of  obscure  birth,  and  was  deemed 
severe  by  the  soldiery,  who  had  now  become  so  licentious, 
that  they  could  scarcely  bear  the  gentlest  corrections.     His 
attempts  at  discipline,  together  with  the  artifices  of  the  grand- 
mother of  Heliogabalus,  alienated  from  him  the  affections  of 
the  army,  and  he  lost  his  life  in  the  struggle  to  retain  his 
power,  after  a  reign  of  only  fourteen  months,  218  A.  C. 

27.  Heliogabalus  was,  by  the  army,  raised  to  the  throne 


MODERN    HISTORY. PERIOD    I. 


when  only  fourteen  years  of  age.  The  appointment  of  the 
army,  as  usual,  influenced  the  decisions  of  the  senate  and 
citizens  of  Rome.  This  emperor  proved  to  be  another  mon- 
ster of  wickedness  of  the  same  rank  with  Nero,  Cornmodus, 
and  Caracalla.  He  lived  to  be  only  eighteen  years  of  age, 
and  yet  lived  long  enough  to  hasten  the  fall  of  the  empire, 
and  to  cover  his  name  with  eternal  infamy.  He  was  mur- 
dered in  the  fourth  year  of  his  reign,  222  A.  C. 

§  Heliogabalus  was  a  natural  son  of  Caracalla,  a  beautiful  youth, 
and  loved  by  the  army.  Surrounded  by  flatterers,  he  soon  yielded 
himself  to  their  directions.  His  short  life  was  but  a  tissue  of  effe- 
minacy, lust,  folly,  and  extravagance.  Some  parts  of  his  conduct 
were  too  indecent  here  to  be  described. 

In  four  years  he  married  six  wives,  and  divorced  them  all.  He 
even  assumed  the  dress  and  circumstances  of  a  woman,  and  marri- 
ed one  of  his  officers.  After  that  he  took  for  husband,  one  Hierocles, 
a  slave,  whom  he  suffered  to  beat  him  severely  when  guilty  of  any 
excess,  all  which  he  endured  with  great  patience,  saying,  that  it  was 
the  duty  of  a  wife  to  submit  to  her  husband. 

His  prodigality  and  epicurism  were  boundless.  His  supper 
generally  cost  six  thousand  crowns,  and  often  sixty  thousand.  He 
always  dressed  in  cloth  of  gold  and  purple,  enriched  with  precious 
stones,  and  never  twice  put  on  the  same  habit.  Whenever  he  took 
horse,  all  the  way  between  his  apartment  and  the  place  of  mount- 
ing, was  covered  with  gold  and  silver  dust  strewn  at  his  approach. 

His  cruelties  were  equal  to  his  licentiousness.  He  often  invited 
the  most  common  of  the  people  to  share  in  his  feasts,  and  made 
them  sit  down  on  large  bellows  full  of  wind,  which  by  sudden  ex- 
haustion, threw  the  guests  on  the  ground,  and  left  them  a  prey  to 
wild  beasts.  It  is  even  said  he  endeavored  to  foretel  the  secrets  of 
futurity,  by  inspecting  the  entrails  of  young  men  sacrificed ;  and 
that  he  chose  for  this  horrid  purpose,  the  most  beautiful  youths 
throughout  Italy. 

These  are  a  few  of  the  thousand  excesses,  follies,  and  atrocities  of 
a  mad  and  vicious  boy,  who,  with  the  possession  of  unlimited  rule, 
could  do  as  he  pleased. 

Being  persuaded  by  his  grandmother  Maesa,  he  adopted  Alexan- 
der his  cousin-german  as  his  successor ;  but  indignant  that  the  af- 
fections of  his  army  were  bestowed  upon  the  latter,  he  meditated 
revenge.  His  soldiers,  however,  perceiving  his  intention,  took  an 
opportunity  to  secure  his  person,  and  having  dispatched  him,  treated 
his  body  with  the  greatest  indignity,  and  consigned  it  at  length  to 
the  Tyber. 

28.  Alexander  Severus  was  declared  emperor  222  A.  C 
He  was  a  prince  of  a  kind,  beneficent,  and  energetic  charac- 
ter, and  highly  accomplished  in  learning  and  the  arts.  Every 
way  calculated  to  make  his  subjects  happy,  he  was  greatly 


ROMAN    EMPIRE.  35 

honoured  and  esteemed  by  them.  He  was  conspicuous  also  for 
his  military  talents,  and  for  the  defeat  of  the  Persians  and 
others  during  his  reign.  He  thus  restored  the  empire  to  its 
former  limits :  but  this  exertion  of  its  remaining  strength, 
rather  hastened  than  delayed  its  decline. 

He  was  cut  off  by  a  mutiny  among  his  own  soldiers  in  the 
fourteenth  year  of  his  reign,  and  the  twenty -ninth  of  his  age, 
at  the  instigation  of  Maximinus,  his  successor,  235  A.  C. 

§  As  a  specimen  of  his  virtuous  character  we  may  mention,  that 
he  ever  loved  good  men,  and  severely  reproved  the  lewd  and  infa- 
mous. His  remark  is  in  point,  when  he  decided  a  contest  between 
the  Christians  and  a  company  of  cooks  and  vinters,  about  a  piece  of 
ground,  which  the  one  claimed  as  a  place  of  public  worship,  and  the 
other  for  exercising  their  respective  trades.  "  It  is  better  that  God 
be  worshiped  there  in  any  manner,  than  that  the  place  should  be  put 
wo  the  uses  of  drunkenness  or  debauchery." 

At  the  age  of  sixteen,  when  he  ascended  the  throne,  he  had  all 
the  premature  wisdom  of  age.  His  judgment  was  solid,  and  his 
talents  were  various.  He  was  an  excellent  mathematician,  geometri- 
cian, and  musician.  His  taste  in  painting,  sculpture  and  poetry  was 
admirable. 

The  first  part  of  his  reign  was  spent  in  a  reformation  of  the  abu- 
ses of  his  predecessors ;  particularly  in  restoring  the  senators  to  their 
rank  and  influence.  His  first  expedition,  in  the  tenth  year  of  his 
reign,  was  against  the  Parthians  and  Persians^  whom  he  opposed 
with  a  powerful  army.  In  one  decisive  engagement,  he  routed  the 
Persians  with  great  slaughter.  About  the  same  time,  several  of  his 
generals  obtained  signal  victories,  over  various  nations  then  at  war 
with  the  empire. 

His  manner  of  living  was  like  that  of  the  meanest  sentinel ;  when- 
ever he  dined  or  supped,  he  sat  with  his  tent  open,  that  all  men  might 
be  witnesses  of  his  abstemiousness.  He  was  at  one  time  instructed 
by  the  famous  Origen  in  the  principles  of  Christianity  ;  though  it 
does  not  appear  that  he  embraced  that  religion. 

29.  Maximinus,  who  was  accessary  to  the  murder  of  Sevems, 
ascended  the  throne  upon  this  event,  235  A.  C.  He  was  the 
son  of  a  Thracian  shepherd,  and  is  represented  by  historians 
as  a  man  of  gigantic  stature  and  Herculean  strength.  He  was 
full  eight  feet  in  height,  and  perfectly  symmetrical  in  form. 

He  rose  by  degrees  into  power ;  but  though  meritorious 
before  his  elevation,  as  a  sovereign  he  was  brutal  and  ferocious. 
He  warred  with  the  Germans,  and  wasted  their  country  to 
the  extent  of  four  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  converting  it  al- 
most into  a  desert.  His  cruelties  soon  aroused  the  Roman 
people  against  him,  and  he  was  finally  assassinated  by  his 
own  soldiers  in  his  tent,  after  a  reign  of  three  years,  238  A.  C. 


36  MODERN   HISTORY PERIOD  I. 

During  the  period  of  his  power,  the  two  Gordians,  fathei 
and  son  were  proclaimed  emperors,  but  these  soon  perished 
The  senate  then  proclaimed  Pupienus  and  Balbinus,  who 
survived  Maximinus.  These  measures  were  dictated  by  the 
anxiety  which  the  Romans  felt,  to  free  themselves  from  that 
tyrant. 

§  Maximinus  is  said  to  have  delighted  in  acts  of  the  greatest  bar- 
arity,  and  no  less  than  four  hundred  persons  lost  their  lives,  on  the 
false  suspicion  of  a  conspiracy  against  his  life.    He  caused  to  be  re- 
moved from  his  sight  or  assassinated,  many  noble  Romans,  who,  as 
he  suspected,  despised  him,  on  account  of  his  mean  origin. 

When  he  was  apprised  of  the  acts  of  the  senate,  appointing 
others  to  the  supreme  power,  he  raved  and  howled  like  a  wild  beast, 
and  almost  destroyed  himself  by  beating  his  head  against  the  walls 
of  his  palace.  His  fury,  however,  at  length  gave  way  to  a  spirit 
of  revenge  ;  but  his  bloody  machinations  were  soon  stopped.  His 
guards  having  been  corrupted,  murdered  him  while  sleeping  in  his 
tent,  as  he  was  too  formidable  an  object  to  be  attacked  while  awake. 

Owing  to  his  size,  his  strength  was  prodigious.  He  alone  could 
draw  a  full  loaded  wagon.  With  a  blow  of  his  fist  he  could  break 
the  teeth  in  a  horse's  mouth,  and  with  a  kick  of  h  .s  foot  could  break 
its  thigh.  His  voracity  was  proportioned  to  his  size  and  strength. 
He  generally  ate  forty  pounds  of  flesh  every  ds"^,  and  drank  six 
gallons  of  wine. 

The  Preetorian  soldiers  who  were  enemies  to  Pupienus  and 
Balbinus,  soon  embraced  an  opportunity  of  despatching  them 
both,  and  accidentally  meeting  Gordian,  grandson  to  one  of 
the  former  Gordians,  they  proclaimed  him  emperor.  The 
senate  and  people  had  been  too  long  controlled  by  the  army, 
on  the  subject  of  nominating  the  emperors,  to  withhold  their 
consent  in  the  present  instance. 

30.  Gordian  accordingly  assumed  the  empire  238  years 
A.  C.  He  was  no  more  than  sixteen  years  old  at  this  time, 
and  was  a  prince  of  very  considerable  merit.  The  Goths, 
and  also  the  Persians,  who  had  invaded  the  confines  of  the 
empire  on  different  sides,  were  repulsed  by  his  arms. 

Towards  the  latter  part  of  his  reign,  Philip,  an  Arabian, 
was  chosen  praetorian  preefect,  under  whose  administration  the 
people  began  to  be  discontented.  This  state  of  things  Philip 
fostered,  till  the  odium  against  the  emperor  so  far  increased, 
that  the  prefect  ventured  to  order  his  execution,  with  a 
view  to  his  own  preferment,  an  object  which  he  accomplish- 
ed. Gorclian's  reign  was  a  period  of  nearly  six  years. 

§  Gordian  was  a  man  so  fond  of  learning,  that  he  had  collected 
62,000  books  in  his  private  library. 


ROMAN    EMPIRE.  37 

31.  Philip  having  acquired  the  empire  244  A.  G.,  by  the 
murder  of  his  benefactor,  reigned  five  years,  and  then  waa 
himself  assassinated,  while  marching  against  Decius. 

§  Philip  was  an  Arabian  by  birth,  and  received,  in  the  manner  of 
his  death,  a  righteous  retribution,  on  account  of  his  own  nefarious 
conduct  in  gaining  the  sceptre. 

32.  Decius,  whom  Philip  had  appointed  to  command  a 
revolted  army,  had  been  proclaimed  before  the  emperor's 
death.     Upon  that  event  he  began  to  assume  the  functions  of 

•  government  249  A.  C.  His  activity  and  wisdom  would  have 
stayed  the  progress  of  decay  in  the  empire,  if  any  human 
means  could  effect  that  object.  But  the  tendency  to  this 
state  of  things  was  irretrievable  and  fatal. 

The  profligacy  and  luxury  of  the  times,  the  disputes  be- 
tween the  Pagans  and  Christians,  and  the  beginning  irrup- 
tions of  the  barbarous  nations  from  without,  were  enfeebling 
the  empire  beyond  remedy. 

Decius  reigned  but  two  years  and  six  months,  having  been 
cut  off,  in  a  war  with  the  Goths,  by  the  treachery  of  Gallus, 
his  general. 

33.  Gallus,  raised  to  the  throne  251  A.  C.,  by  that  part  of 
the  army  which  survived  a  defeat  he  had  himself  occasioned, 
reigned  but  two  years  and  four  months.     He  was  a  vicious 
sovereign,  and  during  his  reign  the  empire  suffered  incalcula- 
ble misery.     He  perished  in  a  civil  war,  in  which  Aemilianus, 
his  general,  opposed  him,  and  was  victorious. 

§  It  was  in  the  time  of  Gallus,  that  a  dreadful  pestilence  spread 
over  the  earth,  threatening  almost  to  depopulate  it. 

34.  Valerian,  a  commander  of  one  of  the  armies  of  the  em* 
pire,  succeeded  to  the  throne  254  A.  C.,  contrary  to  the  ex- 
pectations of  Aemilianus.  In  a  war  with  the  Persians,  having 
been  taken  prisoner,  he  suffered  unheard  of  hardships  and  in- 
sult, and  at  length  wTas  put  to  death  in  the  most  cruel  manner, 

§  Sapor,  the  Persian  king,  happened  to  secure  the  person  of  Vale- 
rian. We  are  told  that  he  always  used  the  emperor  as  a  footstool 
Tor  mounting  his  horse,  and  that  he  often  observed,  "such  an  attitude 
was  the  best  statue  that  could  be  erected  in  honour  of  his  victory." 

The  manner  of  Valerian's  death  is  almost  too  horrid  to  be  men 
tioned.     His  eyes  were  first  plucked  out,  and  afterwards  he  was  flay 
ed  alive,  when  his  skin  was  dyed  red,  and  exposed  in  a  temple.   He 
was  seven  years  a  prisoner. 

35.  Gallienus.  son  of  Valerian,  was  chosen  emperor  26C 

4 


MODERN  HISTORY. — PERIOD  I. 

A.  C.  He  promised  to  avenge  the  insults  and  death  of  his 
father  ;  but  after  his  elevation,  he  thought  only  of  his  own 
base  pleasures,  while  the  empire  was  attacked  without,  and 
distracted  within.  Thirty  pretenders  were  at  one  time  con- 
tending for  the  dominion  of  the  state.  Gallienus  suffered  a 
violent  death. 

36.  Upon  the  death  of  Gallienus,  Flavius  Claudius  was 
invested  with  the  purple,  268  A.  C.,  agreeably  to  the  wishes 
of  the  army,  and  the  whole  Roman  people.     He  was  an  ac- 
tive, wise,  and  good  prince ;    but  unhappily  his  reign  was 
short,  being  less  than  two  years.     He  died  a  natural  death, 
which  was  more  frequently  the  lot  of  the  virtuous,  than  of  the 
profligate  emperors. 

§  Claudius  opposed  with  success  the  Goths,  Heruli,  &c.  who  had 
invaded  the  empire  on  the  north,  in  one  instance  destroying  an  army 
of  300,000  men ;  and  he  likewise  overthrew  the  Germans,  who  had 
reared  the  standard  of  revolt.  His  energy  stayed,  for  a  short  time, 
the  decline  of  the  empire. 

37.  The  army  made  choice  of  Aurelian  as  emperor,  270 
A.  C.     His  parentage  was  obscure,  but  he  was  esteemed  the 
most  valiant  commander  of  his  age.     After  his  elevation,  his 
time  was  passed  in  repressing  the  irruptions  of  the  barbarians, 
and  particularly  in  carrying  on  a  war  with  Zenobia,  a  prin- 
cess of  Palmyra,  commonly  styled  the  Q,ueen  of  the  East, 
whom  he  conquered,  and  brought  captive  to  Rome.     With 
great  courage  and  military  talents,  he  was  cruel.     He  fell  in 
a  conspiracy  which  was  raised  against  him  by  some  of  his 
subjects. 

§  His  strength  was  said  to  be  so  great,  that  in  one  single  engage- 
ment, he  killed  40  of  the  enemy  with  his  own  hand,  and  above  900 
at  different  times.  The  degeneracy  of  his  people  seemed  almost  to 
justify  his  severities,  in  punishing  offenders  ;  but  it  is  said  that  when 
ne  was  about  to  sign  certain  edicts  against  the  Christians,  who  were 
an  inoffensive  people,  he  was  deterred  from  the  act,  by  a  thunder-bolt, 
which  fell  so  near  his  person,  that  his  escape  was  thought  to  be  mi- 
raculous. 

38.  Several  months  elapsed  before  a  new  emperor  was 
elected.      At  length  Tacitus  was  prevailed  upon  to  take  the 
reins  of  government,  275  A.  C.    He  was  a  man  of  great  me- 
rit, but  unfortunately  to  the  empire,  he  died  of  a  fever  after  a 
reign  of  only  six  months,  at  the  age  of  75. 

39.  His  successor  was  Probus,  though  a  minority  in  the 


ROMAN  EMPIRE.  39 

(  * 

army  chose  Florian,  a  brother  of  Tacitus.  Florian  enjoyed 
this  distinction  but  two  months  ;  for  upon  the  establishment 
of  Probus  in  the  empire,  he  sought  a  voluntary  death. 

Probus  possessed  uncommon  activity,  courage,  and  integri- 
ty, and  was  constantly  engaged  in  war  with  the  barbarian?, 
and  in  suppressing  the  numerous  factions  which  arose  in  his 
dominions.  Offending  his  soldiers  by  obliging  them  to  drain 
an  extensive  fen  in  Sirmium,  his  native  place,  he  wa«s  slain 
in  a  conspiracy  which  they  had  formed  against  him,  282 
A.  C. 

§  Probus  was  born  of  noble  parentage,  and  was  early  distinguish- 
ed by  his  excellent  qualities.  He  was  frequently  the  first  man  that, 
in  besieging  towns,  scaled  the  walls,  or  that  burst  into  the  enemy's 
camp.  ' 

His  energy  and  virtue,  great  as  they  were,  could  scarcely  present 
a  sufficient  barrier  to  the  tide  of  calamities  that  rushed  upon  the  em- 
pire. In  a  war,  however,  with  the  Germans  in  Gaul,  he  slew  400,000 
men ;  and  at  various  times  repulsed  many  other  enemies,  particular- 
ly the  Sarmatians,  Goths  and  Blemii.  The  last  were  a  people  who 
had  left  the  forests  of  Ethiopia,  and  possessed  themselves  of  Arabia 
and  Judea. 

Among  those  of  his  subjects  who  had  rebelled  against  him,  was 
Bonosus,  who  was  remarkable  as  given  to  intoxication.  The  rebel 
being  overcome,  hanged  himself  in  despair.  Probus  seeing  him  im- 
mediately after  this  event,  pointed  to  his  body,  and  with  great  hu- 
mour observed,  "  There  hangs,  not  a  man,  but  a  bottle." 

40.  Cams,  praetorian  prsefect  to  the  deceased  emperor,  wag 
chosen  by  the  army  to  succeed  him  282  A.  C.    He  associated 
with  him  in  command,  his  two  sons,  Carinus  and  Numerian. 
Carus,  and  his  son  Numerian,  were  worthy  of  the  empire, 
but  Carinus  was  given  to  vice.     Their  reign,  however,  was 
only  of  two  years'  continuance.     Carus  was  smitten  by  a 
flash  of  lightning,  in  his  tent,  and  his  sons  were  killed  soon 
after — Numerian  by  an  act  of  treachery,  Carinus  in  a  con- 
test with  Diocletian,  who  had  been  chosen  emperor. 

§  Numerian  was  so  affected  by  the  death  of  his  father,  that  through 
excess  of  weeping,  he  brought  on  a  disorder  in  his  eyes,  in  conse- 
quence of  which  he  was  obliged  to  be  carried  in  a  close  litter.  In 
this  situation  he  was  murdered  by  his  ambitious  father-in-laAV,  Aper, 
who  was  soon  cut  off  by  the  hand  of  Diocletian. 

41.  Diocletian  began  his  reign  in  284  A.  C.,  and  two  years 
afterwards,  associated  with  himself  in  the  empire  his  general 
Maximian.     Under  their  united  auspices,  the  enemies    of 
Rome  were  frequently  repulsed.     At  the  expiration  of  about 


40  MODERN    HISTORY.-— PERIOD    I. 

eight  years  from  that  time,  they  took  two  colleagues,  Galerius 
and  Constantius  ;  and  bestowed  upon  each  the  title  of  Osesar. 

This  state  of  things  was  novel.  There  was  a  four  fold 
division  of  the  government,  with  two  emperors  and  two  Cee- 
sars  at  its  head,  each  having  a  nominal  supremacy.  Diocle- 
tian, however,  was  the  master  spirit  that  moved  and  controlled 
the  whole.  In  this  state,  the  government  was  administered 
a  few  years,  when  strange  to  relate  the  two  emperors  resigned 
their  authority  into  the  hands  of  the  two  Ceesars,  and  retired 
into  private  life  304  A.  C. 

Diocletian  seems  to  have  been  sincere  in  his  abdication,  as 
he  contentedly  spent  eight  or  nine  years  in  rural  privacy,  and 
in  cultivating  his  garden.  Maximian  soon  began  to  be  dis- 
contented, arid  made  several  attempts,  but  in  vain,  to  resume 
his  former  powers.  His  intrigues  in  Britain,  where  Constan- 
tine  and  his  son  Constantine  resided,  cost  him  his  life.  Di- 
ocletian died  about  312  A.  C.  Maximian  perished  310  A.  C. 

§  Diocletian's  parentage  was  mean.  According  to  some  lie  was  the 
son  of  a  scrivener;  and  according  to  others,  of  a  slave.  When 
elected  to  the  empire  he  was  forty  years  old,  and  owed  his  exalta- 
tion entirely  to  his  merit,  having  passed  through  the  various  grada- 
tions of  office,  with  sagacity,  courage,  and  success.  He  chose  Ga- 
lerius  for  his  associate,  giving  him  the  title  of  Caesar,  with  a  view 
to  secure  his  aid  in  opposing  Narses,  the  king  of  Persia  and  Parthia, 
who  had  invaded  Mesopotamia.  In  this  enterprise  they  met  with  sig- 
nal success.  Other  enemies  they  subdued,  except  the  northern  na- 
tions, who,  though  repulsed  and  slaughtered  in  incredible  numbers, 
were  ever  ready  to  embrace  fresh  opportunities  of  renewing  hostilities. 

Diocletian,  after  his  abdication  of  the  empire,  retired  to  his  native 
country,  Dalmatia,  where  he  built  a  magnificent  palace  for  his  ac- 
commodation, near  the  town  of  Salona.  Here  he  led  a  secure  and 
quiet  life.  When  some  of  his  friends  attempted  to  persuade  him  to 
resume  the  empire,  he  replied,  "  that  if  they  knew  his  present  hap- 
piness, they  would  rather  endeavour  to  imitate  than  disturb  it." 

Maximian  was  a  native  of  Sirmium,  in  Pannonia,  and  was  adopt- 
ed by  Diocletian  as  emperor,  on  account  of  his  courage  and 
fidelity.  He  defeated  many  enemies  of  his  country,  though  his 
arms  in  Britain  were  unsuccessful.  He  adopted  Constantius  as 
Ca3sar,  with  a  view  to  oppose  the  claims  of  Carausius,  a  principal 
commander  in  Britain,  who  had  proclaimed  himself  emperor. 

42.  When  Diocletian  and  Maximian  resigned  their  power, 
Constantius  and  Galerius  were  universally  acknowledged 
304  A.  C.  Constantius  governed  the  western  parts  of  the 
empire.  Galerius  the  eastern.  They  took  in  with  them  two 
partners,  so  that  the  empire  was  again  under  the  guidance  of 


JUDEA.  41 

four  persons,  all  invested  with  supreme  authority ;  each  having 
his  distinct  department.  Severus  and  Maximian  were  the 
persons  who  were  created  Caesars. 

Constantius  wras  a  worthy  character,  Galerius  was  the  re- 
verse. Constantius  died  at  York,  in  Britain,  306  A.  C.,  leav- 
ing his  son  Constantino  as  his  successor.  Galerius  died  four 
years  afterwards  of  an  extraordinary  incurable  disease.  He 
had  instigated  Diocletian  to  persecute  the  Christians. 

§  The  western  parts  of  the  empire,  or  the  dominion  of  Constantius, 
consisted  of  Italy,  Sicily,  the  greatest  part  of  Africa,  together  with 
Spain,  Gaul,  Britain,  and  Germany.  The  eastern  parts,  or  the  do- 
minion of  Galerius,  consisted  of  Illyricum,  Pannonia,  Thrace,  Ma- 
cedonia, all  the  provinces  of  Greece,  and  the  lesser  Asia,  together 
with  Egypt,  Syria,  Judea,  and  all  other  oriental  countries. 

An  anecdote  of  the  following  kind  is  related  of  Constantius : — 
when  he  was  persuaded  to  displace  all  the  Christian  officers  of  his 
household ;  though  he  would  not  suffer  the  Christians  to  be  injured, 
he  sent  away  in  disgrace  the  few  that  complied,  alleging,  "that 
those  who  were  not  true  to  their  God,  would  never  be  faithful  to 
their  prince." 

43.  From  the  commencement  to  the  close  of  the  present 
period,  persecutions  of  the  Christians  more  or  less  prevailed 
in  the  empire.     At  times,  this  unoffending  class  of  the  Ro- 
man subjects  suffered  in«an  extreme  degree,  from  the  edicts 
of  the  emperors.     Historians  have  usually  reckoned  ten  ge- 
neral persecutions  of  the  Christians.     The  names  of  the  em- 
perors, under  whom  these  persecutions   were  experienced, 
were  the  following  : — Nero,  Domitian,  Trajan,  Antoninus, 
Severus.  Maximinus,  Decius,  Valerian,  Aurelian,  and  Dio- 
cletian. 

Most  of  these  emperors  persecuted  the  Christians  from 
malignity,  and  for  the  gratification  of  their  cruel  dispositions. 
Others  did  it,  (though  their  conduct  was-  indefensible,)  from 
ignorance  or  prejudice,  aided  by  the  spirit  of  the  age,  and 
the  common  corruption  of  our  nature. 

§  As  this  period  is  named  from  the  persecutions  which  the  pro- 
fessors of  Christianity  endured  under  the  Roman  emperors,  it 
might  seem  proper  here,  to  enter  into  some  details  on  this  subject. 
But  a  few  of  these  will  be  included  in  an  article  on  ecclesiastical 
history,  to  be  embodied  in  the  present  volume. 

JUDEA. 

44.  JUDEA,  already  under  the  sway  of  Rome,  became  a 
province  of  the  empire  6  A.  C.  upon  the  banishment  of  Ar- 

4* 


42  MODERN    HISTORY. — PERIOD  I. 

chelaus,  eldest  son  of  Herod  the  Great.  It  was  at  the  com- 
mencement of  this  period,  that  the  birth  of  our  blessed  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ,  as  before  noticed  in  the  Roman  history,  took 
place.  Herod,  in  addition  to  all  his  other  crimes  shed  the 
blood  of  the  children  of  Bethlehem,  in  the  hope  that  the  in- 
fant Jesus  would  fall  among  them.  He  died  miserably,  soon 
'after  this  transaction. 

§  In  the  reign  of  Herod,  the  sceptre,  agreeably  to  ancient  prophecy, 
having  departed  from  Judah,  by  the  control  which  the  Romans  had 
over  the  government,  Jesus  Christ  was  born  in  the  year  of  the  world 
4000.  This  has  already  been  explained.  We  use,  however,  the 
vulgar  era  (4004)  and  assign  the  subsequent  events  according  to  that 
calculation.  The  mistake  supposed  to  be  made  by  the  ancient  chro- 
nologers  has  been  too  far  sanctioned  by  Time,  to  be  now  remedied. 

His  birth,  which  was  announced  by  angels  to  the  shepherds  of 
Bethlehem,  and  which  brought  the  eastern  magi  to  worship  him, 
exceedingly  troubled  Herod  and  the  principal  Jews,  who  became 
apprehensive  of  new  wars  and  commotions.  After  finding  out  the 
place  of  his  nativity,  (viz.  Bethlehem,)  Herod  determined  on  his 
death,  by  destroying  all  the  children  of  that  place  and  of  its  vicinity, 
"  from  two  years  old  and  under." 

The  providence  of  God,  however,  had  removed  the  holy  child  be- 
yond his  reach,  inasmuch  as  his  parents  had  fled  with  him,  in  the 
mean  time,  into  Egypt.  Herod's  death,  soon  occurring,  they  return- 
ed from  Egypt,  and  dwelt  in  Nazareth,  a  city  of  Galilee. 

It  is  not  our  design  to  detail  events  here,  which  more  properly  be- 
long to  ecclesiastical  history.  We  would  only  say,  that  after  a  labo- 
rious and  useful  life,  in  the  third  year  of  his  ministry,  and  in  the 
thirty-third  of  his  age,  Jesus  Christ  expiated  human  transgression, 
by  his  death  on  the  cross.  He  suffered  under  Pontius  Pilate,  the 
Roman  governor,  upon  a  false  accusation  brought  against  him  by  his 
own  countrymen,  the  Jews. 

This  glorious  personage,  who  was  "  God  manifest  in  the  flesh," 
came  into  the  world  to  save  his  people  from  their  sins.  In  his  hu- 
man nature  he  was  lineally  descended  from  David,  though  the  fami- 
ly at  the  period  of  his  birth,  had  become  obscure  and  reduced  to 
poverty.  The  effects  of  his  appearance  in  the  world  were  from  the 
beginning,  decisive.  The  holy  system  which  he  taught,  considering 
the  hostility  of  man  to  truth  and  piety,  was  diffused  with  great  rapi- 
dity, under  the  ministry  of  the  apostles.  Reformation  of  moral 
character  was  its  aim,  object  and  result.  Its  effects  have  ever  been 
great,  and  such  they  will  be  to  the  end  of  time. 

The  civil  affairs  of  the  Jews,  from  the  commencement  of 
this  era  to  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  Titus  Vespasian, 
are  too  unimportant  to  be  particularly  described.  A  brief 
summary  of  them  follows. 

§  Archelaus,  under  whom  Judea  became  in  form  a  Rorcan  pro- 


JUDKA.  43 

vince,  possessed  only  a  tetrarch}^,  or  the  fourth  part  of  the  kingdom 
of  Jewry.  The  rest  of  the  country  was  divided  into  three  more  te- 
trarohies,  which  were  those  of  Galilee  and  Petraea  possessed  by  Herod 
Antipatas  ;  that  of  Iturrea  possessed  by  Philip,  another  son  of  Herod  ; 
and  that  of  Abilene  possessed  by  Eysanias,  who  being  afterwards 
banished  into  Gaul,  had  his  province  governed  by  Pontius  Pilate. 

The  successor  of  Arch  elans  was  Herod  II.  named  Antipas,  who 
man  ied  his  brother  Philip's  wife.  This  was  the  incestuous  marriage 
on  account  of  which  John  the  Baptist  reproved  Herod,  as  mentioned 
in  the  New  Testament.  It  was  in  the  time  of  this  Herod  that  our 
Saviour's  crucifixion,  resurrection,  and  ascension,  occurred. 

Herod  II.  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Herod  the  Great.  Caligula, 
the  emperor  of  Rome,  at  that  time  invested  him  with  the  tetrarcby 
of  his  uncle  Philip,  and  conferred  on  him  the  title  of  king.  The 
other  tetrarchies  fell  to  his  possession  shortly  afterwards.  It  was 
this  Herod  who  caused  the  apostle  James  to  be  martyred,  the  apostle 
Peter  to  be  imprisoned,  and  was  himself  smitten  by  an  angel  and 
devoured  by  worms. 

His  son  Agrippa  Minor,  succeeded,  and  was  the  last  king  of  Jew- 
ry. It  was  before  him,  that  the  apostle  Paul  pleaded  in  defence  of 
the  gospel. 

45.  During  the  reign  of  Agrippa  Minor,  Jerusalem  was 
attacked  by  Titus  (Vespasian)  70  A.  D.  The  cause  of  this 
attack  originated  in  the  commotions  and  insurrections  of  the 
Jews,  which  were  frequent  about  this  time.  This  miserable 
people  had  suffered  greatty,  from  the  injustice  and  extortion 
practised  upon  them  by  the  agents  of  the  Roman  govern- 
ment, and  they  consequently  rose  in  rebellion. 

A  signal  vengeance  fell  upon  their  heads.  Jerusalem  was 
beseiged,  and  one  million  of  people  are  said  to  have  perished 
on  the  occasion.  To  such  distress  were  the  Jews  reduced  by 
famine,  that  mothers  murdered  their  children  for  food.  The 
people  suffered  greatly  in  other  parts  of  Judea ;  and  though 
numbers  remained  in  their  native  land,  vast  multitudes  were 
dispersed  over  the  face  of  the  earth,  on  which  they  have  ever 
since  been  wanderers. 

The  reader  of  the  Bible  will  see  in  these  events,  a  re- 
markable fulfilment  of  the  predictions  of  the  ancient  prophets 
and  of  our  Saviour ;  and  he  wrill  also  learn  the  evil  and  dan- 
ger of  despising  divine  admonitions,  and  abasing  religious 
privileges.  The  Jews  are  to  this  day  a  witness  of  the  truth 
of  scripture. 

§  Nero,  who  was  emperor  when  the  war  with  the  Jews  commenc- 
ed, entrusted  the  management  of  it  to  his  general,  Vespasian,  who, 
accompanied  by  his  son  Titus,  and  a  powerful  army,  arrived  in  Sy- 


44  MODERN    HISTORY. — PERIOD  I. 


ria,  67  A.  C.  Vespasian  soon  after  being  chosen  emperor,  left  orders 
with  his  son  Titus,  to  contitme  the  war,  while  he  himself  set  out  for 
Rome. 

Titus  prosecuted  the  enterprise  with  diligence,  and  besieging 
Jerusalem,  he  took  it  within  a  few  months,  after  an  obstinate  resist- 
ance on  the  part  of  its  inhabitants.  Twice,  during  the  siege,  Titus 
offered  them  very  favourable  terms,  but  so  infatuated  were  they,  that 
hey  not  only  refused  his  offers,  but  insulted  at  length  his  messenger, 
Flavius  Josephus,  in  the  most  wanton  and  virulent  manner. 

After  this  conduct,  there  remained  no  more  mercy  for  the  Jews. 
Titus  caused  the  hands  of  those  who  had  voluntarily  sought  shelter 
in  the  Roman  camp,  to  be  cut  off,  and  sent  them  back  to  the  city, 
and  others  he  crucified  in  the  sight  of  their  countrymen.  Famine, 
in  the  mean  time,  was  performing  its  dreadful  work  within  the 
walls.  When  Titus  entered  the  city  he  gave  it  up  to  be  plundered 
by  the  soldiers,  and  most  of  its  inhabitants  were  put  to  the  sword. 

In  pursuance  of  this  general  order,  the  city  was  destroyed  to  its 
foundations,  and  even  the  ruins  of  the  temple  were  demolished, 
Josephus  says  that  the  number  of  prisoners  taken  during  the  whole 
time  of  the  war  was  ninety-seven  thousand  ;  and  the  number  killed 
in  the  city  during  the  same  period,  amounted,  as  before  stated,  to 
one  million.  The  Jews,  who  remained  in  the  country,  now  paid 
tribute  to  the  Romans,  and  were  entirely  subject  to  their  laws. 

46.  After  this  event  Jerusalem  was  partially  rebuilt,  and  in 
118  the  inhabitants  attempted  again  to  rebel,  but  were  speedily 
overcome.     Adrian,  the  emperor,  incensed  at  the  conduct  of 
this  stubborn  people,  resolved  to  level  their  city  with  the  earth, 
that  is  to  say,  those  new  buildings  erected  by  the  Jews,  and 
to  sow  salt  in  the  ground,  on  which  the  place  had  stood 
Thus   was  fulfilled  a  prophecy  of  our  Saviour,  \vho  fore- 
told, that  neither  in  the  city  nor  in  the  temple,  should  one 
stone  be  left  upon  another.     This  therefore  may  be  called 
the  final  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  which  took  place  47  years 
after  that  of  Titus. 

Adrian,  however,  soon  built  the  city  over  anew,  and  called 
it  Aelia  Capitolina.  It  was  a  short  lived  change,  for  when 
the  empress  Helena,  the  mother  of  Constantino  the  Great, 
visited  the  city,  she  found  it  in  a  forlorn  and  ruinous  state. 

PARTHIA. 

47.  The  PARTHIAN  empire  at  the  beginning  of  this  period, 
continued  under  the  sway  of  the  first  branch  of  the  Arsaci- 
dse.     Phraates  TV.  then  possessed  the  throne.     Three  sove- 
reigns succeeded  him,  when  after  short  reigns,  the  second 
branch  of  the  Arsacidae  commenced. 


PERSIA.  45 

Verones  I.  was  the  last  of  the  three  sovereigns  of  the  first  branch. 
He  had  been  dispatched  from  Rome,  where  he  was  a  hostage,  to 
reign  over  the  Parthians,  who  had  invited  him  to  be  their  king  j 
but  affecting  the  Roman  dress  and  manners  he  incurred  the  dislike 
of  his  people,  and  was  driven  from  the  throne,  to  make  room  for 
Artabanus,  of  the  royal  family  of  Media. 

48.  The  second  branch  of  the  Arsacidse  commenced  18 
years   A.  C.   under   Artabanus  III.     It   lasted  nearly   two 
hundred  years  under  thirteen  sovereigns.     The  Romans  oc- 
casionally defeated  the  Parthians  and  made  them  tributary, 
but  could  never  keep  them  long  under  the  yoke.     To  the  his- 
tory of  the  Parthian  kings,  we  attach  very  little  importance. 
The  empire  was  at  length  restored  to  the  Persians  after  they 
had  been  subject  to  the  princes  of  Parthia  for  the  space  of 
four  hundred  and  seventy-five  years. 

§  Artabanus  V,  the  last  of  this  branch,  having  refused  to  give  his 
daughter  in  marriage  to  the  emperor  Caracalla,  the  Romans  entered 
Parthia  and  destroyed  many  cities ;  but  Macrinus,  the  successor  of 
Caracalla,  after  a  hard  fought  battle,  concluded  a  peace  with  the 
Parthians.  Artabanus  was  killed  in  battle  by  Artaxares,  a  Persian, 
who,  revolting  from  the  Parthians,  restored  the  empire  to  Persia. 
The  subsequent  details  belong  to  the  Persian  history. 

PERSIA. 

49.  After  the  PERSIANS  had  been  subject  to  the  Parthians 
during  four  hundred  and  seventy-five  years,  from  the  time 
that  they  passed  from  under  the  Macedonian  yoke,  Artax- 
ares, an  ignoble  but  courageous  Persian,    excited  a  revolt 
among  his  countrymen,  which  terminated  in  the  restoration 
of  the  Persian  empire.     223  A.  C. 

Artaxares  having  accomplished  his  design,  and  ascended 
the  throne,  assumed  the  pompous  title  of  king  of  kings,  and 
asserted  his  right  to  all  the  provinces  of  the  ancient  empire, 
which  were  now  under  the  authority  of  the  Romans.  War 
therefore  ensued  between  these  two  powers,  and  the  Per- 
sians were  terribly  defeated  in  a  single  battle  by  Alexander 
Severus.  They  soon  however  regained  the  ground  they  had 
lost. 

Artaxares  was  followed  by  a  series  of  princes,  the  most 
conspicuous  of  whom  during  this  period  was  Sapores  I.  who 
was  his  immediate  successor.  The  dynasty  which  Artaxares 
founded,  is  known  in  history  under  the  name  of  Sassanittae, 
from  Sassan,  his  father. 


46  MODERN    HISTORY. PERIOD  I. 

§  Of  Sapores,  it  is  recorded  that  he  conquered  several  cities  in  Syria 
and  Mesopotamia,  from  the  Romans,  which  however  were  /recov- 
ered by  the  youngest  Gordian  ;  that  in  258  he  captured  Antioch, 
penetrating  into  Cappadocia,  and  besieging  Caesara,  which  being 
taken  through  treachery,  almost  all  the  inhabitants  were  slain,  and 
the  city  reduced  to  ashes.  The  next  year  the  emperor  Valerian 
having  advanced  into  the  east,  was  taken  prisoner,  and  treated  with 
the  greatest  cruelty,  as  has  already  been  described.  Sapores,  after 
considerable  reverse  of  fortune,  having  becomeodionstohis  subjects 
for  his  cruelties,  was  assassinated  by  the  Satraps. 

Hormisdas  II.  was  the  last  prince  of  this  period.  He  enjoyed  a 
peaceful  reign.  After  his  death,  the  lords  of  the  country  seized  his 
son  and  confined  him  in  a  tower,  because  he  threatened  to  cause  them 
all  to  be  flayed  alive,  for  not  rising  in  token  of  obedience  to  him 
at  a  royal  banquet,  on  a  day  when  he  returned  from  hunting.  The 
queen  being  pregnant,  the  magi,  by  placing  the  crown  upon  her 
own  person,  affected  to  crown  the  prince,  who,  they  persuaded 
themselves,  would  be  born  of  her. 

CHINA. 

50.  In  the  history  of  CHINA,  the  fifth  dynasty  which  com- 
menced about  200  years  before  the  Christian  era,  terminated 
during  the  present  period,  viz.  in  the  year  221  A.  C.  It  is 
called  the  dynasty  of  Han,  and  lasted  four  hundred  and 
twenty-four  years,  under  twenty-five  emperors  The  head  of 
this  dynasty  was  Lien-pang,  a  soldier,  who,  overcoming  the 
last  emperor,  and  ascending  the  throne,  took  the  name  of 

Kao-Tsou. 

§  Kao-Tsou  reigned  with  clemency  and  moderation.  In  his 
reign,  paper,  ink,  and  hair  pencils,  still  used  in  China  instead  of  pens, 
were  invented.  He  was  one  of  the  few  emperors  who  governed  for 
themselves.  Under  the  rest,  the  eunuchs  obtained  great  authority. 

Vuti,  one  of  the  princes  of  this  family,  was  a  great  encourager  of 
learning,  and  ordered  the  morality  of  Confucius  to  be  taught  in  the 
public  schools.  He  fell  under  the  powjr  of  a  strong  delusion,  in 
endeavouring  to  discover  a  liquor  whirji  would  make  him  immor- 
tal. 

The  sixth  dynasty  began  221  A.  C.;  and  ended  265 
A.  C.  It  is  called  the  dynasty  of  Heou-Han,  and  lasted  forty- 
four  years.  China  at  this  time  was  divided  into  three  empires, 
under  three  branches  of  the  dynasty  of  Han.  The  various 
parts  terminated  at  different  periods,  although  the  whole  be- 
came reunited  at  length  under  the  seventh  dynasty  in  265. 


DISTINGUISHED  CHARACTERS.  47 

Distinguished  Characters  in  Period  I. 

1.  Livy,  the  prince  of  Roman  historians. 

2.  Ovid,  a  distinguished  Roman  poet. 

3.  Tibullus,  a  famous  elegiac  poet  of  Rome. 

4.  Strabo,  a,  celebrated  geographer  and  historian. 

5.  Seneca,  a  Roman  moralist  and  philosopher. 

6.  Lucan,  a  Roman  epic  poet. 

7.  Pliny,  (the  elder)  the  earliest  writer  on  natural  history 
whose  works  are  extant. 

8.  Quintilian,  an  eminent  Roman  advocate  and  rhetori- 
cian. 

9.  Tacitus,  an  eminent  philosophic  historian. 

10.  Plutarch,  the  principal  biographer  of  antiquity. 

11.  Juvenal,  an  eminent  satirical  poet. 

12.  M.  Antoninus,  a  Roman  emperor  and  philosophical  wri- 
ter. 

'  f  learned  Christian  writers,  commonly  cal- 


'          led  fathers. 
15.  Cyprian, 

§  1.  Livy  was  a  native  of  Padua,  but  passed  the  greatest  part  of  his 
life  at  Naples  and  Rome,  particularly  at  the  court  of  Augustus.  Of 
his  life  not  much  is  known,  yet  his  fame  was  so  universally  spread, 
even  in  his  life  time,  tnat  an  inhabitant  of  Gades,  now  Cadiz,  travel- 
led all  the  way  to  Rome,  merely  to  see  the  man  whose  writings  had 
given  him  so  much  pleasure.  Livy  died  at  Padua  in  his  sixty-se- 
venth year,  A.  C.  17. 

This  writer  is  principally  known  by  his  history  of  the  Roman  em- 
pire. It  originally  consisted  of  140  books,  of  which  only  35  are  ex- 
tant. In  this  work  he  is  always  great  —  clear,  spirited,  bold,  and 
masterly  in  description.  The  high  rank  which  he  holds  among  his- 
torians will  probably  never  be  disputed.  He  often  copied  from  his 
contemporaries  and  predecessors,  and  especially  from  Polybius. 

2.  Ovid  was  born  at  Sulmo,  on  the  20th  of  March,  about  43  years 
B.  C.  His  father  intended  him  for  the  bar;  but  though  his  pro- 
gress in  the  study  of  eloquence  was  great,  yet  nothing  could  divert 
him  from  paying  his  court  to  the  muses.  Every  thing  he  wrote 
was  expressed  in  poetical  numbers.  His  name  soon  became  known, 
and  the  great  geniuses  of  the  age  honoured  him  with  their  notice,  and 
some  of  them  with  their  correspondence.  Augustus  also  patronized 
him  with  the  utmost  liberality. 

The  days  of  his  prosperity  were  not  many.  For  some  cause. 
which  is  not  ascertained,  the  emperor  banished  him  to  a  place  named 
Tomos  on  the  Euxine  Sea.  Here  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life, 
and  he  spent  it  in  unmanly  repining  and  impatience.  He  offered 
the  most  abject  flattery  to  Augustus,  but  both  he  and  his  successor 


48  MODERN  HISTORY. — PERIOD  I. 

Tiberius  were  inexorable.    Ovid  died  in  the  7th  or  8th  year  of  his 
banishment. 

The  poems  which  he  left  behind  him  have,  the  most  of  them,  sur- 
vived to  the  present  time.  They  are  characterized  by  sweetness  and 
elegance,  though  often  debased  by  indelicacy  of  expression.  Ovid 
every  where  paints  nature  with  the  hand  of  a  master.  His  Fasti,  a 
part  of  which  is  lost,  are  thought  to  be  the  best  written  of  all  his 
poems.  It  is  known  that  the  poems  of  Ovid  were  favourites  with  the 
great  English  bard,  John  Milton. 

3.  Tibullus  was  a  Roman  Knight.    He  at  first  engaged  in  the 
toils  of  war;  but  dissatisfied  with  such  a  life,  he  afterwards  gave 
himself  up  to  literary  ease,  and  to  the  pleasures  of  an  enervating  Ita- 
lian climate.     His  favorite  study  was  the  writing  of  love  verses.     In 
these  elegant  trifles  he  shewed  himself  an  accomplished  poet.   Four 
books  of  elegies  are  all  that  remain  of  his  compositions.     They  are' 
so  beautiful  in  language,  and  so  pure  in  sentiment,  that  Tibullus  is 
deservedly  ranked  as  the  prince  of  elegiac  poets. 

4.  Strabo  was  a  native  of  Amasia,  and  died  25  years  A..  C.     His 
geographical  work,  divided  into  17  books,  is  the  only  composition  of 
his  remaining.     This  is  just!)'  considered  an  elegant,  classical,  and 
learned  work.     It  is  written  in  Greek,  and  contains  an  account  of 
the  most  celebrated  places  and  countries  of  the  world.     Strabo  tra- 
velled through  most  of  the  regions  he  has  described,  in  quest  of  ac- 
curate information.    Among  his  books  which  have  been  lost,  are 
historical  commentaries. 

5.  Seneca  (Lucius  Annaeus)  was  bora  at  Cordova,  in  Spain.     He 
became  early  distinguished  for  uncommon  abilities,  and  acquired  at 
the  bar,  the  reputation  of  an  eloquent  pleader ;  but  he  relinquished 
this  road  to  fame,  and  became  a  candidate  for  public  employments. 
He  obtained  the  office  of  qua?stor,  but  by  a  shameful  indiscretion, 
having  incurred  the  displeasure  of  Caligula,  he  was  banished  to  the 
island  of  Corsica.     In  five  years  he  was  recalled  by  the  empress 
Agrippina,  to  superintend  the  education  of  her  son  Nero,  which  of- 
fice he  discharged  with  honor. 

Nero  becoming  impatient  of  the  restraint,  which  his  preceptor  im- 
posed upon  his  vicious  inclinations,  pretended  that  Seneca  had  con- 
spired with  Piso  against  his  life,  and  sent  a  messenger  to  Seneca  to 
acquaint  him  that  he  must  die ;  permitting  him  to  choose  the  manner 
of  his  death.  The  philosopher  received  the  mandate  with  cheerful- 
ness, and  ordered  the  veins  of  his  legs  and  arms  to  be  opened.  The 
blood  however  flowed  slowly — poison  and  the  warm  bath  were 
therefore  resorted  to :  but  being  without  effect,  he  was  at  last  smoth- 
ered in  the  vapour  of  a  stove.  His  death  took  place  in  his  seventy- 
second  year,  65  A.  C. 

6.  Lucan  was  a  native  of  Corduba,  and  nephew  of  Seneca.    He 
early  went  to  Rome,  where  his  rising  talents  procured  him  the  favour 
of  Nero.    He  had  the  imprudence,  however,  to  enter  into  a  poetical 
contest  with  his  imperial  patron,  and  obtaining  an  easy  victory,  a? 
might  have  been  expected,  he  ever  afterwards  was  an  object  of  the 
emperor's  hatred.    The  insults  to  which  the  poet  was  continually 


DISTINGUISHED  CHARACTERS.  49 

exposed,  provoked  his  resentment  to  such  a  degree,  that  he  joined 
Pisu  in  his  conspiracy  against  that  monster.  The  discovery  of  the 
plot,  of  course,  consigned  him  to  death.  He  died  a  young  man,  be- 
ing only  in  his  26th  year. 

Of  his  works,  his  Pharfalia  only  remains.  This  poem  celebrates 
the  wars  of  Caesar  and  Pompey,  and  is  unfinished.  It  has  been  va- 
riously estimated.  The  moral  grandeur  of  its  sentiments  has  been 
generally  acknowledged,  but  some  think  him  more  of  an  orator  than 
a  poet. 

7.  Pliny  (the  elder)  was  bora  at  Verona,  of  a  noble  family.     He 
was  distinguished  in  civil  life,  as  well  in  scientific  pursuits.     To  his 
public  duties  he  attended  through  the  day,  but  the  night  he  devoted 
to  study.     He  lost  no  time  by  idleness  or  dissipation.     Every  mo- 
ment that  could  be  spared  from  business  was  occupied  in  the  cultiva- 
tion of  his  mind.    He  turned  his  attention  more  particularly  to  Nature. 

His  work  on  Natural  History,  comprised  in  37  books,  is  full  01 
erudition.  It  takes  in  a  wide  range  of  topics,  and  is  written  in  an 
interesting  and  sprightly  manner,  although  the  style  possesses  not 
the  graces  of  the  Augustan  age.  He  wrote  one  hundred  and  sixty 
volumes  of  remarks  and  annotations  on  the  various  authors  whom 
he  had  read,  but  these  have  not  reached  us. 

His  love  of  knowledge  cost  him  his  life.  An  eruption  of  Vesu- 
vius happening  at  the  time  when  he  lay  atMisenum,  where  he  com- 
manded a  fleet,  he  was  induced  to  approach  the  mountain,  for  the 
purpose  of  making  his  observations  on  the  interesting  phenomenon. 
While  thus  occupied,  he  was  overtaken  by  the  burning  lava  which 
poured  from  the  volcano,  and  suffocated  and  scorched,  he  soon  per- 
ished. This  memorable  event  happened  in  the  79th  year  of  the  Chris- 
tian era. 

8.  Quintilian  was  a  native  of  Spain.     After  twenty  years  labo- 
rious employment  in  teaching  rhetoric,  and  in  pleading  at  the  bar  at 
Rome,  he  retired  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  his  labours  and  industry. 
Here  he  dedicated  his  time  to  the  study  of  literature,  and  to  com- 
position.    His  success  as  an  author,  and  the  favours  of  the  emperor 
Domitian,  afforded  him  a  high  delight.     But  no  situation  is  perfect- 
ly happy — the  death  of  his  wife  and  two  sons,  filled  him  with  almost 
inconsolable  grief.     He  died  95  A.  C. 

His  Institutions,  in  12  books,  is  the  most  perfect  system  of  ora- 
tor}'- extant.  In  this  work,  he  delineates  that  which  goes  to  consti- 
tute a  perfect  orator,  together  with  all  the  preparation  necessary. 
This  work  remained  undiscovered  until  the  fifteenth  century. 

9.  Tacitus  was  the  son  of  a  Roman  knight,  and  born  in  the  reign 
of  Nero.     His  genius  and  talents  procured  him  the  favour  of  several 
emperors  in  succession,  and  he  was  raised  at  last  to  the  consular 
dignity.     He  was  not  destitute  of  distinction  as  an  orator,  but  he  is 
i.'hiefly  known  to  mankind  as  an  historian.     A  peculiar  friendship 
existed  between  him  and  Pliny,  though  the  one  was  sternly  partial 
to  a  republican  government,  and  the  other  was  a  great  admirer  of 
imperial  power. 

The  compositions  of  Tacitus  were  contained  in  thirty  books,  of 

5 


50  MODERN  HISTORY. — PERIOD  I. 

which  there  now  remain  only  twenty-one.  Of  these,  his  Annals  in- 
clude sixteen,  and  his  History  of  the  Roman  Emperors  five,  Taci- 
tus has  many  excellencies  of  style.  Its  most  striking  characteiistic. 
perhaps,  is  conciseness.  He  has  great  force  and  depth  of  thought, 
and  is  candid  and  impartial  in  his  statements.  In  his  biographical 
sketches,  he  displays  an  uncommon  knowledge  of  human  nature. 
The  History  of  the  Reign  of  Tiberius,  is  his  masterpiece.  Some 
have  complained  of  him  as  being  obscure. 

10.  Plutarch  was  a  native  of  Chseronea.     He  died  at  an  advanced 
age,  in  his  native  place,  about  the  140th  year  A.  C.     Having  travel- 
led in  quest  of  knowledge  through  Egypt  and  Greece,  he  retired  to 
Rome,  where  he  opened  a  school,  with  great  reputation.     Trajan, 
who  admired  his  abilities,  honoured  him  with  the  office  of  consul, 
and  with  the  government  of  Illyricum. 

After  the  death  of  his  imperial  patron,  he  removed  from  Rome  to 
Chacronea;  in  which  delightful  retirement,  he  composed  the  great- 
est part  of  his  works.  His  Lives  of  Illustrious  Men,  is  the  most 
esteemed  of  his  productions.  His  precision  and  fidelity  are  remark- 
able. In  his  style,  he  is  energetic  and  animated ;  though  distin- 
guished neither  for  purity  nor  elegance.  Sometimes  he  is  too  cir- 
cumstantial ;  yet,  on  the  whole,  he  has  been  pronounced  to  be  the 
most  entertaining  and  instructive  of  al]  the  writers  of  ancient  history. 

11.  Juvenal  was  born  at  Aquinum,  in  Italy,  and  died  in  the  reign 
of  Trajan,  128  A.  C.,  at  an  advanced  age.     He  came  early  to  Rome, 
where  he  applied  himself  at  first  to  declamation,  and  afterwards  to 
the  writing  of  satires. 

Sixteen  of  these  pieces  are  extant.  In  them,  he  is  an  animated, 
severe,  and  bold  reprover  of  vice,  and  displays  also  much  humour. 
He,  however,  defeats  his  object,  in  a  great  measure,  by  the  gross- 
ness  and  indecency  of  his  manner.  His  correctness  in  delineation 
is  the  result  of  experience  and  age.  He  has  been  called,  with  some 
reason  perhaps,  the  last  of  the  Roman  poets. 

12.  M.  Antoninus,  whose  history  has  been  given  before,  was  born 
at  Rome,  in  the  121st  year  of  the  Christian  era,  and  died  on  an  ex- 
pedition against  the  Marcomanni,  in  the  nineteenth  year  of  his  reign. 
He  was  a  prince  of  great  talents  and  virtue.     His  death  was  reg/eN 
ted  by  mankind  as  a  public  loss,  and  the  greatest  honour  was  paid 
to  his  memory.     According  to  the  superstition  of  the  times,  he  was 
ranked  among  the  gods,  and  in  almost  every  house  his  statue  was 
found. 

His  book  of  Meditations  has  been  much  admired  by  scholars  and 
philosophers. 

13.  Tertullian  lived  at  Carthage,  and  flourished  in  the  reigns  of 
Severus  and  Caracalla.     He  was  originally  a  pagan,  but  afterwards 
embraced  Christianity,  and  became  one  of  its  ablest  defenders.     His 
writings  evince  that  he  possessed  a  lively  imagination,  fervid  elo- 
quence, strength  of  reasoning,  and  a  considerable  acquaintance  with 
style.     His  Apology  for  the  Christians,  and  his  Prescriptions,  are  the 
best  esteemed  of  his  numerous  works.    The  historian  Gibbon,  calls 
him  the  "  stern"  Tertullian. 


ROMAN    EMPIRE.  51 

14.  Origen  was  born  at  Alexandria,  about  the  year  185,  and  died 
m  254,  having  been  presbyter  of  that  city.     He  wrote  in  Greek.     He 
was  much  celebrated  for  his  parts  and  learning.     He  was  endowed 
with  unaffected  humility  and  modesty,  and  was  extremely  rigid  in 
following  the  Christian  rules.     In  the  sixty-ninth  year  of  his  age,  he 
suftered  martyrdom.     His  works  are  many,  and  include  a  number 
of  homilies,  commentaries  on  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  different  trea- 
tises, besides  his  Hexapla.     This  last  work  first  gave  the  hint  for 
the  compilation  of  our  polyglot  Bibles.     Mosheim  calls  him  the  lu- 
minary of  the  Christian  world,  during  the  age  in  which  he  lived ; 
but  observes,  that  he  failed  in  justness  of  judgment,  and  was  given  to 
the  Platonic  philosophy. 

15.  Cyprian  w?»s  a  native  and  a  bishop  of  Carthage.     He  was 
born  about  the  beginning  of  the  third  century,  of  heathen  parents, 
but  became  a  convert  to  Christianity,  and  was  a  principal  father  of 
the  church.     To  be  more  devoted  to  purity  and  study,  he  is  said  to 
have  abandoned  his   wife;  and,  as  a  proof  of  his  charity,  he  dis- 
tributed his  goods  to  the  poor.     He  wrote  eighty-one  letters,  besides 
several  treatises,  and  rendered  his  works  valuable,  by  the  informa- 
tion he  conveys  respecting  the  discipline  of  the  ancient  church. 

He  was  beheaded  as  a  martyr,  at  Carthage,  September  14,  258 
A.  C.  Moshiem  speaks  of  him  as  possessing  the  most  eminent  abili- 
ties and  flowing  eloquence,  but  rather  too  attentive  to  the  ornaments 
*)f  rhetoric. 


PERIOD  II. 

The  period  of  the  Northern  Invasions,  extending,  from  the 
Reign  of  Constantino  the   Great,  306  years  A.  C.  to 
the  Extinction  of  the  Western  Empire,  476  years  A.  C. 
THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 

SEC.  1.  The  empire  of  Rome,  as  has  already  appeared, 
had  been  for  several  years  under  the  sway  of  a  number 
of  masters,  on  all  of  whom  the  harden  of  government 
equally  devolved.  At  the  time  when  Constantine  was  pro- 
claimed in  Britain  306  A.  C.  upon  the  death  of  his  father 
Constantius,  the  two  Csesars,  Severua  and  Maximin,  had 
already  been  proclaimed  305  A.  C.- — Maxentius7  son  ofMax- 
imian,  had  about  the  same  time,  306  A.  C.,  declared  himself. 
The  next  Year  Lirinius  was  created  emperor  by  Galerius, 
who  had  never  willingly  owned  Constantine.  These  were 
Constantino's  competitors,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few  years 
lie  lived  to  see  them  either  destroyed  in  various  ways,  or 
overcome  in  battle,  and  himself  remaining  the  sole  master  of 
the  Roman  world. 


MODERN  HISTORY. PERIOD    II. 

Constantine  has  been  styled  the  first  Christian  emperor. 
Whatever  may  have  been  his  real  character,  as  far  as  religion  is 
concerned,  it  is  certain  that  he  stopped  the  persecutions  of  the 
Christians — that  he  publicly  favoured  Christianity — defend- 
ed it  against  its  enemies,  and  tolerated  the  profession  of  it  in  the 
empire.  Indeed,  under  his  auspices  it  became  the  religion 
of  the  state,  and  that  great  change  in  the  Roman  govern- 
ment took  place,  which,  from  a  persecuting,  made  it  a  protect- 
ing power.  For  the  influence  which  Christianity  exerted 
over  the  public  conduct  of  this  emperor,  a  cause  has  been  as- 
signed, possessing  a  miraculous  character,  viz. :  his  seeing  a 
pillar  of  light  in  the  heavens  in  the  form  of  a  cross,  bearing 
the  inscription — "By  this  conquer." 

Whether  this  were  a  real  sight,  or  a  mere  imagination,  it  is 
asserted  in  the  records  of  the  times,  as  an  undoubted  fact ; 
and  if  it  were  such,  we  may  readily  account  for  the  part 
which  Constantine  acted,  even  should  we  be  forced  to  doubt 
the  integrity  of  his  religious  principles. 

§  The  first  exploits  of  Constantine  were  directed  against  the  Franks, 
who  had  then  overrun  Gaul.  It  was  in  311  or  312,  when  he  was 
inarching  against  Maxentius,  and  reflecting  on  the  mutability  of  the 
world,  and  the  opinions  which  then  divided  the  attention  of  man- 
kind, that  he  saw  the  pillar  of  light  mentioned  above,  This  was  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  day,  and  on  the  following  night,  Jesus  Christ 
is  said  to  have  appeared  to  him  with  the  same  sign. 

In  consequence  of  these  appearances,  the  emperor  caused  a  royai 
standard  10  be  made,  bearing  a  figure  similar  to  that  he  had  seen, 
and  commanded  that  it  should  be  carried  before  him  in  his  wars. 
Soon  espousing  the  cause  of  Christianity,  he  entered  Italy,  and  ad- 
vancing towards  the  gates  of  Rome,  he  attacked  and  defeated  Max- 
entius, who.  in  attempting  an  escape,  was  drowned  in  the  Tiber. 
The  next  day  Constantine  was  received  into  the  city  as  a  deliverer. 

In  314,  a  war  was  kindled  between  Constantine  and  Licinius,  but 
it  soon  ended  in  a  peace.  Nine  years  afterwards,  hostilities  broke 
out  again,  when  Licinius  after  two  defeats  was  obliged  to  abdicate, 
leaving  the  government  to  Constantine  alone. 

2.  The  administration  of  Constantine  varied  very  much, 
in  the  different  periods  of  his  life.  It  was  far  more  com- 
mendable at  the  beginning,  than  it  at  length  became.  Mia 
natural  temper  was  severe  and  cruel,  ami  the  Litter  part  of 
his  reign  was  marked  by  several  act>  of  intolerant  zeal,  and 
sanguinary  rigour.  In  protecting  and  countenancing  the 
Christian  religion  he  deserves  our  approbation,  although 
must  be  acknowledged  that  he  brought  it  into  too  close  an  al 


ROMAN  EMPIRE,  53 

Ikmce  with  the  civil  power,  to  consist  with  its  highest  pros- 
perity. 

§  The  character  of  Constantino  has  been  the  subject  of  extravagant 
eulogy,  or  violent  censure,  according  as  friends  or  foes  have  been 
Concerned  in  drawing  it.  We  shall  do  well  perhaps  to  strike  the 
balance  between  the  different  representations — the  prejudices  of  the 
cotemporary  pagans  against  it  we  should  little  regard,  nor  should 
we  think  too  much  of  the  panegyric  which  was  resorted  to  for  its 
vindication,  by  the  professed  Christians  of  his  day.  It  was-  a  highly 
mixed  character  which  he  possessed. 

This  emperor  was  the  author  of  an  essential  change  in  the 
Roman  alfairs,  in  another  respect  besides  that  of  religion.  In 
transferring  the  seat  of  the  empire  from  Rome  to  Constantino- 
ple, he  affected  its  condition  during  the  remainder  of  its  ex- 
istence. This  step  accelerated  the  destruction  of  the  decay- 
ing fabric.  His  motives  in  this  project  cannot  be  accurately 
determined — whether  they  had  reference  to  ideas  of  policy 
and  advantage,  or  purely  to. resentment  on  account  of  affronts 
received  at  Rome  Whatever  they  were,  his-  own  reputation 
and  the  public  interests  were  injured. 

The  effect  of  tin's  measure7  though  not  immediately  felt, 
was  at  length  fatal.  After  the  government  was  apportioned 
among  the  emperor's  sons,  there  was  such  a  division  of  the 
forces  of  the  empire,  that  the  northern  barbarians,  who 
fought  with  superior  numbers,  and  had  been  hitherto  re- 
pulsed, now  began  to  prevail  and  to  encroach  on  the  pro- 
vinces. 

In  an  expedition  against  the  Persians,  Constantine  died  at 
Nicomedia,  in  the  thirtieth  year  of  his  reign,  and  sixty-third 
of  his  age. 

§  The  new  seat  of  empire  is  said  to  have  been  pointed  out  in  the 
following  manner  • — Constantine  had  made  choice  of  a  situation  at 
Chalcedon,  in  Asia  Minor ;  but  it  seems,  in  laying  out  the  ground- 
plot,  an  eagle  caught  up  the  line  and  flew  with  it  over  to  Byzantium, 
a  city  which  lay  upon  the  opposite  side  of  the  Bosphorus. 

Here,  therefore,  it  was  deemed  expedient  to  fix  the  seat  of  empire; 
and  Constantine,  after  having  built  a  capitol,  an  amphitheatre, 
many  churches  and  other  public  works,  and  many  magnificent  edi- 
fices, and  after  having  dedicated  the  city  to  the  God  of  martyrs,  re- 
paired thither,  with  his  whole  court. 

From  this  period  to  the  reigns  of  Honorius  and  Arcadius, 
when  the  empire  was  divided  into  two  distinct  sovereignties, 
the  histories  of  Rome  and  Constantinople  are  necessarily 
blended. 

5* 


54  MODERN    HISTORF. — PERIOD    I. 

3.  The  Roman  world  had  long  been  composed  of  discord 
ant  parts,  and  the  work  of  corruption  and  dissolution  was  ai 
this  time  making  a  rapid  progress.    The  immense  mass  wad 
kept  together  for  a  period  longer,  only  by  the  vigorous  exer- 
tion of  despotism.    The  fabric  naturally  tottered  to  its  fall, 
when  the  Pagan  principles  of  religion,  which  constituted  an 
essential  part  of  its  foundation,  were  removed.     The-arm  of 
power  then  supplied  the  props  that  upheld  it,  and  this,  more 
emphatically  than  was  ever  the  case  before. 

§  The  Roman  armies  at  this  era,  were  debased  by  the  intermixture 
of  Scythians,  Goths,  Germans,  and  other  barbarous  tribes  ;  and  Con- 
stantine,  from  a  timid  policy  of  guarding  against  mutinies  of  the 
troops,  reduced  the  legion  from  its  ancient  complement  of  5000  ami 
upwards,  to  1000  or  1500. 

4.  Before  his  death,  Constantine  had  settled  the  empire  on 
five  princes — his  three  sons  and  two  nephews.  His  sons  were 
Constantine  II.,  Constans,  and  Constantius  II.  The  nephews, 
who  were  Ceesars,  Avere  n-unecl  Dalmatius,  and  Annibalianus. 
Their  sovereignty  commmencecl  337  A.  C. 

Immediately  upon  the  accesssion  of  these  princes,  Con- 
stantius contrived  to  destroy  the  two  Caesars,  with  five  others 

»/  / 

of  his  cousins  and  two  of  his  uncles.  Soon  after  this,  Con- 
stantine entered  into  a  contention  with  Constans,  and  was 
killed  :  and  Constans  in  a  few  years  perished  in  attempting 
to  quell  a  revolt  among  his  subjects.  Constantius.  therefore, 
remained  in  the  possession  of  the  whole  empire.  He  reigned 
twenty-four  years  in  misfortune  and  dishonour. 

§  Domestic  broils,  and  insurrections  of  the  troops,  had  left  the  west- 
ern frontiers  of  the  empire  exposed  to  the  barbarians.  The  Franks, 
Saxons,  AJemanni,  and  Sarmatians  had  devastated  the  fine  countries 
on  the  Rhine,  and  the  Persians  had  kept  up  a  succession  of  wars  in 
the  eastern  provinces.  At  first  Constantius  obliged  the  Persians  to 
retire ;  but  he  was  afterwards  overcome  in  nine  signal  battles. 

His  cousin  Julian,  he  created  Caesar,  but  afterwards  regarding  him 
with  jealousy,  and  hearing  that  he  was  proclaimed  emperor,  Con- 
stantius marched  against  him.  but  died  on  the  road.  He  had  reach- 
ed his  45th  year.  In  person  he  was  diminutive,  but  capable  ^f 
exertion  when  occasion  required;  he  was  temperate,  but  extremely 
uxorious ;  and  in  a  word,  inherited  the  defects  without  the  abilities 
of  his  father.  He  was  much  engaged  in  theological  controversy, 
but  his  religious  principles  or  character  cannot  inspire  us  with  any 
great  respect. 

5.  Julian,  commonly  called  the  apostate,  on  account  of  his 
relapsing  into  paganism  from  a   Christian  education,  was 


i 


ROMAN    EMPIRE.  55 

acknowledged  by  the  senate,  361  A.  C.  His  army  had  pre- 
viously proclaimed  him  emperor,  much  against  his  will ;  but 
the  insult  he  received  from  Constantius,  who  exacted  submis- 
sion to  himself  as  the  supreme  head,  determined  him  to  assert 
his  claims  by  force  of  arms.  After  due  preparation  and 
vigorous  efforts,  he  was  happily  released  from  this  necessity, 
oy  the  death  of  Constantius. 

Julian  had  already  restored  the  glory  of  the  Reman  arms 
by  repressing  the. invasions  of  the  barbarians.  He  was  noj 
without  several  noble  traits,  and  was  fitted  by  kn  AY  ledge  ana 
energy  to  govern  a  great  people.  His  enmity  against  the 
holy  religion  of  Jesus,  was  deservedly  his  greatest  defect. 
To  this  he  added  bigotry  in  favour  of  paganism,  supersti- 
tion, and  no  small  share  of  a  foolish  credulity.  He  was  ad- 
dicted to  the  studies  of  magic  and  astrology. 

He  immediately  began  the  reformation  of  abuses  of  various 
kinds,  but  declared  in  favour  of  paganism,  re-opened  the  tem- 
ples, and  without  directly  persecuting,  did  much  to  injure 
Christians  and  their  cause.  In  363,  he  attempted  to  rebuild 
the  temple  at  Jerusalem  ;  but  certain  miraculous  appearances, 
it  is  said,  prevented  the  execution  of  his  design.  During  the 
same  year,  in  a  war  with  the  Persians",  while  pursuing  a  vic- 
torious course,  and  in  a  successful  engagement,  he  received  a 
mortal  wound.  He  had  reigned  but  three  years,  and  lived 
thirty -one. 

$  The  cunning  and  the  malire  of  Julian,  appeared,  in  treating  the 
Christians  with  contempt.  He  removed  them,  as  visionaries,  from 
all  employments  of  public  trust.  He  refused  them  the  benefit  of 
the  laws  to  decide  their  differences,,  because  their  religion  forbade 
a  contentious  spirit;  and  they  were  debarred  the  studies  of  literature 
and  philosophy,  as  this  would  subject  them  to  the  perusal  of  pagan 
authors. 

Julian,  like  many  others  opposed  to  Christianity,  employed  wit 
and  ridicule  against  this  religion ;  for  he  was  an  author  as  well  as  a 
warrior.  It  is  said  in  apology  for  him,  that  he  used  these  weapon 
in  self-defence — that  lie  was  first  lampooned  by  the  Christians. 
However  that  may  be,  religion  is  a  subject  too  sacred  to  be  treated 
in  that  manner.  One  of  his  works  against  the  Christians,  was  Mi- 
sopliogon,  or  beard  hater. 

His  Caesars  is  the  most  famous  of  his  compositions,  being  a  satire 
upon  all  the  Roman  emperors,  from  Julius  Caesar  to  Constantine. 
This  philosophical  fabie,  according  to  Gibbon,  is  "one  of  the  most 
agreeable  and  instructive  productions  of  ancient  wit." 

His  last  moments  were  spent  in  conversation  with  a  pnilosopher 


56  MODERN  HISTORY. PERIOD  II. 

on  the  immortality  of  the  soul — he  expressed  his  expectation  of 
being  united  with  heaven,  and  with  the  stars,*  which  was  one  of 
his  astrological  vagaries,  and  he  breathed  his  last  without  indicating 
the  least  sorrow  for  his  fate,  or  the  suddenness  of  his  death. 

His  attempt  to  rebuild  the  temple  at  Jerusalem,  was  made  with  a 
view  to  furnish  a  specious  argument  against  prophecy,  and  of  course 
the  truth  of  revelation.  The  prodigies  on  the  occasion,  which  prevent- 
ed the  completion  of  the  work,  are  attested  by  contemporary  writers, 
such  as  Amrnianus  Marcellinus,  and  Gregory  Naziar.zen.  This 
article  of  history  has  been  the  subject  of  much  dispute.  But  whether 
we  allow  or  not  that  the  prodigies,  such  as  earthquakes  and  balls  of 
fire,  happened,  to  the  annoyance  of  the  workmen  and  to  the  destruc- 
tion of  their  commenced  work,  it  is  evident  that  something  prevented 
the  work,  for  the  temple  was  never  rebuilt,  and  thus  our  Saviour's 
prophecy  remains  as  yet  unsuspected.  "  Jerusalem  is  to  be  trodden 
down  of  the  Gentiles  till  the  time  of  the  Gentiles  is  fulfilled." 

6.  On  the  death  of  Julian,  the  race  of  Constantius  Clorus 
became  extinct,  and  the  Roman  world  was  without  a  head, 
and  without  an  heir.  In  this  situation,  the  army  finally  fixed 
on  Jovian,  a  Pannonian,  and  the  emperor's  first  domestic,  as 
his  successor,  363  A,  C.  Jovian  made  peace  with  the  Per- 
sians, by  the  cession  of  five  provinces ;  for  on  J  ulian's  death 
the  army  was  brought  to  the  brink  of  destruction)  and  by 
such  a  sacrifice  only  could  he  save  it  and  himself. 

This  emperor  applied  himself  to  restore  tranquillity  to  the 
Church.  He  displayed  the  banner  of  the  cross,  and  reversed 
the  edicts  of  Julian  respecting  Christianity.  His  reign,  which 
continued  only  seven  months,  was  mild  and  equitable.  He 
died  suddenly  at  the  age  of  thirty-three  years. 

§  While  Jovian  was  on  his  march  to  secure  the  palace  of  Constan- 
tinople, his  wife  with  an  imperial  train  hastened  to  meet  him,  car- 
rying with  her  their  infant  son.  The  moment  of  embracing  liei 
husband  seemed  to  be  at  hand :  but  the  distressing  news  of  his  death 
which  was  immediately  communicated  to  her,  most  cruelly  disap- 
pointed her  hopes.  He  had  died  the  night  before,  as  some  report,  by 
suffocation  from  the  vapour  of  charcoal. 

7.  Yalentinian  I.,  after  a  delay  of  a  few  days  was  elected 
emperor  by  the  army.  364  A.  C.  One  month  after,  he  asso- 
ciated his  brother  Valens,  in  the  empire,  and  gave  him  the 
eastern  provinces.  From  this  period,  the  division  of  the  em- 
pire into  Eastern  and  Western,  became  fixed  and  permanent. 

*  This  was  in  agreement  with  the  doctrine  of  Pythagoras  and  Plato,  which 
seems  to  exclude  any  personal  or  conscious  immortality. 


ROMAN    EMPIRE.  57 

The  empire,  however,  was  still  considered  as  one  body.  On 
the  East,  the  Persians  were  making  inroads.  The  West 
was  continually  invaded  by  the  northern  barbarians.  The 
latter  were  repelled  by  the  emperor  in  many  successful  bat- 
ties,  lie  favoured  the  Christian  religion,  and  his  domestic 
administration  was  equitable  and  wise.  His  temper,  howe- 
ver, was  violent.  He  died  on  an  expedition  against  the  Ale- 
manni,  367  A.  C. 

§  It  is  said  that  the  barbarians  against  whom  he  had  last  taken 
arms,  had  provoked  him  beyond  all  endurance,  so  that  when  their 
ambassadors  came  to  sue  for  mercy,  his  anger  was  raised  to  such  a 
height,  and  his  tones  and  gestures  were  so  violent,  that  he  ruptured 
a  blood  vessel,  and  expired  on  the  -spot. 

In  the  East,  Valens  held  a  weak  and  inefficient  sceptre. 
Engaged  in  the  Arian  heresy  which  he  favoured,  he  threw 
the  provinces  into  confusion  and  contention,  and  at  the  same 
time  exposed  his  dominions  to  the  inroads  of  the  barbarians, 
who  came  under  the  profession  of  friends  and  allies.  He 
died  in  1578  A.  C. 

These  were  the  Goths  who  emigrated  from  Scandinavia, 
and  who,  together  with  several  other  barbarous  nations,  will 
soon  be  described  in  this  account  of  the  Roman  empire,  since 
they  are  so  intimately  connected  with  its  destiny. 

§  In  376,  Valens  permitted  vast  hordes  of  the  Goths,  who  had  been 
driven  out  of  their  country  by  the  Huns,  to  settle  in  Thrace  Here, 
however,  they  soon  plundered  the  very  country  conceded  to  them  as 
an  asylum.  The  emperor  hastened  to  oppose  them,  but  he  was  de- 
feated in  the  famous  battle  of  Adrianoplc,  two  thirds  of  his  army 
having  been  cut  to  pieces. 

Being  himself  wounded,  he  was.  carried  into  a  cottage,  where  on 
the  same  day  he  was  burnt  alive  by  the  barbarians,  who  set  fire  to 
the  cottage,  without  knowing  that  it  contained  the  emperor  of  the 
East. 

8.  Gratian,  a  son  of  Valentinian,  succeeded  his  father, 
367  A.  C.  He  soon  became  possessor  of  the  whole  empire,  by 
the  death  of  Valens.  Upon  this  event,  he  took  Theodosius 
as  his  associate,  on  whom  he  conferred  the  eastern  provin- 
ces. He  began  to  reign  in  his  17th  year,  and  died  at  the 
a#e  of  24  years.  He  was  a  well  disposed  prince,  but  defi- 
cient in  energy  of  character. 

§  Gratian  undertook  to  destroy  the  remains  of  paganism;  but 
Rome,  at  the  time,  happening  to  be  afflicted  by  a  severe  famine,  the 
favourers  of  that  superstition  ascribed  the  calamity  to  the  wrath  ol 


58  MODERN  HISTORY. PERIOD  II. 

the  gods.  A  general  dissatisfaction  ensued,  and  Maximus,  who 
commanded  in  Britain,  taking  advantage  of  this  state  of  things,  cau- 
sed himself  to  he  proclaimed  emperor.  Gratian  inarching  into  Gaul 
to  oppose  him,  was  deserted  by  his  soldiers,  and  killed  at  Lyons,  371 
A.  C. 

9.  Valentinian  II.  was  the  successor  of  his  hi  other  Gra- 
tian.    Being  dispossessed  hy  Maximus,  he  took  refuge  with 
Theodosius,  who  was  then  reigning  in  the  East,  and  who 
restored  him  to  the  throne.     From  that  time  he  ruled  with 
justice.     After  wearing  the  crown  for  several  years,  he  was 
strangled  hy  a  Gaul  named  Arbogastus,  who  had  assumed 
an  authority  over  his  sovereign,  392  A.  C.     The  tyrant  Eu- 
geiiius,  whom  the  Gaul  caused  to  be  proclaimed  on  this  oc- 
casion, was  defeated  and  put  to  death  by  Theodosius. 

10.  In   the  East,  after   the  death  of  Valens,  Theodosius 
succeeded  to  the  throne,  379  A.  C.     He  was  deservedly  sur- 
named  the  Great.     The  barbarians  he  repelled  with  success, 
and  lie  secured  the  prosperity  of  his  people  by  wise  and  salu- 
tary laws.     It  was  during  his  reign,  that  Christianity  obtain- 
ed the  entire  ascendency  over  paganism,  as  the  religion  of 
the  Roman  people. 

After  the  death  of  Valentinian  IT.,  the  whole  empire  came 
into  possession  of  Theodosius  ;  and  he  was  the  last  who  reign- 
ed over  both  the  East  and  West.  Previously  to  his  decease, 
he  divided  the  empire  between  his  two  sons,  assigning  the 
West  to  Honorius,  and  the  East  to  Arcadms.  Prom  this 
era  they  became  two  distinct  empires,  and  will  be  treated  of 
separately. 

§  Theodosius  the  Great,  was  the  son  of  Count  Theodosius,  a  very 
able  general,  who  had  been  beheaded  by  the  order  of  Gratian.  To 
atone  for  his  hi  justice,  Gratian  chose  the  Count's  son  as  his  colleague, 
and  gave  him  the  East  for  his  portion.  A  few  days  after  his  elec- 
tion, he  gained  a  signal  victory  over  the  Goths,  who  immediately 
sued  for  peace. 

In  the  year  390,  Theodosius  cruelly  punished  the  inhabitants  of 
Thessaloniea,  who  had  killed  their  governor  on  a  certain  occasion, 
by  sending  his  soldiers  against  the  place,  and  putting  7000  to  the 
sword.  Such,  however,  was  the  influence  of  St.  Ambrose,  that  lie 
obliged  the  emperor,  by  a  public  penance,  to  expiate  his  crime. 

In  religion,  Theodosius  espoused  the  orthodox  party.     His  faith 
is  said  to  have  been  confirmed  by  an  argument  adapted  to  the  mean- 
est capacity.     He  had  conferred  on  Arcadius,  his  eldest  son,  the  ti 
tie  of  Augustus  ;  and  the  two  princes  were  seated  on  a  throne  to  re- 
ceive the  homage  of  their  subjects.  Among  others  who  offered  their 


ROMAN    EMPIRE.  59 

homage,  was  Amphilnchius,  bisliop  of  Icenhim.  He,  however,  ap- 
proached Theodosius  alone  with  reverence,  the  son  he  accosted  with 
familiarity. 

The  monarch,  offended  by  the  conduct  of  the  bishop,  gave  orders 
that  he  should  be  thrust  from  his  presence ;  but  while  the  guards 
were  engaged  in  this  act,  the  good  bishop  exclaimed,  "  Such  is  the 
treatment,  O  emperor !  which  the  king  of  heaven  has  prepared  for 
those  impious  men  who  affect  to  worship  the  Father,  but  refuse  to 
acknowledge  the  co-equal  dignity  of  his  divine  Son." 

This  declaration  had  the  effect  of  propitiating  the  emperor,  and 
fixing  his  mind  more  strongly  than  before,  in  the  faith. 

11.  The  Roman  empire  had  now  become  excessively 
weakened  by  its  umvieldly  extent,  and  had  already  suffered 
much  from  the  incursions  of  its  barbarous  neighbours.  It 
was,  however,  destined  to  suffer  far  more  in  the  end,  from  the 
{ast  named  source.  Its  separation  into  two  empires,  favoured 
the  projects  of  the  barbarians,  who,  from  this  period,  poured  in 
like  a  torrent,  upon  these  cultivated  regions.  The  Western 
empire  in  a  few  years  was  completely  overwhelmed. 

A  short  account  of  the  barbarous  nations,  who  acted  so  con- 
spicuous a  part  in  this  tragedy,  seems  to  be  demanded  in  this 
place. 

The  Huns  were  a  fierce  and  savage  nation,  at  first  in- 
habiting the  vast  deserts  which  border  China  on  the  north. 
A  part  of  them,  owing,  it  is  said,  to  civil  Avars,  retired  to  the 
westward,  and  settled  to  the  north  of  the  Caspian  sea,  near 
the  source  of  the  river  Ural. 

§  From  thence,  376  A.  C..  advancing  towards  the  Palus  Maeotis 
(sra  of  Asof)  under  Balamir,  their  chief,  they  subdued  the  Alains, 
and  forced  such  of  them  as  were  capable  of  bearing  arms  to  join 
them;  tiie  remainder  they  put  to  death.  With  this  accession  of 
strength  and  numbers,  they  fell  upon  the  Ostrogoths  and  Visogoths, 
and  having  driven  them  away  from  their  country,  took  possession 
of  it  themselves.  This  was  a  region  extending  from  the  Tanais  to 
the  Danube.  Their  subsequent  history,  we  shall  find  identified  with 
the  Roman  affairs. 

The  Alains  inhabited  the  north  of  Asiatic  Sarmatia,  and 
were  known  to  the  Romans  in  the  time  of  Pompey.  Under 
the  first  emperors,  they  several  times  invaded  the  frontier 
provinces. 

§  Those  of  them  who  escaped  the  arms  of  the  Huns,  pushed  their 
way  towards  Pannoma,  whence  advancing  still  further  to  the  west, 
they  united  with  the  Suevi  and  the  Vandals,  and  continuing  their 
migrations,  they  finally  settled  in  Lusitania,  now  Portugal,  where  in 
477,  they  were  conquered  by  the  Visogoths. 


60  MODERN  HISTORY. — PERIOD  II. 

The  Vandab  issued  from  Scandinavia,  now  Sweden,  airl 
crossing  the  Baltic,  first  settled  in  a  part  of  Germany.  On 
account  of  increasing  numbers,  they  again  emigrated,  and 
taking  their  course  eastward,  possessed  themselves  of  the 
country  towards  the  Tanais,  whence  they  made  several  in- 
cursions upon  the  Roman  provinces. 

§  They  at  length  formed  a  junction  with  the  Suevi  and  Alains,  find 
marched  into  Spain,  apart  of  which  they  settled,  and  called  after  their 
name,  Vandalusia  or  Andalusia.  Their  history  downward,  is  pursued 
in  that  of  the  Romans. 

The  Goths  came  originally  from  Scandinavia.  They  first 
settled  in  Pomerania,  whence  advancing  towards  the  east, 
they  took  up  their  abode  to  the  north  of  the  lake  Meeotis. 
Here  they  were  divided  into  Yisogoths,  or  Goths  of  the  West, 
and  Ostrogoths,  or  Goths  of  the  East. 

§  Being  overcome  by  the  Huns,  they  were  forced  to  abandon  their 
last  settlement,  and  a  part  of  them  took  refuge  in  Pannonbi,  where 
they  remained  till  they  formed  the  new  kingdom  of  Italy,  hereafter 
to  be  mentioned. 

The  Heruli  also,  originated  in  Scandinavia.  They  first  emi- 
grated towards  the  East,  and  settled  on  the  borders  of  the 
lake  Meeotis.  They  afterward  returned  towards  the  West. 

§  It  is  said  that  coming  to  the  ocean,  they  embarked  for  Thule,  one 
of  the  Shetland  islands,  or,  as  others  suppose,  what  is  now  called 
Iceland,  where  they  finally  settled.  As  we  shall  soon  learn,  the  first 
sovereign  of  the  new  kingdom  of  Italy  was  a  chief  of  the  Heruli. 

The  Gepidas  were  another  Scandinavian  tribe.  They 
first  planted  themselves  on  the  Vistula,  whence  they  advan- 
ced east  towards  the  Tanais. 

§  Here  being  subdued  by  Attila,  the  Hun,  they  served  under  him 
in  his  expedition  to  Gaul.  Upon  his  death,  they  shook  off  the  yoke. 
They  were  finally  destroyed  by  the  Lombards. 

The  Suevi  were  a  warlike  nation  of  Germany,  inhabiting 
that  part  of  it  in  which  Berlin  is  now  situated.  They  were 
great  wanderers,  and  often  changed  their  habitations. 

§  In  406,  they  entered  Gaul  with  the  Alains  and  Vandals,  with 
whom  they  passed  into  Spain,  in  a  part  of  which  *.hey  established  a 
monarchy.  This  was  afterwards  destroyed  by  the  Visogoths. 

The  Bursrundians  first  inhabited  what  now  constitutes  the 

o 

kingdom  of  Prussia.  From  this  country  they  were  afterwards 
expelled  by  the  Gepidse.  They  frequently  crossed  the  Rhine, 
and  invaded  Gaul,  and  brought  trouble  on  the  empire. 

There  were  other  minor  tribes  of  barbarians,  of  which  no 
particular  account  need  be  here  given.  They  were  such  as 


ROMAN    EMPIRE.  61 

the  Bulgari,  Alemanni,  Venedi,  &c.  Other  rude  nations  also, 
who  followed  in  the  train  of  these  conquerors,  will  be  noticed 
at  the  proper  time. 

12.  In  the  Western  Empire,  Honorius,  who  held  the  sceptre 
by  the  appointment  of  his  father,  Theodosius,  proved  him- 
self a  degenerate  son.  Stilicho,  a  famous  warrior,  had  been 
appointed  guardian  or  minister  to  Honorius,  during  the  mino- 
rity of  the  latter  ;  and  it  was  owing  to  the  vigour  of  the  min- 
ister, and  not  at  all  to  the  merits  of  the  emperor,  that  the 
barbarians  of  the  north  were  repelled  for  such  a  length  of  time. 

Alaric,  king  of  the  Goths,  had  penetrated  into  Italy,  but 
was  defeated  by  Stilicho  near  Pollentia,  403  A.  C.  But  this 
able  general,  having,  through  the  baseness  of  the  emperor, 
been  afterwards  beheaded,  408  A.  C.,  Alaric  again  advanced 
and  beseiged  Rome.  The  promise  of  a  large  sum  of  gold 
delayed  his  purposes  of  vengeance.  As,  however,  it  was  ne- 
ver fulfilled,  Alaric  took  the  city,  and  committed  some  part  of 
it  to  the  flames,  410  A.  C. 

The  pillage  lasted  six  days,  and  multitudes  of  its  inhabi- 
tants were  massacred.  During  the  space  of  more  than  six 
hundred  years,  Rome  had  not  been  violated  by  the  presence 
of  a  foreign  enemy  ;  and  even  long  before,  as  well  as  during 
that  period,  her  power  had  been  feared  abroad. 

§  The  weakness  of  Honorius,  among  other  causes,  encouraged  the 
attack  of  the  barbarians  upon  the  empire.  From  the  wilds  of  Scan- 
dinavia, that  northern  hive,  as  it  has  been  fitly  called,  as  well  as  from 
the  east,  they  issued  in  almost  incredible  numbers.  Previously  to 
their  descent  upon  Italy,  the  Goths,  under  Alaric,  had  spread  their 
devastations  quite  to  the  borders  of  the  eastern  capital,  and  through 
the  classic  fields  of  Greece. 

Stilicho  made  a  stand  against  the  invaders.  While  they  boseiged 
Asta,  where  the  forces  of  Honorius  had  taken  refuge,  Stilicho  cut 
his  way  through  the  Gothic  camp  under  the  walls  of  that  place,  and 
thus  rescued  the  emperor.  The  Goths  afterwards  pitching  their 
camp  in  the  vicinity  of  Pollentia,  were  suddenly  attacked  by  Stilicho, 
and  several  thousands  of  them  were  slain.  Among  the  captives  was 
the  wife  of  Alaric,  who  was  compelled  to  implore  the  clemency  of 
the  victor.  The  Goths,  however,  were  but  partially  checked  in  con- 
sequence of  this  victory. 

Stilicho  might,  perhaps,  have  delayed  for  sometime  the  fall  of  the 
empire,  but  his  plans  were  frustrated  by  the  machinations  of  his  ri- 
vals, and  he  fell  a  victim  to  the  suspicions  of  the  ungrateful  emperor, 
408  A.  C. 

Alaric  had  long  stood  in  a  menacing  attitude,  and  now  prepared 
10  complete  his  designs  upon  Italy.  About  this  time,  vast  numbers 


62  „         MODERN    HISTORY. — PERIOD    II. 

of  Goths  pouring  down  upon  Germany,  forced  the  nations  whom 
they  dispossessed,  to  fall  upon  Italy.  "These  joined  their  arms  to 
those  of  Alaric,  who  made  an  attack  on  Rome. 

He  met  with  success ;  and  this  great  city,  which  had  so  long  been 
the  terror  of  the  world,  was  sacked,  plundered  and  partially  burnt, 
410  A.  C.,  by  the  savage  tribes  of  Germany  and  Scylhia.  The  popu- 
lation of  Rome,  at  this  time,  might  amount  to  1,200,000  men  ;  but 
the  nobles  wrere  wholly  sunk  in  luxury  and  effeminacy,  and  the 
populace  had  become  exceedingly  debased,  by  the  manumission  of 
slaves  or  the  influx  of  foreigners.  They  were  nothing  more  than 
the  shadow  of  their  ancestors  in  bravery  and  spirit.  Hence  the  suc- 
cess of  the  arms  of  the  barbarian. 

The  catastrophe  which  Rome  experienced,  was  hastened  also  by 
famine.  War  had  prevented  the  cultivation  of  the  lands,  and  the 
ports  being  blocked  up,  the  citizens  were  reduced  to  the  greatest  ex- 
tremities— human  flesh  was  publicly  sold. 

Treachery  completed. the  work.  The  Salarian  gate  was  opened 
at  midnight,  by  some  of  the  Romans  themselves,  and  the  enemy 
rushed  in.  The  scene  was  dreadful ;  for  although  the  conqueror,  in 
his  magnanimity  had  given  orders  that  none  except  the  armed 
should  be  killed,  great  numbers  of  citizens  were  put  to  death,  and 
larger  numbers  still,  were  reduced  from  affluence  to  want  and  cap 
tivity.  Though  the  city  was  pillaged  and  set  on  fire,  it  is  thought 
that  few,  comparatively,  of  its  magnificent  edifices  were  destroyed. 

Alaric  now  prepared  to  invade  Sicily  and  Africa,  but 
death  suddenly  put  an  end  to  his  ambitious  projects.  He 
died  after  a  short  illness.  Honorius,  instead  of  improving 
this  opportunity  to  recover  his  lost  provinces,  entered  into  a 
treaty  with  Ataulfus,  Alaric's  successor,  gave  him  in  mar- 
riage his  sister,  Placidia,  and  ceded  to  him  a  portion  of  Spain. 
By  these  and  other  acts,  Honorius  suffered  the  empire,  by 
degrees,  to  pass  from  the  dominion  of  the  Romans.  Ho 
norius  continued  to  reign  till  the  year  422. 

13.  Valentinian  III.  was  crowned  two  years  after  the 
death  of  Honorius,  424  A.  C.  He  was  the  son  of  Constan- 
tius,  a  general  of  Honorius,  and  during  seven  months,  an  as- 
sociate with  him  in  the  government.  In  439,  the  emperor 
,ost  his  dominions  in  Africa,  hy  the  revolt  of  Count  Boniface, 
who  delivered  that  part  of  the  empire  to  the  Vandals. 

§  Aetius,  a  general  of  Valentinian,  being  jealous  of  Boniface,  by 
means  of  his  artifices  drew  the  latter  into  a  revolt,  and  was  em- 
ployed on  the  part  of  the  empire  to  punish  him  on  this  account. 
Boniface  defeated  the  first  army  that  was  sent  against  him  ;  but  dis- 
trusting his  strength  to  cope  singly  with  his  enemies,  he  was  in- 
duced to  call  in  the  assistance  of  Genseric,  king  of  the  Vandals.  The 
measure,  however,  was  ruinous  to  his  cause. 


ROMAN    EMPIRE.  63 

The  Vandal  having  thus  obtained  a  footing  in  Africa,  which  he 
greatly  desired,  could  riot  be  prevailed  on  afterwards,  by  the  offer  of 
large  sums  of  money,  to  retreat.  Although  the  compact  between 
the  two  generals  was,  that  they  should  divide  Africa  between  them, 
Genseric  occupied  the  whole  country,  except  three  cities,  and  these 
he  soon  took. 

Shutting  up  Boniface  in  Carthage,  he  compelled  him,  at  the  ex 
piration  of  a  year,  to  surrender ;  and  the  Roman  general  experienced 
the  mortification  of  beholding  all  Africa,  which  he  had  once  saved, 
ravaged  in  the  most  wanton  manner  by  the  barbarians  whose  assist- 
ance he  had  invited.  The  kingdcm  which  Genseric  thus  establish- 
ed, did  not  last  quite  a  century. 

The  other  provinces  of  the  empire  were  protected  against 
the  invasion  of  the  barbarians,  by  Aetius.  The  Huns,  at  this 
time,  had  begun  to  make  their  ravages  in  the  empire.  Under 
Attila,  their  leader,  in  445,  they  first  overran  Illyricum, 
Thrace,  Dacia,  and  Meesia,and  laid  the  Romans  under  tribute. 
Soon  afterwards,  with  an  army  of  500,000  men,  Attila  in- 
vaded Gaul,  and  threatened  the  destruction  of  the  em- 
pire. The  forces  of  the  Romans,  under  Aetius,  met  him  in 
battle,  on  the  plains  of  Chalons,  and  defeating  him,  with  the 
loss  of  160,000  men,  checked  his  progress  for  a  time. 

Not  long  after,  however,  he  invaded  Italy,  and  Valentin- 
ian  being  shut  up  in  Rome,  by  the  arms  of  the  barbarian, 
was  compelled  to  purchase  a  peace.  Attila  dying  suddenly, 
in  the  midst  of  his  successes,  the  empire  of  the  West  was 
saved  from  immediate  destruction. 

§  The  march  of  the  Huns  was  extremely  desolating.  To  their 
leader,  Attila,  the  victims  of  his  ambition  have  given  the  expressive 
appellation  of  "The  Scourge  of  God."  He  first  invaded  the  East, 
which  he  ravaged  at  pleasure;  its  emperor,  Theodosius,  being  dis- 
posed rather  to  conciliate  his  favour  by  a  tribute,  than  to  attempt 
his  expulsion  by  force  of  arms.  Disdaining  so  mean  spirited  an 
enemy,  he  turned  to  the  West ;  where  his  appearance  has  already 
been  described.  His  body  was  secretly  buried,  enclosed  in  three 
coffins,  the  first  of  gold,  the  second  of  silver,  and  the  third  of  iron. 
The  men  who  dug  his  grave  were  put  to  death,  lest  they  should  re- 
veal the  place  of  his  burial. 

Aetius,  whose  military  talents  had  been  so  serviceable  to 
the  empire,  soon  fell  a  victim  to  the  jealousy  of  the  eunuch 
Heraclius,  and  Valentinian  stabbed  him  with  his  own  hand. 
The  next  year  the  emperor  himself  was  assassinated. 

14.  Maximus  II.  who  had  instigated  the  murder  of  Yal- 
entinian,  was  proclaimed,  455  A.  C.  He  married  Eudoxia 


64  MODERN    HISTORY. — PERIOD  II. 

the  widow  of  his  predecessor,  to  whom  he  imprudently  re- 
vealed his  guilt  in  the  assassination  of  the  emperor.  To  re- 
venge this  deed,  she  called  in  the  assistance  of  Genseric. 
king  of  the  Vandals.  Upon  his  arrival,  Maximus  fled,  but 
he  met  the  vengeance  of  his  people,  who  stoned  him  to  death, 
on  account  of  his  cowardice. 

§  Maximus  was  a  Roman  senator  of  the  Ancian  family,  and  was  in- 
cited to  the  destruction  of  Valentinian,  by  the  dishonour  which  the 
latter  had  cast  upon  his  wife.  However  respectable  Maximus  was 
in  private  life,  his  abilities  were  inadequate  to  stay  the  fall  of  the  em- 
pire, had  he  been  longer  continued. 

Eudoxia  had  reason  to  repent  of  her  imprudence.  The 
call  upon  Genseric  for  aid,  well  comported  with  his  private, 
sinister  aims.  After  he  had  landed  in  Italy,  with  an  army 
of  Moors  and  Vandals,  he  took  Rome,  delivered  it  up  to  pil- 
lage during  several  days,  destroyed  many  of  the  monument? 
of  ancient  genius,  and  conveyed  the  empress  and  her  two 
daughters  back  with  him  in  triumph  to  Carthage. 

15.  From  the  death  of  Maximus,  455  A.  G.  there  was  a 
succession  of  eight  emperors,  during  twenty  years ;  at  the 
expiration  of  which,  as  we  shall  soon  learn,  the  empire  ter- 
minated. Little  more  than  their  names  can  be  mentioned 
below. 

§  Avitus  was  acknowledged  in  Gaul  by  his  troops.  Having  crea- 
ted Ricimer,  a  Roman  senator,  general  of  hi?  armies,  the  latter  soon 
entered  into  a  conspiracy  against  his  benefactor ;  and  Avitus,  at  first 
arrested  and  deposed,  at  last  died  while  on  the  road  to  Italy,  457 
A.  C.  Ricimer,  though  an  able  commander,  was  a  savage  and  tur- 
bulent demagogue. 

Majorian  was  proclaimed  after  the  deposition  of  Avitus.  He 
made  an  unsuccessful  attempt  against  the  kingdom  of  the  Vandals 
in  Africa.  This  emperor  published  several  wise  laws  for  the  refor- 
mation of  abuses,  but  the  reputation  which  he  acquired  for  wisdom 
and  virtue,  excited  the  jealousy  of  Ricimer,  who  deposed  and  slew 
him,  461  A.  C. 

Severus  III.  was  created  emperor  by  Ricimer,  who  governed  un- 
der his  name.  Ricimer,  after  the  expiration  of  four  years,  found  it 
convenient  to  poison  the  nominal  master  of  himself  and  the  empire. 

Athemius  was  called  to  the  empire  by  the  united  suffrages  of 
the  senate,  the  army,  and  the  people,  in  467.  To  attach  Ricimer  to 
his  interest,  who  was  become  extremely  formidable,  he  gave  him. 
his  daughter  in  marriage.  Ricimer,  however,  soon  having  a  dif- 
ference with  his  father-in-law,  besieged  and  pillaged  Rome.  Du- 
ring this  transaction  the  emperor  was  murdered. 

Olvbrius,  who  was  sent  with  an  army  by  Leo,  emperor  of  the 


ROMAN   EMPIRE.  65 

East,  lo  protect  Athemhis  against  Ricimer,  was  seduced  by  the  lat- 
ter and  proclaimed  emperor,  but  died  three  months  after.  472. 

Glycerus,  an  obscure  soldier,  favoured  by  a  Burgundian  prince, 
assumed  the  title  of  emperor  at  Ravenna ;  but  Leo  had  conferred  it 
on  Julius  Nepos,  who  took  Glycerus  prisoner,  and  caused  him  to  be 
consecrated  bishop  of  Salona,  473. 

Julius  Nepos  was  proclaimed  at  Rome  474.  The  next  year,  Ores- 
tes, aPannonian,  whom  he  sent  into  Gaul,  revolted,  and  besieged  the 
emperor  in  Ravenna.  Nepos  escape  A.  into  Dalmatia,  where  at  the 
end  of  five  years  he  was  assassinated. 

Augustulus  son  of  Orestes  was  made  emperor  by  his  father. 
After  a  reign  of  eleven  months,  he  was  taken  prisoner  by  Odoacer 
king  of  the  Keruli,  and  sent  into  Campania,  where  he  lived  in  a 
private  station. 

16.  In  the  Eastern  Empire,  after  its  final  separation  from 
the  West,  in  the  time  of  Theodosius,  395  A.  C.,  there  were 
transactions  which  deserve  our  notice.     Theodosius,  as  we 
have  seen,  assigned  the  East  to  his  son  Arcadius.     This 
prince  was  then  eighteen  years  of  age,  and  he  proved  to  be 
both  weak  and  dissolute.     He  suffered  himself  to  be  governed 
by  favourites,  and  at  length  by  Eudoxia,  his  empress,  who 
made  it  her  great  object  to  plunder  the  revenues  of  the  state. 

17.  Thedosius  II.  son  of  Arcadius,  succeeded  to  the  em- 
pire 408.     He  has  the  reputation  of  having  been  a  prince  of 
mild   disposition,  and  piety  of  conduct,  but  otherwise  desti- 
tute of  those  qualities  that  are  essential  to  a  sovereign.     But 
liis  deficiencies  were  supplied  by  the  genius  and  address  of 
nis  sister,  Pulcheria,  who  aided  in  the  administration  of  the 
the  government.     The  latter  part  of  his  life  was  greatly  dis- 
turbed by  the  invasions  of  the  Barbarians. 

§  Pulcheria,  whose  talents  for  government  were  extraordinary, 
sought  to  strengthen  her  influence  and  power,  by  securing  for  her 
brother  a  companion  in  marriage,  who,  as  she  hoped,  would  ever  be 
grateful  to  her  benefactress.  The  person  on  whom  her  choice,  as 
well  as  that  of  Tlieodosius,  fell,  was  the  beautiful  and  learned  Athe- 
nais. 

Chance  had  made  her  known  to  Pulcheria.  She  was  the  daughter 
of  an  Athenian  philosopher,  who  had  taken  the  greatest  care  of  her 
education.  Such  was  his  conviction  of  her  entire  accomplishment 
in  every  respect,  that  in  the  disposition  of  his  property,  he  left  his 
two  sons  the  whole  of  it,  except  one  hundred  pieces  of  gold,  with 
the  declaration  that  "  her  own  good  fortune  would  be  sufficient  for 
her." 

With  a  view  to  obtain  her  just  share  of  the  inheritance  from  her 
brothers,  after  she  had  tried  the  forms  of  law  in  vain,  the  Athenian 
maiden  came  to  claim  the  interference  and  protection  of  Pulcheria. 


66  MODERN   HISTORY. — PERIOD  II. 

at  Constantinople.    Her  sense  and  merit  highly  pleased  the  princess, 

nnd  in  connection  with  her  charms,  won  the  heart  of  Theouosius. 

In  431  she  embraced  Christianity,  and  was  baptised  by  the  name  of 

Eudocia,  and  the  same  year  was  united  to  the  emperor  in  marriage. 

She  treated  her  brothers  with  singular  magnanimity,  raising  them 

to  the  rank  of  consuls  and  prefects,  and  though  she  at  length  lost 

the  affections  of  Theodosius  on  an  imputation  of  infidelity,  and 

hose  to  retire  to  Jerusalem,  she  ever  protested  that  she  was  wholly 

nnocent.    She  died  about  460,  ten  years  after  the  death  of  her 

husband. 

18.  Marcian,  a  native  of  Thrace,  was  called  to  the  throne 
by  Pulcheria  450,  whose  hand  also  he  received  in  marriage. 
After  a  reign  of  seven  years,  he  departed  this  life,  while  pre- 
paring for  a  war  against  Genseric,  king  of  the  Vandals. 

§  Marcian  possessed  some  eminent  qualities,  as  is  evinced  by  his 
reply  to  Attila  when  the  latter  claimed  the  annual  tribute,  consented 
to  by  Theodosius.  "  I  have,"  said  he,  "  gold  for  my  friends,  and 
iron  for  my  enemies." 

19.  Leo  I.,  also  a  native  of  Thrace,  was  called  to  the  em- 
pire on  the  death  of  Marcian   457  A.  C.     He  reigned  till 
nearly  the  period  of  the  destruction  of  the  Western  empire. 
He  had  some  domestic  enemies,  who  gave  him  trouble ;  though 
he  finally  crushed  Asper,  through  whose  influence  he  had 
been  raised  to  the  throne,  and  who  at  length  revolted  against 
his  master.      During  the  latter  part  of  his  reign,  his  domi- 
nions were  much  ravaged  by  the  Goths.     He  died  a  natural 
death,  at  an  advanced  age,  474  A.  C. 

§  Leo  1st  has  been  greatly  praised  by  some  historians,  and  cen- 
sured by  others.  An  instance  of  his  temperate  firmness  in  resisting 
the  oppression  of  his  patron  Asper,  is  recorded  as  follows: — 

Asper  had  presumed  to  reproach  him  with  a  breach  of  promise, 
in  regard  to  a  certain  appointment.  "  It  is  not  proper,"  said  he,  in- 
solently shaking  the  purple,  "  that  the  man  who  is  invested  with 
this  garment,  should  be  guilty  of  a  falsehood."  "  Nor  is  it  proper,'' 
retorted  Leo,  "  that  a  prince  should  be  compelled  to  resign  his  own 

judgment  and  the  public  interest,  to  the  pleasure  of  a  subject." 

* 

PERSIA. 

20.  Of  PERSIA,  during  this  period,  we  have  only  to  say  in 
general,  that  it  was  governed  successively  by  eight  princes,  of 
whom  Sapores  II.  was  the  most  distinguished  ;  that  at  the 
beginning,  and  towards  the  conclusion  of  the  period,  the  na- 
tion warred  against  the  Romans  ;  but  that  through  the  inter- 
mediate space,  the  most  profound  peace  subsisted  between  the 


CHINA.  67 

two  powers.     A  few  particulars  respecting  some  of  the  Per- 
sian sovereigns,  will  appear  below. 

§  Sapores,  II.,  who  was  crowned  before  his  birth,  in  the  person  of 
his  mother,  began  to  persecute  the  Christians  of  his  dominions  in  326. 
In  a  few  years  after,  he  endeavoured  to  recover  the  five  provinces 
yielded  b^  his  grandfather,  Narses,  to  the  Romans,  but  was  terribly 
defeated  by  Constantius.  After  this  event,  he  gained  a  celebrated 
battle  at  Sirigate,  in  Mesopotamia,  and 'took  several  cities. 

In  the  war  with  Julian,  in  363,  he  was  pursued  into  the  very 
heart  of  his  dominions,  but  was  delivered  by  the  death  of  that  em- 
peror. He  died  in  380,  after  a  reign  of  seventy  years.  His  charac- 
ter was  a  compound  of  pride  and  ferocity.  He  cruelly  persecuted 
the  Christians,  during  forty  years. 

Sapores  III.,  was  a  wise  prince ;  he  lived  at  peace  with  the  Ro- 
mans, and  died  lamented.  Under  Isdigartes  I.,  a  persecution  of  the 
Christians  commenced,  which  continued  fifty  years,  during  his  reign 
and  that  of  some  of  his  successors. 

CHINA. 

21.  During  this  period,  the  seventh  dynasty  of  the  empe- 
rors of  CHINA  terminated ;  as  also  the  eighth,  a  little  after  the 
conclusion  of  the  period. 

Under  the  first  of  these,  the  empire,  which  had  been  divi« 
ded  into  three,  became  united.  It  continued  one  hundred  and 
fifty-five  years,  under  fifteen  emperors.  It  is  called  the  di- 
nasty  of  Tcin-ou-ti.  The  eighth  was  the  dynasty  of  Song. 
It  began  under  a  revolted  general,  420  A.  C.,  and  lasted  fifty- 
nine  years,  under  eight  emperors. 

§  One  of  the  sovereigns  of  the  8th  dynasty,  whose  name  was  Venti, 
was  killed  by  his  own  son,  and  the  parricide  fell  by  the  hands  of 
his  brother.  The  latter  made  himself  many  enemies  by  the  freedom 
of  his  speech,  for  which,  in  the  end,  he  lost  his  life.  One  of  his 
wives,  whom  he  had  offended  by  calling  her  old,  stifled  him  in  his 
bed. 

Distinguished  Characters  in  Period  II. 

1.  Lactantius,  an  elegant  writer,  and  an  able  defender  of 
Christianity  :  sometimes  called  the  Christian  Cicero. 

2.  Ossian,  a  Caledonian  bard. 

3.  Eusebius,  an  eminent  ecclesiastical  historian. 

4.  Eutropius,  a  Latin  historian  and  sophist. 

5.  Julian,  a  Roman  emperor,  an  acute,  but  malignant  »* 
fidel  philosopher. 

6.  Basil,  the  Great,  an  eminent  father  in  the  church. 


68  MODERN   HISTORY. — PERIOD   II. 

7.  Gregory  Nazianzen,  a  theological  and  polemical  writer. 

8.  Olaudian,  an  elegant  Latin  poet. 

9.  St.  Chrysostom,  and  )  Learned  and  eloquent  ministers 

10.  St.  Augustine,          $  and  writers. 

§  1.  Lactantius  proved  the  truth  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  ex- 
posed the  absurdities  of  paganism.  He  was  the  most  eloquent  of 
the  ecclesiastical  Latin  writers  of  his  age.  His  principal  works, 
are  his  treatises  concerning  the  Divine  Wrath,  and  the  Works  of" 
God,  and  his  Divine  Institutions.  The  last,  in  seven  books,  is  written 
with  uncommon  elegance  and  purity.  As  a  theologian,  he  had 
some  errors.  He  died  in  325. 

2.  Ossian  was  a  rude  Caledonian.     He  is  supposed  to  have  flou- 
rished in  the  fourth  century,  and  to  have  been  the  son  of  Fingal. 
He  wrote  in  Gaelic ;  and  the  poems  that  go  by  his  name,  translated 
by  Macpherson,  are  marked  by  a  simple  and  sublime  wild  ness.    If 
they  are  really  Ossian's,  he  must  be  considered  as  the  first  of  the  poets 
of  this  period.    There  is,  however,  strong  ground  of  doubt,  in  respect 
to  the  authenticity  of  these  poems,  as  a  whole. 

3.  Eusebius  died  in  338  A.  C.    He  was  bishop  of  Csesarea,  and 
enjoyed  the  favour  of  Constantine.     He  opposed  Arius,  although  he 
held  to  a  certain  disparity  and  subordination  in  the  Godhead.    He 
was  a  man  of  immense  reading,  and  was  greatly  versed  in  ecclesi- 
astical history  and  sacred  erudition.    He  distinguished  himself  by 
his  writings,  which  consisted  of  an  ecclesiastical  history,  the  life  of 
Constantine,  evangelical  preparations,  and  many  other  treatises, 
most  of  which  are  now  lost. 

4.  Eutropius  lived  in  the  age  of  Julian,  under  whom  he  was  a 
soldier  in  the  war  against  Persia.    He  is  supposed  to  have  been  a 
Roman  Senator.    He  wrote  several  works ;  but  none  of  them  re- 
main except  his  Roman  History.    This  was  an  epitome  of  the  trans- 
actions of  Rome,  from  the  age  of  Romulus  to^the  reign  of  Valens. 
It  is  characterised  by  conciseness  and  precision/but  not  by  elegance. 

5.  Julian,  as  has  been  already  narrated,  was  elevated  to  the  throne, 
361  A.  C.     He  then,  although  he  had  been  educated  according  to  the 
principles  of  the  Gospel,  publicly  disavowed  its  truths,  and  offered 
solemn  sacrifices  to  all  the  Gods  of  Ancient  Rome.    This  change  of 
religious  opinion,  was  attributed  to  the  austere  manner  with  which 
he  was  instructed  in  Christianity ;  though  others  ascribe  it  to  his  in- 
tercourse with  the  philosophers  of  Athens,  and  their  influence  over 
his  mind.     From  this  circumstance,  the  appellation  of  apostate,  has 
been  attached  to  him.    Some  of  his  writings  have  been  preserved, 
in  which  he  has  shown  great  powers  of  ridicule  in  a  bad  cause.    But 
we  need  not  repeat  the  particulars  that  have  already  been  given,  res- 
pecting his  character  and  writings. 

6.  Basil,  surnamed  the  Great,  was  bishop  of  Csesarea.    He  was 
persecuted  by  Valens,  for  refusing  to  embrace  Arianism.    Accord- 
ing to  Mosheim,  "  in  point  of  genius,  controversial  skill,  and  a  rich 
and  flowing  eloquence,  he  was  surpassed  by  very  few  of  his  contem- 
poraries."   He  died  in  379. 


ROMAN    EMPIRE.  69 

7.  Gregory  Nazianzen,  was  surnamed  the  divine.    He  was  patri- 
arch of  Constantinople,  but  the  right  to  that  station  being  disputed, 
he  abandoned  it.    His  birth  occurred  in  324,  and  his  death  in  389. 
He  held  an  honourable  place  among  the  theological  and  political  wri- 
ters of  the  times.    His  writings  compare  well  with  those  of  the  Gre- 
cian orators,  in  eloquence  and  variety.     His  sermons  are  better 
adapted  to  philosophers  than  common  hearers,  but  are,  nevertheless, 
not  wanting  in  seriousness  and  devotion.    He  most  ably  defended 
the  orthodox  faith  concerning  the  Trinity. 

8.  Claudian  was  a  native  of  Alexandria,  in  Egypt,  and  flourished 
in  the  age  of  Honorius  and  Arcadius.     His  style  is  not  corrupted  by 
the  false  taste  of  the  age.    But  although  he  wrote  elegant  verses, 
he  depicted  no  powerful  passions,  and  exhibited  no  commanding 
genius.     His  matter  was  meagre,  but  his  language  was  pure,  his  ex- 
pressions happy,  and  his  numbers  melodious.    His  best  compositions 
are  his  poems  on  Rufinus  and  Eutropius. 

9.  St.  Chrysostom,  John,  was  so  called  on  account  of  his  extraor- 
dinary eloquence.     He  was  born  at  Antioch,  of  a  noble  family,  about 
354,  consecrated  bishop  of  Constantinople  in  398,  and  died  in  407. 
His  works  are  voluminous.     He  was  an  elegant  preacher,  and  pos- 
sessed a  noble  genius.     On  account  of  his  severity  in  opposing  the 
corruption  of  the  times,  he  procured  himself  many  enemies.   He  was 
so  great  a  disciplinarian,  that  he  even  recommended  to  private  be- 
lievers, though  very  injudiciously,  the  use  of  outward  violence,  in  re- 
sisting the  wickedness  of  men. 

10.  St.  Augustine  was  bishop  of  Hippo,  in  Africa.     He  led  an  aus- 
tere life,  and  died  in  his  seventy-sixth  year,  430  A.  C.   He  distinguish- 
ed himself  by  his  writings,  and  his  reputation  is  great,  even  to  this 
day.     He  was  characterised  by  a  sublime  genius,  an  unintermitted 
pursuit  of  truth,  an  indefatigable  application,  an  invincible  patience, 
a  sincere  piety,  and  a  subtle  and  lively  wit.     The  solidity  and  ac- 
curacy of  his  judgment,  were  not,  however,  proportionable  to  his 
eminent  talents  in  other  respects. 

Augustine's  book  concerning  the  City  of  God,  has  been  pronounced 
to  be  "  a  work  extremely  rich  and  ample  in  point  of  matter,  and  fill- 
ed with  the  most  profound  and  diversified  erudition."  In  all  his 
writings,  this  father  displayed  an  extensive  acquaintance  with  Pla- 
to's philosophy. 


PERIOD  III. 

The  period  of  the  Justinian  Code,  and  of  the    Wars  of 
Belisarius ;    extending  from   the   Extinction   of  the 
Western  Empire,   476  years   A.  C.,  to   the  flight  of 
Mahomet,  622  years  A.  C. 

THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 

The  dark  ages,  as  they  have  been  commonly  called,  ccmmenced 


70  MODERN  HISTORY. — PERIOD  III. 

with  this  period.  The  human  intellect,  and  the  state  of  society,  had 
for  some  time  previous,  been  retrograde.  But  upon  the  conquest  of 
the  Western  Empire  by  the  barbarians,  the  darkness  became  more 
especially  obvious,  and  we  shall  find  it  prevailing  over  the  nations, 
though  with  some  intervals  of  light,  nearly  1000  years.  It  is  believ- 
ed, however,  that  mankind  have  been  apt  to  overrate,  in  some  res- 
pects, the  infelicities  of  the  dark  ages,  and  to  forget,  that  after  all, 
strong  proofs  were  at  times  afforded,  of  intellectual  vigour,  and  of  the 
high  enjoyment  of  life.  A  few  men  of  distinguished  abilities  ap- 
peared during  the  present  period,  though,  in  general,  the  age  is  not 
to  be  compared  with  several  that  preceded  it. 

SEC.  1.  We  have  now  to  record  the  melancholy  extinction 
of  the  Western  Empire  of  the  Romans — an  empire,  the  most 
powerful  that  has  ever  existed.  This  event  occurred,  476 
A.  C.  upon  the  taking  of  Rome  by  Odoacer,  prince  of  the 
Heruli.  Romulus,  surnamed  Augustulus,  was  at  that  time 
on  the  throne.  Odoacer,  having  subdued  Italy,  and  taken 
its  capital,  spared  the  life  of  Augustulus,  upon  condition  of 
his  resigning  the  empire. 

§  The  empire  having  been  long  beset  on  every  side  by  barbarians, 
great  numbers  of  them  were  admitted  into  the  Roman  legions,  to 
protect  it  against  the  rest.  These,  in  the  reign  of  Augustulus,  having 
revolted,  demanded  a  third  part  of  the  lands  of  Italy,  as  a  settlement 
for  themselves  and  families.  This  being  refused,  they  advanced  to 
Rome,  under  Odoacer,  and  as  conquerors,  held  the  country. 

Odoacer  was  an  officer  of  the  emperor's  guards,  at  the  head  of  the 
barbarians  who  had  enlisted  in  the  armies.  When  he  had  secured 
Rome,  Augustulus,  who  was  a  feeble  youth,  was  directed  to  express 
his  resignation  to  the  senate,  while  that  body,  in  an  epistle  to  Zeno, 
emperor  of  the  East,  disclaimed  the  necessity  of  continuing  the  im- 
perial succession  in  Italy,  since,  in  the  submissive  language  of  adula- 
tion, they  observed,  "the  majesty  of  the  monarch  of  Constantinople, 
was  sufficient  to  defend  both  the  East  and  the  West :"  at  the  same 
time  they  begged  the  favour,  that  the  emperor  would  invest  Odoacer 
with  the  title  of  patrician,  and  the  administration  of  the  diocese  of 
Italy.  Their  request  was  granted,  and  to  Augustulus,  was  assigned 
a  splendid  income,  to  support  him  in  a  private  station. 

Thus  the  Western  Empire  of  Rome  passed  from  the  hands 
of  its  ancient  masters,  into  the  possession  of  the  barbarians, 
who  had  so  long  harassed  it  by  their  invasions.  As  an  em- 
pire, it  had  existed  more  than  five  hundred  years,  computing 
the  time  from  the  battle  of  Actium.  The  whole  period  of 
its  duration,  from  the  building  of  the  city,  was  more  than 
twelve  hundred  years. 

The  ruin  of  the  Roman  empire,  was  the  result  of  its  great 
extent,  connected  with  its  moral  corruption.  The  perfections 


ROMAN    EMPIRE.  71 

of  God  are  concerned  in  accomplishing,  by  natural  causes, 
the  extinctic  n  of  enormously  guilty  nations.  Rome,  having 
become  a  mass  of  luxury,  weakness,  and  profligacy,  fell,  at 
last,  an  easy  prey  to  the  barbarous  tribes  that  poured  in  upon 
its  dominions. 

§  The  Northern  invaders  did  not  originate  the  catastrophe  which 
Rome  experienced  ;  they  scarcely  hastened  it.  As  much  of  crime 
and  barbarism  as  they  brought  with  them,  they  became,  upon  their 
settlement  in  the  south  of  Europe,  as  reputable,  at  least,  as  the  na- 
tive citizens  themselves.  Without  the  agency  of  these  invaders, 
darkness  and  barbarism  would  have  visited  the  Roman  world,  from 
the  operation  of  causes  within  its  own  bosom ;  especially  from  the 
extreme  profligacy  and  irreligion  which  prevailed  among  all  classes. 

While  the  Roman  empire  in  the  West,  thus  fell  into  ruins,  the  sis- 
ter empire  in  the  East,  which  appealed  to  be  in  a  similar  situation, 
not  only  continued  to  stand,  but  even  existed  for  the  space  of  nearly 
one  thousand  years  more,  though  in  comparative  imbecility  and  de- 
pression. It  existed,  notwithstanding  it  suffered  all  the  internal 
evils  which  produce  the  ruin  of  a  state,  and  was  shaken  by  all  the 
storms,  which  burst  upon  the  nations,  during  the  middle  ages. 
This  phenomenon,  which  has  not  a  parallel  in  the  history  of  the 
world,  may,  in  some  measure,  be  explained  from  the  almost  impreg  • 
nable  site  of  its  capital  alone,  in  connexion  with  the  despotism, 
which  sometimes  remains  the  last  support  of  fallen  nations. 

We  shall  continue  the  portion  of  its  history  belonging  to  this 
period,  before  we  bring  into  view  the  new  state  of  things,  consequent 
on  the  occupation  of  Italy  and  the  West  by  the  barbarians.  The 
-ecent  kingdom  which  they  founded,  deserves  a  separate  account. 

2.  The  Eastern  Empire  of  the  Romans,  sometimes  called 
the  Greek  Empire,  and  the  Empire  of  Constantinople,  was 
at  this  time,  (474  A.  C.)  under  the  sway  of  Zeno,  son-in-law 
to  Leo.  He  was  odious,  on  account  of  his  debauchery ;  and 
after  having  once  fled  from  his  throne,  and  been  restored  to  it, 
aad  engaged  in  the  suppression  of  several  conspiracies,  he 
met  with  a  miserable  end,  being  buried  alive.  He  reigned 
about  seventeen  years. 

§  Leo  II.,  son  of  Zeno,  and  grandson  to  Leo  I.,  was  designed  for  the 
empire ;  but  being  of  tender  age  when  his  grandfather  died,  Zeno 
was  made  regent.  But  the  death  of  the  child,  the  same  year,  left 
Zeno  in  the  possession  of  the  throne.  The  intrigues  of  the  empress 
Verina,  his  mother-in-law,  embittered  his  life,  and  distracted  his 
reign.  She  aided  one  or  two  of  the  conspiracies  that  were  carried 
on  against  him. 

He  came  to  his  end  by  an  awful  act  of  Ariadne,  his  wife.  She 
loved  him  not,  and  profiting  by  an  epileptic  fit,  to  which  the  emperor 
was  subject,  caused  him  to  be  precipitately  interred.  When  the 


72  MODERN    HISTORY. — PERIOD    III. 

sepulchre  was  opened,  a  few  days  after,  it  was  found  that  Zeno  had 
devoured  the  flesh  off  his  own  arms. 

3.  Anastasius,  an  officer  of  the  palace,  marrying  the  widow 
of  Zeno,  was  raised  to  the  throne,  491  A.  C.     He  was  old 
at  this  time,  but  reigned  about  twenty-seven  years.     The 
beginning  of  his  reign  was  auspicious,  but  it  was  otherwise 
in  the  end.     He  died  a  natural  death,  in  his  eightieth  year. 

4.  Justin  I.,  the  Thracian,  ascended  the  throne  after  the 
death  of  Anastasius.     He  governed  with  great  prudence.    In 
526,  he  sent  the  celebrated  Belisarius  against  the  Persians, 
who  had  broken  the  truce  subsisting  between  the  two  em- 
pires.    The  emperor,  however,  died  before  the  conclusion  of 
the  war,  having  reigned  about  nine  years. 

§  Justin  was  the  son  of  a  ploughman,  and  rose  by  his  talents  to 
the  first  military  dignities,  before  he  was  chosen  emperor.  He  was 
so  illiterate,  however,  as  to  be  unable  to  write  his  own  name,  and 
secured  respect,  only  by  the  good  sense  which  he  manifested  in  the 
choice  of  his  counsellors. 

5.  Justinian  L,  nephew  of  Justin,  assumed  the  reins  of 
government,  527  A.  C.     His  personal  character  was  far  from 
inspiring  respect ;  but  his  reign  was  successful,  and  he  was 
extremely  fortunate  in  his  generals  and  counsellors.     The 
exploits  of  his  generals,  and  the  production  of  the  code  of 
laws  that  goes  by  his  name,  of  which  the  learned  Trebonian 
was  the  author,  form  an  era  in  history. 

Towards  the  brave  and  noble  Belisarius,  the  warrior  wrho 
at  first  fought  his  battles,  the  emperor  was  ungrateful  in  the 
extreme.  This  great  general,  by  his  arms  and  policy,  pre- 
served his  master  on  his  throne,  when  his  expulsion  from  it 
was  likely  to  be  effected,  by  the  civil  factions  which  raged  at 
Constantinople.  He  also  defeated  the  Persians  in  three  san- 
guinary battles,  in  different  years  ;  destroyed  the  kingdom  of 
the  Vandals  in  Africa,  and  recovered  that  province  to  the  em- 
pire ;  and  wrested  Italy  from  its  Gothic  sovereign,  restoring  it 
for  a  short  space  of  time,  to  the  authority  of  its  ancient  masters. 

Italy,  however,  was  once  more  subdued  by  the  Goths. 
From  this  time  the  fortunes  of  Belisarius  began  to  change. 
He  was  compelled  to  evacuate  Italy,  having  been  more  than 
once  recalled,  through  the  emperor's  meanness  and  jealousy. 
On  his  final  return  to  Constantinople,  his  long  services  were 
repaid  with  disgrace,  and  he  was  superseded  in  the  command 
of  the  armies,  by  the  eunuch  Narscs. 


ROMAN    EMPIRE.  73 

§  Belisarius,  more  than  any  other  general  during  the  later  periods 
of  the  empire,  revived  the  fainting  glory  of  Rome.  On  the  plains 
of  Dara,  he  defeated  the  Persians,  with  great  slaughter;  and  his  con- 
duct, in  the  sedition  of  Constantinople,  secured  the  esteem  of  the 
emperor.  When  Justinian,  by  favouring  a  certain  faction,*  had  near- 
ly involved  himself  in  destruction,  and  was  about  to  seek  his  safety 
in  flight,  Belisarius,  amidst  the  uproar  and  confusion  which  pre- 
vailed, came  to  the  aid  of  his  master.  A  corps  of  three  thousand 
veteran  troops  he  led  against  the  populace  of  Constantinople,  and  it 
is  computed  that  no  less  than  thirty  thousand  persons  perished  in 
the  carnage.  So  signal  a  chastisement  had  the  effect  of  overawing 
the  infuriated  and  divided  citizens ;  and  the  games  of  the  circus,  out 
of  which  the  contention  arose,  were,  during  several  years,  interdicted. 

The  war  which  Belisarius  carried  on  against  the  Vandals,  in  Africa, 
was  marked  by  signal  success ;  but  no  particulars  need  to  be  related, 
except  that  Belisarius  was  recalled  by  the  jealousy  of  Justinian,  and 
that  his  victories  and  prompt  obedience,  secured  him:  the  honours  of 
a  triumph. 

In  the  war  against  the  Gothic  power  in  Italy,  537  A.  C.  Justinian  was 
equally  fortunate  through  the  exploits  of  his  illustrious  lieutenant, 
and  equally  mean  in  his  conduct  towards  this  hero.  The  Gothic 
forces  were  obliged  to  retire  before  the  Roman  army,  upon  its  land- 
ing in  Sicily  and  Italy.  Resistance  was  made,  but  in  vain.  The  fame 
of  Belisarius,  had  inspired  even  the  degenerate  Romans  with  courage. 

Long  before  this  general  reached  Rome,  the  Gothic  king  had 
abandoned  it ;  and  though  the  policy  was  singular,  the  latter  did  it 
with  a  view  to  wrest  the  city  from  the  hands  of  Belisarius,  at  some 
future  time.  In  the  course  of  a  few  months,  Vitiges,  the  Gothic 
king,  advanced  towards  Rome,  at  the  head  of  one  hundred  thousand 
warriors.  The  inconsiderable  army  of  Belisarius,  however,  per- 
formed prodigies  of  valour,  and  not  only  defended  Rome,  during  a 
long  siege,  but,  with  the  aid  of  some  reinforcements  from  the  East, 
obliged  the  Gothic  king  to  retire,  first  to  Ravenna,  and  at  last  to  sur- 
render all  the  towns  and  villages  of  Italy. 

This  was  no  sooner  effected,  than  the  jealousy  of  Justinian  re- 
manded his  lieutenant  to  Constantinople ;  nor  was  the  latter  allowed 
the  honour  of  a  second  triumph.  But  though  the  conduct  of  the 
emperor  towards  him  was  utterly  despicable,  the  admiration  of  the 
people  was  an  ample  indemnity. 

The  valour  of  Belisarius,  at  this  era,  saved  the  East ;  but  there  is 
no  time  to  recount  his  achievements.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  the 
necessity  of  the  ernperor,  induced  him  again  to  appoint  Belisarius 
to  the  command  of  Italy,  inasmuch  as  it  had  been  nearly  overrun, 

*  There  were  two  factions  in  Constantinople,  which  were  distinguished  by  a 
diversity  of  colour.  The  support  of  one  or  other  of  these,  became  necessary,  to 
every  candidate  for  civil  or  ecclesiastical  honors.  The  greens  were  attached  to 
the  family  or  sect  of  Anastasius :  the  blues  were  devoted  to  orthodoxy,  and 
Justinian.  The  latter,  the  emperor  favoured  during  five  years,  though  their 
tumults  endangered  equally  his  own  safety,  and  the  peace  of  the  city. 

7 


74  MODERN    HISTORY. — PERIOD    III. 

* 

during  this  interval,  by  the  arms  of  the  brave  and  virtuous  Totila. 
No  sooner,  however,  had  he  a  prospect  of  driving  the  Gothic  king 
from  Italy,  than  he  was  called  off  to  some  less  important  warfare, 
which  was  intended  as  a  disgrace  to  him. 

The  declining  years  of  the  life  of  this  hero,  were  passed  in  Con- 
stantinople ;  but  even  at  that  late  period,  they  were  crowned  by  a 
victory,  in  which  he  saved  the  ungrateful  Justinian  and  his  capita] 
from  the  ravages  of  the  Bulgarians.  The  unnatural  suspicions  of 
the  emperor  followed  him  to  the  grave ;  for  even  in  extreme  old 
age,  he  suffered  in  his  property  and  comforts,  for  a  time,  from  the 
false  imputation  of  conspiracy. 

Narses,  who  was  able  in  council,  was  also  successful  in 
war.  He  had  the  honour  of  completing  the  conquest  of  Ita- 
ly, by  defeating  Totila,  in  a  decisive  engagement,  in  which 
the  Gothic  king  was  slain.  Under  the  title  of  duke,  Narses, 
gaining  some  other  victories,  governed  Italy  with  ability  for 
thirteen  years. 

Justinian  died  in  his  eighty-third  year.  He  would  be  but 
little  thought  of  by  mankind,  were  it  not  for  those  illustrious 
men  who  fought  his  battles,  and  presided  in  his  councils.  He 
had  the  sagacity  to  perceive  their  merits,  and  happy  would  it 
have  been,  had  he  possessed  the  magnanimity  to  reward  them. 
His  vices  were  meanness,  vanity,  caprice,  and  tyranny  :  his 
virtues  were  chastity,  temperance,  vigilance,  and  studiousness. 
We  pretend  not  to  determine  which  preponderated. 

Imposing  as  was  his  reign,  he  lived  in  a  miserable  age. 
His  subjects  were  continually  afflicted  by  war,  pestilence,  and 
famine.  The  empire  shone  out  with  a  degree  of  brilliancy 
under  his  auspices,  but  after  his  death  it  shone  no  more.  Its 
history,  so  far  as  it  is  necessary  to  notice  it,  is  henceforth 
made  up,  more  than  ever,  of  disasters,  miseries,  and  crimes. 

6.  Upon  the  death  of  Justinian,  his  nephew,  Justin  II. 
ascended  the  throne,  565  A.  C.  He  was  a  man  of  weak  in- 
tellect, and  was  governed  by  his  consort,  Sophia,  though  his 
intentions  appear  to  have  been  good.  The  troubles  and  cala- 
mities which  befel  his  family  and  empire,  threw  him  into  an 
incurable  frenzy.  In  consequence  of  this  event,  Tiberius,  his 
son-in-law,  was  associated  in  the  empire.  It  was  soon  after  his 
elevation,  that  the  Lombards  established  themselves  in  Italy. 
In  his  reign,  not  only  was  Italy  lost  again  to  the  empire, 
hut  Africa  desolated,  and  the  East  ravaged  by  the  Persians. 
§  The  advice  which  Justin  gave  to  Tiberius,  upon  the  introduction 
of  the  latter  to  the  empire,  was  worthy  of  any  prince.  "Love. 


ROMAN    EMPIRE.  75 

said  he,  "  the  people  as  yourself;  cultivate  the  affections,  and  main- 
tain the  discipline  of  the  army ;  protect  the  fortunes  of  the  rich, 
and  relieve  the  necessities  of  the  poor."  The  last  four  years  of  his 
life  were  passed  in  tranquillity.  He  reigned  nine  years  alone,  and 
four  in  connexion  with  Tiberius. 

7.  Tiberius,  who  assumed  the  name  of  Constantine,  was 
sole  possessor  of  the  throne  in  578.     His  reign  was  short, 
but  it  was  rendered  glorious  by  his  defeat  of  the  Persians. 
He  was  accounted  a  just,  humane,  temperate,  and   brave 

prince, 

§  On  his  death-bed,  Tiberius  bestowed  his  diadem  on  his  son-in-law, 
Maurice,  who  had  proved  himself  an  excellent  general. 

8.  Maurice,  a  native  of  Cappadocia,  ascended  the  throne 
582  A.  C.    He  reigned  twenty  years,  in  almost   continual 
turbulence.     He  chose  his  predecessors  for  his  model,  nor 
was  he  destitute  of  sense  and  courage,  in  whatever  he  under- 
took for  the  welfare  of  his  subjects.     Avarice  is  said  to  have 
been  his  great  failing  ;  but  it  is  more  probable,  that  his  rigid 
virtue  and  economy  were  net  duly  appreciated  in  those  cor- 
rupt times. 

In  602,  he  obliged  his  army  to  take  up  their  winter  quar- 
ters beyond  the  Danube,  upon  which  a  revolt  ensued,  and 
Phocas,  being  proclaimed  emperor,  advanced  to  Constantino- 
ple. Maurice  and  his  children  were  cruelly  slain. 
§  After  Maurice  fell  into  the  hands  of  Phocas,  the  jealous  and  cruel 
rebel  caused  the  emperor  to  be  dragged  from  his  sanctuary  at  Chal- 
cedon,  and  his  five  sons  to  be  murdered,  one  after  the  other,  before 
his  eyes.  Maurice  bore  this  agonizing  sight  with  such  firmness  and 
resignation,  that  he  repeated,  with  streaming  tears,  at  every  wound, 
the  words  of  David,  "Thou  art  just,  O  Lord  !  in  all  thy  judgments." 
When  a  nurse  generously  concealed  a  royal  infant,  and  offered  her 
own  to  the  executioner,  Maurice  was  too  rigidly  honest  not  to  reveal 
the  deception.  The  tragic  scene  was  closed  with  the  execution  of 
the  emperor  himself,  who  fell  on  the  dead  bodies  of  his  children. 
What  sufferings  have  not  princes  and  their  families  been  often  called 
to  sustain — sufferings  far  surpassing  the  common  lot  of  men  ! 

9.  Phocas  seated  himself  on  the  throne  602  A.  C.     His 
character  was  despicable.     His  empire  was  ravaged  by  the 
Persians,  and  numerous  seditions  arose  to  disturb  his  peace. 
At  last,  Heraclius,  governor  of  Africa,  sent  his  son  against 
him  with  a  fleet,  which  quickly  arrived  at  Constantinople. 
The  emperor,  forsaken  by  his  people,  on  whom  he  had  inflict- 
ed all  manner  of  cruelties,  was  soon  beheaded,  and  his  body 
was  treated  with  the  greatest  indignity. 


76  MODERN    HISTORY, — PERIOD  III. 

§  The  cruelty  of  Phocas  towards  the  family  of  his  predecessoi 
knew  no  bounds.  He  finally  caused  the  innocent  empress,  Constan- 
tina,  and  her  three  daughters,  to  be  executed  on  the  same  spot  where 
her  husband  and  sons  had  suffered,  three  years  before. 

10.  Heraclius  I.,  was  crowned  610  A.  C.     His  reign  ex- 
tended several  years  into  the  next  succeeding  period.     The 
Persians  ravaged  his  empire ;  but  terribly  defeating  them  in 
six  successive  campaigns,  he  brought  them  to  a  peace.     He 
reigned  more  than  thirty  years. 

During  the  last  part  of  his  reign,  the  foundation  was  laid  of  the 
caliphate  of  the  Saracens,  under  the  impostor  Mahomet,  whose  his- 
tory will  claim  our  attention  at  the  beginning  of  the  next  period. 

KINGDOM  OF  ITALY. 

11.  The  kingdom  which  was  established  on  the  ruins  of 
the  Western  Empire  of  the  Romans,  is  sometimes  called  the 
KINGDOM  OF  ITALY.     That  country  was  held  and  governed, 
for  the  most  part,  by  its  northern  conquerors,  through  the 
space   of  nearly  three  hundred  years.     During  this   time, 
however,  there  were  several  transfers  of  the  sovereignty,  from 
one  of  the  barbarous  tribes  to  another.     The  Heruli,  who 
conquered  the  country  in  476,  held  it  till  493.     It  then  passed 
from  their  hands  into  the  possession  of  the  Goths,  or  Ostro- 
goths, who  held  it  till  the  year  568,  when  the  Lombards  seiz- 
ed and  conquered  the  country.     They  were  masters  of  the 
greatest  portion  of  it,  a  little  more  than  two  centuries.     The 
period  of  which  we  treat,  will  carry  the  history  of  Italy  only 
through  a  part  of  the  above  named  space  of  time. 

12.  The  kingdom  of  the  Heruli  in  Italy,  was  of  short  con- 
tinuance.   Odoacer,  their  king,  reigned  thirteen  years  without 
opposition  ;  but  at  the  conclusion  of  that  period,  Theodoric, 
king  of  the  Ostrogoths,  or  Eastern  Goths,  invaded  Italy,  and 
after  a  struggle  of  four  years,  defeated  and  slew  Odoacer, 
usurping  his  dominions,  493  A.  C. 

§  In  the  year  489,  Theodoric  twice  overcame  Odoacer  in  battle ;  but 
being  betrayed  by  one  of  his  general  officers,  he  retired  to  Pavia, 
where  he  was  besieged  by  Odoacer.  In  his  distress,  Theodoric  called 
in  the  assistance  of  the  Visogoths,  and  gained  a  third  victory  in  490. 
Odoacer,  shutting  himself  up  in  Ravenna,  vigorously  defended  the 
place  for  three  years.  He  was  at  last  forced  to  enter  into  a  treaty 
with  Theodoric,  and  obtained  a  stipulation  that  his  life  should  be 
spared.  The  Gothic  monarch,  however,  perfidiously  caused  him  tc 
be  assassinated. 


KINGDOM    OF    ITALY.  77 

The  kingdom  of  the  Ostrogoths  (eastern  Goths) 
began,  493.  Theodoric,  (commonly  surnamed  the  great,) 
their  king,  was  now  acknowledged  the  sovereign  of  the  coun- 
try, and  fixed  his  residence  at  Ravenna.  He  was  an  Arian 
in  principle,  but  protected  the  Catholics.  He  reigned  about 
thirty-three  years.  His  administration  of  government  showed 
him  to  be  an  able  prince.  The  people  were  probably  bene- 
fitted  by  a  change  of  masters. 

§  Theodoric,  at  the  age  of  six  years,  was  given  as  a  hostage  to  Leo 
1.  and  remained  thirteen  years  at  Constantinople.  He  succeeded 
his  father  in  Pannonia  in  475.  His  success  in  his  invasion  of 
Italy,  has  already  been  mentioned.  After  a  few  years,  his  dominions 
consisted  not  only  of  Italy,  and  Sicily,  but  also  of  Dalmatia, 
Noricum,  the  two  Rhcetias,  Pannonia,  and  Provence.  The  latter 
part  of  his  reign  was  tarnished  by  cruelty  and  suspicion.  In 
the  indulgence  of  these  propensities,  he  put  to  death  the  celebrated 
Boethius. 

13.  The  successors  of  Theodoric,  in  the  Gothic  kingdom 
of  Italy,  were  seven  in  number.     It  was  during  the  reign  of 
several  of  these  monarchs,  that  the  events  already  related  re- 
specting the  invasion  and  conquest  of  Italy  by  Belisarius  and 
Narses,  occurred.     The  best  known  of  the  Gothic  kings  of 
this  country  ar-e  Theodotus,  Vitiges,  and  Totila.     After  the 
death  of  Theias,  the  last  of  them,  the  Goths  endeavoured, 
under  several  leaders,  to  re-establish   their  dominions,  but 
were  subdued  by  the  eunuch,  Narses,  who  administered  the 
government  as  duke,  till  567  A.  C. 

14.  The  kingdom  of  the  Lombards    followed,    in  568 
A.  C.  Alboin,  king  of  this  people,  was  invited  into  Italy  by 
Narses,  to  avenge  the  insult  he  received  from  the  emperor, 
Justin  II.,  in  his  recall.     Alboin  penetrated  into  Italy,  and 
was  proclaimed  its  king  at  the  date  above  mentioned.     He 
reigned  but  a  short  time. 

§  His  end  was  tragical,  as  it  perhaps  deserved  to  be.  Having  killed 
Cimimund,  king  of  the  Gepidre,  in  a  single  combat,  he  married  Ro- 
semond,  that  king's  beautiful  daughter,  and  made  a  drinking  cup  of 
her  father's  skull,  out  of  which  he  obliged  his  queen  to  drink.  She 
dissembled  her  indignant  feelings,  but  applied  to  two  officers  for  re- 
venge. One  of  them  had  been  affronted  by  the  king,  and  the  other 
she  knew  was  enamoured  of  her  person.  These  she  admitted  into 
the  chamber  where  the  king  slept,  who  was  Immediately  murdered, 
while  she  contrived  to  effect  her  escape  to  Ravenna. 

15.  During  the  remainder  of  the   present  period,  there 
were  four  kings,  the  successors  of  Alboin,  but  none  of  them 

7* 


7S  MODERN    HISTORY. — PERIOD  III. 

were  distinguished.  An  anarchy,  of  ten  year's  continuance 
took  place  after  the  death  of  one  of  the  kings,  during  which 
Italy  was  governed  by  thirty  dukes. 

§  Autharis,  one  of  the  kings,  after  his  accession,  in  584,  confirmed 

the  dukes  in  their  authority,  on  condition  of  their  paying  him  half 

of  their  revenues,  and  serving  under  his  command  in  times  of  war, 

with  troops  levied  within  their  respective  jurisdictions.    This  is  con- 

idered  by  some,  as  the  origin  of  the  feudal  system. 

PERSIA. 

16.  Seven   kings   in  succession,  swayed   the  sceptre  of 
PERSIA  during  this  period.     Of  these,  Chosroes  II.,  the  great, 
was  the  most  conspicuous.     During  much  of  the  time,  the 
Persians  were  at  war  with  the  Romans.     Sanguinary  battles 
were  fought,  and  provinces  were  taken  and  retaken.     The 
Romans  at  last  penetrated  into  Persia. 

§  Chosroes  II.  was  a  warrior.  He  repeatedly  overcame  the  Roman 
generals,  and  was  as  often,  perhaps,  overcome.  In  one  instance, 
however,  he  cut  to  pieces  an  army  of  50,000.  The  Greek  histo- 
rians, who  probably  exaggerate  the  matter,  represent  him  as  a  fe- 
rocious monster.  He  doubtless  had  the  vices  of  his  predecessors, 
but  surpassed  them  in  great  qualities.  He  reigned  nearly  fifty  years. 

Chosroes  III.,  son  of  Hormisdas,  possessed  the  hateful  character 
of  a  parricide.  He  caused  his  father  to  be  beaten  to  death.  He  re- 
ceived, however,  a  terrible  retribution,  in  the  treatment  he  expe- 
rienced from  his  own  son.  Siroes,  the  eldest  of  his  sons,  having  re- 
volted, and  secured  the  kingdom,  slew  all  his  brothers  in  his  father's 
presence,  cast  the  latter  into  a  prison,  where  he  caused  him  to  expire 
in  insufferable  torture,  by  being  incessantly  pricked  with  the  points 
of  arrows. 

Soon  after  the  expiration  of  the  present  period,  Persia  waa 
invaded  by  the  Saracens,  and  it  was  not  long  before  it  be- 
came a  part  of  the  empire  of  the  Caliphs. 

CHINA. 

17.  In  the  history  of  CHINA  during  this  period,  we  find 
four  dynasties  of  its  emperors,  from  the  9th  to  the  12th  in- 
clusive.    They  were  of  short  continuance,  and  included  the 
reigns  of  seventeen  sovereigns.     Several  of  these  appear  to 
have  been  wise  and  virtuous  men.     In  the  reign  of  Yang-ti, 
in  605,  many  canals  were  cut  through  the  empire,  by  which 
several  rivers  were  united,  and  great  facility  given  to  com- 
merce. 

§  One  of  the  sovereigns  of  the  twelfth  dynasty,  is  said  to  have  had  a 
very  solid,  penetrating  mind.  He  loved  his  people,  and  did  every 


SPAIN.  79 

thing  in  his  power  to  promote  their  happiness.  He  built  public 
granaries,  which  were  every  year  filled  with  rice  and  corn,  by  the 
opulent,  to  be  distributed  among  the  poor  in  times  of  scarcity.  He 
improved  their  music  and  eloquence.  Against  corrupt  judges,  he 
was  always  inexorable  ;  and  excluded  from  all  public  employments, 
those  whose  rank  in  life  did  not  render  them  respectable. 

SPAIN. 

Before  the  Empire  of  the  West  was  finally  subverted  by  the 
Northern  Barbarians,  some  of  the  nations  which  once  constituted  it, 
had  been  lost  to  the  empire.  This  was  the  case,  particularly,  with 
Spain  and  Britain.  Italy,  the  seat  of  the  empire,  and  according  to 
the  best  accounts,  France,  may  date  their  separate  existence,  only 
from  the  annihilation  of  the  Roman  power.  After  that  event,  these 
several  nations,  and  indeed  all  the  rest  of  western  Europe,  were  de- 
tached from  one  another,  and  held  by  the  native  inhabitants,  or  go- 
verned by  different  tribes  of  the  barbarians  of  the  north.  We  must 
therefore  consider  them  in  their  separate  sovereignties,  according  to 
the  eras  in  which  they  began  to  exist  independently.  We  begin 
with  Spain. 

18.  SPAIN,  while  constituting  a  portion  of  the  Roman 
empire,  was  invaded  by  the  Suevi,  the  Alains,  and  the  Van- 
dals, about  406  years  A.C.,  and  mostly  subdued  by  these  bar- 
barous tribes.  Expelling  the  Romans,  they  divided  the 
country,  a  part  of  which,  viz.  Vandalasia,  or  Andalusia,  still 
bears  the  name  of  one  of  these  tribes,  (the  Vandals.) 

The  Alains,  in  418,  were  mostly  exterminated  by  the  Os- 
trogoths. The  Suevi  remained  in  the  possession  of  the  coun- 
try, under  a  succession  of  their  kings,  till  the  year  585.  The 
Vandals  had  early,  viz.  in  427,  passed  into  Africa,  and  settled 
there,  upon  the  invitation  of  Count  Boniface. 

The  Visogoths,  who  entered  Spain  in  531,  conquered  the 
greatest  part  of  the  country  by  the  year  585,  and  erected  a 
monarchy,  which  existed  till  712,  when  they  were  subdued  by 
the  Saracens,  or  Moors. 

§  Spain  was  anciently  called  Hesperia  or  Western,  on  account  of  its 
situation,  as  being  the  extreme  west  known  to  the  ancients.  It  was 
called  also  Iberia,  from  the  river  Iber,  now  the  Ebro.  The  name 
Hispania,  or  Spain,  is  said  to  be  derived  from  a  Phoenician  word, 
Sphavisa,  which  means,  abounding  with  rabbits ;  these  animals,  ac- 
cording to  Strabo,  being  very  numerous  in  Spain. 

Its  original  inhabitants  were  Celtes,  of  the  same  race  with  those 
of  France,  and  who  passed  over  from  that  country  into  Spain.  The 
fertility  of  the  soil,  induced  the  Phoenicians,  who  were  the  earliest 
navigators,  to  open  a  trade  with  Spain,  and  they  built  the  city  of 
tvades.  now  Cadiz.  This  was  about  900  years  B.  C. 


80  MODERN  HISTORY. — PERIOD  III. 

This  country  has  been  often  conquered,  both  in  ancient  and  more 
modern  times.  About  500  years  B.*C.,  it  was  in  part  subjugated  by 
the  Carthaginians,  who  held  their  conquest  three  centuries.  The 
Romans  then  succeeded  as  masters,  in  whose  power  it  remained  six 
hundred  years.  From  the  Romans,  as  we  have  already  learned,  it 
was  wrested  by  the  northern  barbarians.  These,  as  we  shall  see,  in 
the  next  Period,  are  destined  to  be  displaced  by  the  followers  of 
Mahomet. 

It  is  deemed  unnecessary  to  detail  any  events  under  the  kings  oi 
the  barbarous  tribes  who  governed  Spain,  as  they  possess  scarcely 
any  interest.  Euric  may  he  considered  as  the  founder  of  the  Gothic 
monarchy  of  this  country. 

FRANCE. 

19.  FRANCE,  anciently  called  Gaul,  immediately  previous* 
to  the  dissolution  of  the  Roman  Empire  of  the  West,  was  di- 
vided between  the  Romans,  Visogoths,  Franks,  and  Burgun- 
dians.  A  few  years  after  that  event,  viz.  581  A.  C.,  Clovis, 
king  of  the  Franks,  obtained,  by  degrees,  possession  of  the 
country.  He  is  therefore  considered  the  true  founder  of  the 
French  monarchy,  as  before  him,  the  Franks  held  only  a  few 
provinces  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Rhine.  From  this  people, 
ancient  Gaul,  obtained  the  name  of  France.  The  kings  who 
have  reigned  in  France,  seem  to  be  divided  into  four  dynas- 
ties, viz.  the  Merovingian,  the  Carlovingian,  the  Capetian,  and 
the  Bourbon.  The  race  of  which  we  are  now  speaking,  the 
first  in  order,  derived  its  name  from  Merovoeus,  the  grand- 
father of  Clovis,  who  reigned  over  that  portion  of  the  Franks, 
who  had  obtained,  in  some  former  age,  a  settlement  in  the 
country.  The  Merovingian  dynasty  continued  till  752. 

§  The  Franks  were  supposed  to  have  been  of  German  origin,  a« 
to  have  inhabited  the  country  between  the  Rhine  and  the  Weser, 
which  now  forms  part  of  Holland  and  Westphalia.  Some  believe 
them  to  have  consisted  of  a  mixed  multitude  of  various  tribes,  living 
beyond  (he  Rhine,  who,  when  Germany  was  invaded  by  the  Romans, 
united  in  defence  of  their  common  liberty,  and  styled  themselves 
Franks,  i.  e.  free  men.  Of  the  clans  into  which  they  were  divided, 
the  Salii,  and  Ansuarii,  were  the  most  considerable.  Between  the 
years  234  and  254,  they  made  an  irruption  into  Gaul,  but  were  sig- 
nally overthrown  by  the  Romans  under  Aurelian,  then  a  military 
tribune.  They  finally  obtained  a  footing  in  that  country,  about  the 
year  284  A.  C. 

Succeeding  this  event,  they  had  many  contentions  with  the  Romans, 
in  which  they  often  conquered,  and  were,  oftener,  perhaps,  defeated. 
By  the  time,  however,  in  which  the  emperor  Constans  reigned,  they 
were  generally  at  peace  with  the  Romans,  and  several  of  them  en- 


ENGLAND.  81 

j  oyed  places  of  distinction  in  the  armies  and  at  court.  The  petty 
sovereigns  who  preceded  Clovis,  were  Pharamond,  who  made  the  Last 
settlement  of  the  Franks  in  Gaul,  Clodio,  Merovceus,  and  Childericl. 

Clovis  made  many  conquests :  first  over  the  Romans  in  the  battle 
of  Soissons:  fhen  over  the  king  of  Thuringia,  who  had  invaded  his 
dominions  ;  afterwards  over  the  Germans  in  the  battle  of  Tolbiac  ; 
and  finally  over  the  Visogoths  under  Alaric,  when  he  subdued  all  the 
south  of  Gaul.  In  his  contest  with  the  Germans,  496  A.  C.,  he  in- 
voked the  God  of  Clotilda,  a  Christian  princess,  whom  he  had  mar 
ried  three  years  before.  In  consequence  of  his  victory,  he  became 
professedly  a  believer,  and  together  with  three  thousand  of  his  sub- 
jects, was  baptised  on  Christmas-day,  the  same  year. 

About  thirteen  years  afterwards,  he  cruelly  murdered  most  of  his 
relatives,  which  shewed  how  little  influence  Christianity  had  over 
him.  Clovis  made  Paris  the  seat  of  his  kingdom.  He  died,  511. 

Clovis  was  followed  by  a  series  of  obscure  kings,  through 
the  remainder  of  this  period.  They  need  not,  therefore,  be 
mentioned  particularly.  They  were,  in  general,  weak  and 
wicked,  and  plunged  the  nation  into  deeper  barbarism  than 
it  was  under  during  the  Roman  dominion. 

ENGLAND. 

20.  ENGLAND,  whose  ancient  name  was  Britain,  had  been 
abandoned  by  the  Romans  fifty  years,  when  the  Empire  of  the 
West  was  subverted.  In  the  mean  time,  the  inhabitants,  who 
were  left  defenceless,  suffered  from  the  encroachments  of  their 
northern  neighbours,  thePicts  and  Scots,  and  in  their  distress, 
solicited  several  of  the  warlike  tribes  of  the  continent,  for  assist- 
ance. The  Jutes  first  arrived  for  that  purpose.  These  were 
soon  followed  by  the  Angles  and  Saxons,  in  451,  from  the 
shores  of  the  Baltic.  The  object  was  soon  accomplished,  for 
which  the  Britons  had  invited  them  into  their  country.  Their 
enemy  was  repulsed ;  but  they  found  a  more  formidable  ene- 
my in  their  protectors  themselves. 

The  Saxons,  procuring  large  reinforcements  from  Germany, 
turned  their  arms  against  the  Britons,  and  took  possession  of 
the  country.  It  was  not,  however,  without  a  long  and  severe 
struggle,  of  nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty  years,  that  this  con- 
quest was  achieved.  The  result  was,  the  establishment  of 
seven  distinct  states,  or  sovereignties,  which  were  governed, 
more  than  two  hundred  years,  by  their  respective  kings. 
These  states  are  usually  called  the  Heptarchy. 

§  The  island  of  Britain,  before  it  was  known  to  the  Romans,  was 
inhabited  by  a  very  rude  and  uncivilized  people.  They  were  either 


82  MODERN  HISTORY. — PERIOD  III. 

naked,  or  clothed  only  with  the  skins  of  beasts,  having  th<  bodies 
painted  with  various  colours.  Hence  is  supposed  to  be  t\  *  origin 
of  the  name,  Britain,  which  is  derived  from  a  British  word,  brit,  sig- 
nifying painted.  The  name  England  was  given  to  the  couwry,  from 
the  Angles,  a  tribe  of  those  continental  nations,  who  conquered  it  in 
the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries. 

The  island  was  originally  settled,  in  all  probability,  by  a  colony 
from  Gaul,  who  were  called  Celtes  or  Gaels,  the  remains  of  whom 
are  chiefly  in  Wales,  in  the  highlands  of  Scotland,  and  in  the  north 
of  Ireland.  The  period  of  their  settlement  is  quite  uncertain.  The 
Phoenicians,  indeed,  traded  very  early  with  the  inhabitants  of  Corn- 
wall, for  copper  and  tin,  but  they  were  unacquainted  with  the  inte- 
rior of  the  country.  The  Romans  have  given  us  the  earliest  authen- 
tic information  respecting  it.  ,  This  commences  with  the  first  inva- 
sion by  Julius  Caisar,  55  B.  C. 

Cffisar  began  the  dominion  of  the  Romans  in  Britain ;  but  the 
island  was  subdued,  only  by  degrees,  under  the  Roman  leaders  who 
succeeded  him.  Forty-three  years  A.  C.,  it  was  again  invaded  by 
the  emperor  Claudius,  whose  general,  Ostorius,  defeated  Caractacus, 
king  of  the  Britons,  took  him  prisoner,  and  sent  him  to  Rome}  in  51. 
In  the  reign  of  Nero,  61  A.  C.,  Suetonius  defeated  Boadicea,  queen  of 
the  Iceni,  (inhabitants  of  Norfolk  and  Suffolk,)  slaying  80,000  men 
in  a  single  battle.  Boadicea,  however,  had  previously  obtained 
several  victories  over  the  Romans,  by  her  gallant  conduct.  She  com- 
mitted suicide,  rather  than  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  conqueror. 

Agricola,  who  governed  Britain  in  the  reigns  of  Titus,  Vespasian, 
and  Domitian,  formed  a  regular  plan  for  subduing  the  whole  island, 
and  rendering  the  acquisition  advantageous  to  the  conquerors.  FOJ 
this  purpose  he  penetrated  into  Caledonia,  (Scotland,)  defeated  the 
natives  in  various  encounters,  and  established  a  chain  of  forts  be- 
tween the  Friths  of  Clyde  and  Forth. 

Suhdirng  most  of  the  island,  he  soon  diffused  among  the  Britons  a 
knowledge  of  the  arts  of  peace.  He  introduced  among  them,  laws 
and  government;  taught  them  to  value  the  conveniences  of  life, 
and  reconciled  them  to  the  language  and  manners  of  their  masters. 

To  protect  the  southern  inhabitants  against  the  Scots,  Adrian,  in 
121,  built  a  wall  in  the  north  part  of  Britain,  between  the  river 
Tyne,  and  the  Frith  of  Solway.  This  was  afterwards  strengthened 
with  new  fortifications,  by  Severus,  in  208.  From  this  period,  till 
the  abandonment  of  Britain  by  the  Romans,  in  426,  the  inhabitants 
enjoyed  uninterrupted  tranquillity. 

As  has  been  already  mentioned,  the  Romanized  Britons,  when  left  by 
(heir  masters,  were  thrown  into  a  defenceless  state.  Their  long  peace 
had  somewhat  enervated  them,  and  they  were  unable  to  resist  the 
attacks  of  their  barbarous  neighbours  on  the  north.  It  was  Vorti- 
gern,  one  of  their  kings,  who  invited  the  German  tribes  to  his  pro 
tection.  The  latter  gladly  availed  themselves  of  the  opportunity  t 
visit  a  country  long  known  to  them  in  their  piratical  voyages  to  its 
coasts.  Hengist  and  Horsa,  two  brothers,  were  their  leaders  on  thi: 


DISTINGUISHED  CHARACTERS.  83 

occasion,  and  with  only  1600  warriors,  in  conjunction  with  the 
South  Britons,  they  compelled  the  Scots  to  retire  to  their  mountains. 
After  the  Saxons,  from  being  the  protectors,  had  become  the  con- 
querors of  Britain,  and  founded  the  Heptarchy,  history  records 
nothing  that  is  very  interesting  respecting  them,  until  the  time  of 
Egbert  the  Great,  who  became  sole  king  of  England,  in  827.  We 
may  therefore  pass  over  the  English  history,  until  that  period,  only 
remarking  that  the  Saxons,  who  were  partially  acquainted  with 
Christianity  before,  were  more  fully  converted  to  the  faith,  by  the 
labours  of  the  monk  Augustin,  in  597. 

Distinguished  Characters  in  Period  III. 

1.  Proclus,  a  learned  Platonist  and  unbeliever 

2.  Boethius,  a  Roman  poet,  and  Platonic  philospher. 

3.  Procopius,  a  Roman  historian — sometimes  denominated 
the  last  of  the  classic  writers. 

4.  Cassiodorus,  the  historian  of  Ravenna,  and  tutor  to 
Theodoric,  the  Gothic  king. 

5.  Belisarius,  an  heroic  and  successful   general   of  Jus- 
tinian. 

6.  Gildas,  the  most  ancient  British  writer  extant. 

1.  Proclus  was  born  at  Constantinople,  in  410,  and  died  in  485 
A.  C.     He  was  a  philospher  among  the  later  Platonists.    In  the 
chair  of  the  academy,  he  taught  philosophy  with  great  reputation. 
Such  was  his  industry,  that  frequently,  in  the  same  day,  he  pro- 
nounced five  lessons,  and  composed  seven  hundred  lines.     "  His  sa- 
gacious  mind,"  says  Gibbon,  "  explored  the  deepest  questions  of 
morals  and  metaphysics,  and  he  ventured  to  urge  eighteen  argu- 
ments against  the  Christian  doctrine  of  the  creation  of  the  world." 
This,  as  might  have  been  expected,  proved  to  be  labour  hi  vain 
The  foundations  of  truth  can  be  overturned  by  no  human  sagacity, 
however  great. 

2.  Boethius,  who  was  distinguished  both  as  a  poetic  and  prose 
writer,  was  descended  from  one  of  the  noblest  families  of  Rome. 
In  consequence  of  having  remonstrated,  with  great  spirit,  against  the 
tyranny  of  Theodoric,  he  was  beheaded  in  prison,  by  the  command 
of  that  king,  in  524.     Boethius  wrote  many  philosophical  works, 
the  greater  part  according  to  the  manner  of  the  logicians ;  but  his 
ethic  composition,  concerning  the  "Consolation  of  Philosophy," 
is  his  chief  performance,  and  has  always  been  justly  admired, 
both  in  respect  to  the  matter  and  the  style.    Mr.  Harris,  in  his 
"  Hermes,"  observes,  that,  "  with  Boethius,  the  last  remain?  of  Ro- 
man dignity  may  be  said  to  have  sunk  in  the  western  world :"  and 
Mosheim  testifies,  that  he  "  shone  with  the  brightest  lustre,  as  a 
philosopher,  an  orator,  a  poet,  arid  a  divine ;  and,  both  in  elegance 
and  subtilty  of  genius,  had  no  equal  in  the  sixth  century." 

3.  Procopius  belonged  to  Caasarea,  in  Palestine,  and  flourished  in 
£34.     He  was  secretary  to  Belisarius,  whom  he  greatly  celebrated 


84  MODERN    HISTORY,      PERIOD       TV. 

in  his  History  of  the  Reign  of  Justinian.  This  history  is  dividec 
into  eight  books  ;  two  of  which  give  an  account  of  the  Persian  war, 
two  of  the  Vandals,  and  four  of  the  Goths,  to  the  year  553  ;  which 
was  afterwards  continued  in  five  books,  by  Agalthias,  till  559.  The 
historian  is  thought  to  be  too  severe  upon  the  emperor,  though  his 
performance,  in  other  respects,  has  a  high  character.  Some  con- 
sider him  as  the  last  of  the  Roman  classic  authors. 

4.  Cassiodorus  was  a  man  of  eminence,  in  many  respects,  and 
called,  by  way  of  distinction,  "  the  senator."     He  united  the  states- 
man and  author  in  his  character.     He  was  born  in  Italy,  about  463, 
and  died  at  near  one  hundred  years  of  age.     Mis  writings  relate 
chiefly  to  history,  theology,  and  criticism.     He  was  inferior  in  abili- 
ties to  Boethius,  but  still  was  very  respectable. 

5.  Belisarias  was  truly  a  Roman  in  spirit,  and  the  greatest  gene- 
ral of  his  age.     His  life  and  exploits  have  been  already  told  us,  as 
particularly  as  this  work  will  admit.    In  a  degenerate  and  effemi- 
nate age,  he  put  forth  an  energy,  and  acquired  a  fame  in  war,  which 
would  bear  a  comparison  with  the  first  leaders  of  the  most  favoured 
days  of  the  republic.     He  was,  however,  as  distinguished  by  his 
misfortunes  as  he  was  by  his  victories,  owing  to  the  ingratitude  of 
Justinian;  and  he  spent  his  last  days,  it  is  said,  under  the  frown  of 
his  master,  and,  as  some  report,  in  actual  want. 

6.  Gildas  was  a  native  of  Wales.     He  was  surnamed,  The  Wise. 
As  the  most  ancient  of  the  British  writers,  he  deserves  a  notice 
here.     His  famous  "  Epistle,"  was  written  A.  C.  560,  and  is  a  most 
severe  censure  of  the  depravity  of  the  Britons  at  that  time.     He 
has  some  things  well  calculated  to  invite  the  attention  of  the  learned. 


PERIOD  IV. 

The  Period  of  the  establishment  of  the  Saracen  Domi- 
nion ;  extending  from  the  flight  of  Mahomet,  622  years 
A,  C.  to  the  crowning  of  Charlemagne,  at  Rome,  800 
years  A.  C. 

ARABS  OR  SARACENS. 

During  this  period,  the  darkness  in  Europe  very  much  increased,  and 
the  times  exhibited  'a  melancholy  contrast  to  the  former  splendid 
eras  of  Grecian  and  Roman  refinement  and  literature.  But  while 
the  human  mind  sunk  in  Europe,  it  rose  in  the  East,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Saracens,  where  it  was  for  a  short  time  displayed, 
not  only  in  the  energies  of  a  war]  ike  superstition,  but,  at  length,  in 
the  cultivation  of  the  arts  and  learning.  The  history  of  this  people  is 
connected  with  a  remarkable  change  in  the  aspect  of  human  affairs. 
SEC.  1.  The  Arabs,  in  all  ages,  have  lived  as  wander- 
ers, in  a  state  of  independence,  and  have  never  been  sub- 
dued by  any  of  the  great  conquerors  of  the  world,  though  al- 
most always  at  war  with  their  neighbours.  They  derive 

1 


ARABS  OR  SARACENS.  85 

(heir  origin  from  Tshmael,  and,  before  the  time  of  Mahomet, 
tiiev  professed  a  religion  which  was  a  mixture  of  idolatry  and 

Judaism. 

The  name  Saracen,  which  wras  at  length  applied  to  most 
of  the  Arabian  nations,  is  derived  from  a  tribe  that  occupied 
the  north-western  part  of  the  country.  This  people,  before 
the  time  already  referred  to,  had  forsaken  their  deserts,  and 
made  themselves  useful  or  formidable  (according  as  their  ser- 
vices were  purchased  or  neglected)  to  the  respective  empires 
of  Rome  and  Persia. 

• 

Mecca,  on  the  Red  Sea,  in  569,  gave  birth  to  Mahomet, 
(or  Mohammed.)  their  pretended  prophet.  In  609,  when  he 
was  about  40  years  old,  he  began  to  concert  a  system  of  mea- 
sures, the  issue  of  which,  was  the  establishment  of  a  new  re- 
ligion in  the  world,  and  of  an  empire,  which,  spreading  over 
many  countries,  lasted  more  than  six  centuries.  The  reli- 
gion still  remains. 

His  impostures  were  not,  at  first,  well  received.  The  citi- 
zens of  Mecca,  even,  opposed  them.  Forsaking  his  native 
city,  where  his  life  was  in  jeopardy,  he  fled  to  Medina,  at  the 
epoch  called  by  the  Mahometans,  the  hegira,  or  flight,  which 
was  in  the  year  622,  and  the  54th  year  of  Mahomet's  age. 
By  the  aid  of  his  disciples  at  Medina,  he  returned  to  Mecca 
as  a  conqueror,  and  making  numerous  proselytes,  he  soon 
became  master  of  Arabia  and  Syria,  was  saluted  king  in  627, 
and,  in  the  midst  of  his  successes,  died  suddenly  in  632.  He 
left  two  branches  of  his  family,  who  became  powerful  caliphs 
of  Persia  and  Egypt. 

§  As  Mahomet  will  be  spoken  of  again,  as  one  of  the  distinguished 
characters  of  this  period,  it  will  be  unnecessary  to  add  many  par- 
ticulars here,  respecting  either  his  life,  or  the  religion  of  which  lie 
was  the  founder.  Some  historians  are  of  the  opinion,  that  he  at- 
tempted only  an  inconsiderable  change  in  the  creed  of  his  coun- 
trymen, and  that  the  mighty  revolution  which  followed' his  efforts, 
was,  in  respect  to  Arabia,  almost  wholly  political. 

In  his  flight,  this  bold  leader  gained  Medina  with  much  difficulty, 
but  being  well  received,  he  made  it  the  place  of  his  future  residence. 
Besides  those  who  fled  with  him,  and  shared  his  fate,  he  was  soon 
followed  and  joined  by  many  of  the  principal  citizens  of  Mecca. 
Amongst  his  followers  were  Amrou,  the  future  conqueror  of  Egypt ; 
Saad,  who  afterwards  overran  Persia ;  Obeidah,  whose  fortune  it 
was  to  subdue  Syria  and  Palestine  ;  and  the  very  celebrated  Kaled 
Bbsn  al  Walid.  " 

8 


86  MODERN    HISTORY PERIOD  IV. 

Though  Mahomet  met  with  some  reverses  at  first,  he  was  no 
sooner  aided  by  such  men  as  Amrou  and  Kaled,  than  he  overthrew 
whatever  opposed  him.  After  the  submission  of  Arabia  to  his  arms, 
the  Arabs  and  Greeks  were  brought  into  contact ;  and  the  former 
were  prepared  to  encroach  on  the  remnant  of  the  Roman  empire. 

Mahomet  owed  his  success,  in  part,  to  several  moral  causes,  origi- 
nating in  the  state  of  society ;  such  as  the  corruption  of  the  true  re- 
ligion, the  ignorance  of  mankind,  and  the  prevailing  licentiousness 
of  the  times — also  to  the  nature  of  his  doctrines,  which,  among  other 
things,  promising  a  sensual  heaven,  were  suited  to  the  depravity  of 
the  heart,  and  the  taste  of  the  voluptuous  Asiatics ;  and,  not  least  of 
all,  to  powerful  political  revolutions.  It  happened  the  same  year  in 
which  Mahomet  left  Mecca,  that  a  destructive  war,  as  already  men- 
tioned, took  place  between  the  Eastern  empire  and  Persia.  Hera- 
clius,  the  emperor,  in  six  campaigns,  penetrated  to  the  heart  of  the 
Persian  dominions,  almost  destroying  that  power,  and  greatly  weak- 
ening his  own.  Neither  of  them,  therefore,  were  in  a  condition  to 
resist  the  torrent,  of  Arabian  fanaticism.  Such  was  the  prospect  of 
Mahometanism,  when,  its  author  met  his  fate. 

The  followers  of  this  impostor,  term  their  religion  Islam, 
and  themselves  Musslemen,  or  Moslems,  i.  e.  true  believers. 
The  book  containing  their  creed,  which  was  produced  by 
Mahomet,  in  successive  portions,  and  which  he  pretended  t<? 
derive  from  the  angel  Gabriel,  is  called  the  Koran.  Theii 
priests  are  called  moolahs  or  imans.  Mahomet  propagated 
his  religion  by  the  sword,  and  taught,  that  to  profess  any 
other  religion,  was  a  just  cause  of  hatred,  and  even  of  murder. 

2.  The  successors  of  Mahomet,  in  the  dominion  which  he 
established,  are  called  Caliphs,  a  word  which  means  suc- 
cessors, or  vicars.  The  first  caliph  was  Abu-beker,  the  fa- 
ther of  one  of  the  wives  of  Mahomet.  It  is  said  that  the  im- 
postor, on  his  death-bed,  appointed  Ali,  his  son-in-law,  as  hi? 
successor,  but  the  influence  of  Abu-bekor  with  the  arm}7  was 
such,  that  lie,  by  this  means,  secured  the  caliphate. 

Thus  the  foundation  was  laid  for  a  mighty  contention, 
and  over  the  body  of  Mahomet  arose  that  schism,  which,  at 
this  distant  period,  weakens  the  power  of  Mahometanism,  and 
may  eventually  terminate  its  very  existence.  The  sects  are 
two,  and  the  ground  of  dispute  is  the  right  of  succession  ro 
Mahomet.  Their  names  are  Sheas  or  Shiites,  and  the  Son- 
nites.  The  Sheas,  who  believe  in  Ali,  as  the  true  successor, 
are  chiefly  Persians.  The  Sonnites,  who  believe  in  Abu- 
beker,  consist  of  the  inhabitants  of  East  Persia,  Arabia,  Tur- 


ARABS  OR  SARACENS.  87 

k^y,  &c.    The  Sonnites  receive  the  Koran  only,  whereas  the 
Sheas  adopt  the  traditions  also. 

In  respect  to  conquest,  Abu-beker  pursued  the  course  of 
Mahomet,  and,  with  the  aid  of  his  general,  Kaled,  obtained 
an  important  victory  over  the  emperor  Heraclius,  and  en- 
larged the  Saracen  dominion.  He  died  in  the  third  year  of 
his  reign,  having  bequeathed  the  sceptre  to  Omar. 

§  When  the  sceptre  was  offered  to  Omar,  he  modestly  observed, 
"  that  he  had  no  occasion  for  the  place."  "  But  the  place  lias  occa- 
sion for  you, "replied  Abu-beker.  He  died;  praying  that  the  God  of 
Mahomet  would  ratify  his  choice.  It  was  so  far  regarded  by  AH, 
his  rival,  that  the  latter  treated  him  with  the  respect  due  to  a  consti- 
tuted superior. 

Omar  commenced  his  reign  in  633.  In  one  campaign  he 
wrested  from  the  Greek  empire,  Syria,  Phoenicia,  Mesopo- 
tamia, and  Chaldea.  In  the  next  campaign,  the  whole  em- 
pire of  Persia  was  brought  under  the  Mahometan  yoke. 
Egypt,  Lyhia,  and  Numidia,  were  at  the  same  time  con- 
quered by  the  generals  of  Omar. 

§  Amrou,  one  of  his  generals,  by  the  order  of  Omar,  destroyed  the 
famous  library  at  Alexandria,  consisting  of  700,000  volumes.  The 
order  of  Omar  betrayed  the  ignorance  of  a  savage,  and  the  illibera- 
lity  of  a  fanatic.  "  If,"  said  he  to  Amrou,  "  these  writings  agree 
with  the  Koran,  they  are  useless,  and  need  not  be  preserved ;  if 
they  disagree,  they  are  pernicious,  and  ought  to  be  destroyed."  Omar 
was  finally  assassinated. 

Othman  succeeded  Omar,  in  645.  He  added  Bactriana, 
and  a  part  of  Tartary,  to  the  Saracen  empire.  Upon  the 
death  of  Othman,  Ali,  the  son-in-law  of  Mahomet,  was  elect- 
ed to  the  caliphate.  His  name  is  still  revered  in  the  east,  and 
by  none  of  the  caliphs  was  he  excelled,  either  in  virtue  or 
courage.  After  a  si:  )rt  but  glorious  reign  of  five  years,  he 
was  assassinated  by  a  Mahometan  enthusiast,  or  reformer.  He 
had  removed  the  seat  of  the  caliphate  from  Mecca  to  Cuja,  on 
the  Euphrates. 

§Ali  married  Fatema.  the  daughter  of  Mahomet,  but  Ayesha,  the 
widow  of  the  prophet,  and  daughter  of  Abu-beker,  bore  an  immortal 
hatred  against  the  husband  and  posterity  of  Fatema.  In  a  battle 
which  Ali  fought  with  a  superior  number  of  rebels,  who  were  ani- 
mated by  the  counsels  of  Ayesha,  he  was  entirely  victorious. 
Ayesha,  it  is  -said,  had  seventy  men,  who  held  the  bridle  of  her 
camel,  successively  killed  or  wounded ;  and  the  cage  or  litter  in 
which  she  sat,  was  stuck  throughout  with  javelins  and  darts. 

3.  Within  less  than  half  a  century,  the  Saracens  reared  a 


88  MODERN    HISTORY. —  PERIOD  IV. 

powerful  empire,  and  were  formidable  to  all  the  nations 
around  them.  In  100  years,  their  dominion  extended  from 
India  to  the  Atlantic,  comprehending  Persia,  Syria,  Asia 
Minor,  Arabia,  and  other  regions  in  the  east,  as  also  Egypt, 
North  Africa,  and  Spain. 

Of  the  race  of  Omar,  already  mentioned,  there  were  nine- 
teen caliphs  who  reigned  in  succession ;  after  which,  began 
the  dynasty  of  the  Abassidae,  descended  from  Abbas,  tho 
uncle  of  Mahomet.  Almansor,  second  caliph  of  this  race, 
built  Bagdad,  and  made  it  the  seat  of  the  Saracen  dominion, 
in  762  A.  C.  He  introduced  the  culture  of  the  arts  and  sci- 
ences among  the  Saracens. 

§  It  was  during  the  reign  of  Almansor,  that  Abu  Hanifa,  the 
founder  of  the  first  of  the  four  sects  of  the  oonnites,  died  in  prison  at 
Bagdad.  He  had  been  confined  there  for  refusing  to  be  made  a 
judge,  declaring  that  he  had  rather  be  punished  by  men  than  by 
God.  Being  asked  why  he  declined  the  office,  he  replied,  "  If  I 
speak  the  truth,  I  am  unfit ;  but  if  I  tell  a  lie,  a  liar  is  not  fit  to  be  a 
judge."  It  is  said  that  he  read  over  the  Koran  7CGO  times,  while  he 
was  in  prison. 

Haroun  al  Kaschid,  a  caliph  who  ascended  the  throne  in 
785  A.  C..  and  was  contemporary  with  Charlemagne,  was  a 
famous  prince,  and  celebrated  patron  of  letters.  His  reign  is 
regarded  as  the  Augustan  age  of  Saracen  literature.  Many 
of  our  proverbs  arid  romances  are  to  be  referred  to  this  period. 
Al  Raschid  was  also  a  brave  and  victorious  sovereign,  and 
distinguished  by  equity  and  benevolence.  He  died  in  about 
809  A.  a 

The  sciences  to  which,  the  Arabians  chiefly  devoted  their 
attention,  were  medicine,  geome'-y,  and  astronomy.  Poetry, 
and  works  of  fiction,  especially  the  One  Thousand  and  One 
Nights, were  the  products  of  that  period.  Literature  was  cul- 
tivated also  in  Africa  and  Spain,  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Saracens. 

§  Soon  after  Al  Raschid's  accession  to  the  Caliphate,  he  invaded 
and  ravaged  a  part  of  the  Greek  empire,  with  an  army  of  135,000 
men.  Having  taken  the  city  of  Ileraclea,  he  reduced  it  to  ashes ; 
after  which  conquest,  he  made  himself  master  of  several  other  places. 
lie  then  attacked  the  Island  of  Cyprus,  whose  inhabitants  suffered 
extremely  from  the  invasion.  The  Greek  emperor  was  MO  intimi- 
dated  by  this  success,  that  he  immediately  made  peace  with  the 
caliph,  accompanied  with  a  tribute. 

Several  interesting  anecdotes  are  related  of  this  caliph,  two  of 
which  follow.  Being  once  in  Egypt,  he  said  to  his  courtiers. 


EASTERN    OR    GREEK    EMPIRE.    ,  89 

• 

The  king  of  this  country  formerly  boasted  himself  to  be  God ;  in 
consequence,  therefore,  of  such  pride,  I  will  confer  the  government 
of  it  on  the  meanest  of  my  slaves." 

As  he  was  marching  one  day  at  the  head  of  his  troops,  a  woman 
came  to  him  to  complain  that  some  of  the  soldiers  had  pillaged  her 
house,  lie  said,  "  woman,  hast  thou  not  read  in  the  Koran,  that 
princes,  when  they  passed  with  their  armies  through  places,  de- 
stroyed them?"  "  True,"  replied  she,  "  but  then  it  is  also  written  in 
the  same  hook,  that  the  houses  of  those  princes  shall  be  desolate  on 
account  of  their  acts  of  injustice."  This  fearless  repartee,  was  so 
well  liked  by  the  caliph,  tliat  he  forthwith  ordered  that  restitution 

should  be  made. 

« 

EASTERN  OR  GREEK  EMPIRE. 

4.  The  EASTERN  EMPIRE,  which  had  alone  survived  the 
ruin  of  the  Roman  world,  retained  a  portion  of  its  ancient 
splendour.  Tt  was  destined,  however,  soon  to  lose  several 
valuable  provinces,  as  has  already  appeared,  in  relating1  the 
victorious  career  of  the  Saracens.  The  conquests  which 
Heradius  I.  made  in  Persia,  were  wrested  from  him  by  that 
enthusiastic  and  warring  people.  They  next  deprived  the 
empire  of  its  Syrian  and  African  dependencies. 

During  these  events,  several  emperors  successively  filled 
the  throne  of  Constantinople,  after  Heraclius.  But  very 
little  need  be  snid  concerning  any  of  them.  It  was  in  the 
reign  of  Constantine  III.,  Pagonatus,  that  the  Saracens,  672 
A.  C.  besieged  Constantinople  for  five  months,  but  were 
obliged  to  retire.  They  returned  for  seven  years  in  succes- 
sion, but  were  every  time  defeated  by  Callinicus,  who  in- 
vented an  inextinguishable  fire,  by  which  he  destroyed  their 
ships. 

§  The  Greek,  orliquidfire,  was- made  principally  of  naptha,  or  liquid 
bitumen,  mixed  with  some  sulphur  and  pitch,  extracted  from  green 
firs.  Water,  instead  of  extinguishing,  quickened  this  powerful 
agent  of  destruction.  It  could  be  damped  only  by  sand,  wine,  or 
vinegar.  It  was  a  period  of  four  hundred  years,  before  the  secret  of 
its  composition  was  obtained  from  the  Greeks.  The  Mahometans  at 
length  discovered  and  stole  it.  It  continued  to  be  used  in  war,  down 
to  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century,  when  gunpowder  was  in- 
troduced. 

Justinian  IT.,  who  succeeded  Constantine  in  685,  was  a 
second  Nero,  or  Caligula.     He  ordered,  at  one  time,  a  general 
slaughter  of  the  inhabitants  of  Constantinople,  but  lie  was  de 
throned  the  saihe  clay,  and  sent  into  exile  with  mutilated 

8* 


90  MODERN  HISTORY. PERIOD    IV. 

• 

features  He  recovered  his  throne  by  the  assistance  of  the 
Bulgarians,  and  exacted  a  dreadful  vengeance  on  his  ene- 
mies. He  was  at  last  beheaded.  Some  of  the  emperors  who 
followed  during  the  remainder  of  this  period,  were,  Leo  III., 
Constantine  IV.,  Leo  IV.,  and  Const  ant  ine  V.  The  first  three 
of  these  were  strongly  opposed  to  images,  as  used  in  churches. 

§  The  mother  of  the  last  Constantine,  was  regent  during  her  son's 
minority.  Her  name  was  Irene,  and  she  proved  herself  a  monster 
of  wickedness.  She  obliged  the  sons  of  Constantine  IV.  to  receive 
the  priesthood,  and  afterwards  ordered  them  to  be  murdered.  She 
was  singularly  cruel  towards  her  own  son,  who,  for  attempting  to 
govern  by  himself  when  of  age,  was,  by  her  orders,  scourged  and 
confined  in  the  interior  of  the  palace.  In  790,  he  was  restored  to 
liberty  by  the  people,  when  he,  in  his  turn,  imprisoned  his  mother, 

Two  years  after,  she  was  apparently  reconciled  to  Constantine, 
and  by  encouraging  him  in  his  vices,  obtained  an  unhappy  ascend- 
ency over  him.  Being  rendered  odious  to  his  subjects,  especially 
in  consequence  of  repudiating  his  queen  and  marrying  one  of  her 
women,  by  the  advice  of  Irene,  an  insurrection  took  place.  This 
was  as  she  expected  ;  and  afforded  a  pretext  for  her  cruel  machina- 
tions. Being  left  with  the  army  in  By  thinia,  she  despatched  several 
officers  to  depose  her  son. 

Arriving  at  Constantinople  without  being  suspected  of  such  a 
design,  they  put  out  the  emperor's  eyes  in  so  barbarous  a  manner, 
that  he  died,  three  days  afterwards,  in  the  most  excruciating  pain. 
Irene  then  remained  in  possession  of  the  empire  fnr  five  years  ;  and 
in  order  to  confirm  her  authority,  she  made  overtures  of  marriage  to 
Charlemagne,  king  of  France.  Her  design,  however,  being  di- 
vulged, a  revolt  ensued,  in  which  Nicephorus,  great  treasurer  of  the 
empire,  being  leader,  was  proclaimed,  and  Irene  deposed. 

Having  thus  obtained  the  purple,  and  secured  the  riches  of  Irene, 
Nicephorus  banished  her  to  the  isle  of  Lesbos,  where  the  want  of  a 
decent  provision  obliged  her  to  earn  a  scanty  subsistence  by  the  la- 
bours of  the  distaff.  Here  this  miserable  woman  died  of  vexation, 
having  enjoyed  her  ill-gotten  power  but  six  years  after  the  murder 
of  her  son. 

KINGDOM  OF  ITALY. 

5.  The  KINGDOM  OF  ITALY,  which  was  formed  as 
already  related,  continued  until  nearly  the  close  of  the  pre- 
sent period,  viz.  774  A.  C.  It  had  been  fifty  years  under 
the  sway  of  the  Lombard  kings.  During  the  remainder  of 
its  existence,  (viz.  150  years,)  seventeen  kings  reigned  over 
the  country.  The  principal  of  these  were  Cunibert,  Luit- 
prand,  Rachisius,  Astolphus,  and  Desiderius  or  Didier. 
Luitprand  possessed  the  greatest  talents  of  all  the  Lombard 


KINGDOM  OF  ITALY.  01 

.• 

king's.  Under  Didier  the  kingdom  of  Italy  came  to  an  end. 
He  was  defeated  by  Charlemagne,  his  father-in-law,  and 
Iiaiy  was  afterwards  incorporated  into  the  new  empire  of  the 
West. 

§  A  few  particulars  concerning  these  kings,  are  as  follows.  Under 
Cimibert,  Italy  was  invaded  by  the  duke  of  Brescia,  and  they  met 
in  battle  on  the  banks  of  the  Adda.  Before  the  battle,  a  deacon  of  Pa- 
via,  named  Zeno,  who  bore  a  great  likeness  to  Cimibert,  offered  to 
take  his  armour  and  supply  his  place  at  the  head  of  the  army. 
Zeno  was  consequently  killed,  and  Cimibert  obtained  a  signal  vic- 
tory, and  afterwards  enjoyed  a  peaceable  and  happy  reign. 

Luitprand  availed  himself  of  an  opportunity,  soon  after  the  com- 
mencement of  his  reign,  to  add  to  his  dominions  by  conquest.  His 
first  efforts  were  directed  against  Ravenna,  which  was  betrayed  into 
his- hands.  He  afterwards  took  several  other  cities.  The  next  year, 
however,  Eutychius,  exarch  of  Ravenna,  reconquered  a  great  pari 
of  his  dominions.,  with  the  help  of  the  Venetians,  whom  Pope  Gre- 
gory II.  excited  against  Luitprand. 

The  king,  resolving  to  avenge  himself  on  the  Pope,  became  re- 
conciled to  Eutychius,  and  they  both  advanced  towards  Rome.  The 
Pope,  however,  met  the  king,  and  appeased  him  by  his  eloquence. 
In  two  successive  instances,  in  his  attempts  upon  the  Pope  and  Rome, 
he  was  diverted  from  his  design. 

Rachisius,  in  749,  five  years  after  the  commencement  of  his 
reign,  under  the  pretence  of  some  infractions  of  a  treaty  with  the 
people  of  Rome,  besieged  a  city  which  belonged  to  the  Pope.  But 
the  Pope  had  such  influence  with  him  when  they  met,  that  the  king 
was  persuaded  to  renounce  the  world,  and  retire  to  the  abbey  of 
Monte  Cassino.  His  queen  and  daughter,  at  the  same  time,  founded 
a  monastery  of  nuns,  near  that  abbey,  whither  they  retired  and  took 
the  veil. 

Astolphus  took  Ravenna,  and  seized  upon  all  the  dependencies  of 
that  principality,  not  far  from  the  year  750,  but  soon  lost  them,  by 
the  intervention  of  Pepin,  king  of  France,  who  made  war  upon  him. 
He  died  in  750,  of  a  fall  from  his  horse. 

Didier,  meditating  the  conquest  of  Ravenna,  sought  the  protec- 
tion of  the  French  King,  by  marrying  one  of  his  daughters  to 
Charlemagne,  and  the  other  to  his  brother  Carloman.  A  difference, 
however,  having  arisen  between  Charlemagne  and  his  father-m-Jaw^ 
the  French  monarch  divorced  his  wife.  Didier  highly  resented  this 
act. 

Applying  to  the  Pope  to  favour  his  projects,  and  failing  in  the  at- 
tempt, he  attacked  the  papal  territory,  and  endeavoured  to  seize  on 
the  person  of  the  Roman  pontiff.  Charlemagne,  however,  coming 
seasonably  to  his  assistance,  met  the  Lombard  king  in  battle,  and 
taking  possession  of  his  sovereignty,  sent  the  royal  family  to  be  con- 
fined in  monasteries  in  France.  The  French  king  thus  put  an  end 
to  the  Lombard  dominion  in  Italy,  and  was  hinixSelf  declared,  by  the 
Pope,  king  of  Italy,  and  patrician  of  Rome. 


92  MODERN  HISTORY. — PERIOD  IV. 

SPAIN. 

6.  SPAIN  continued  under  the  dominion  of  the  Yisosfoths 

o 

till  the  year  712.  It  was  then  conquered  by  the  Saracens, 
who  invaded  the  country  from  Mauritania,  in  Africa,  whence 
they  were  called  Moors.  A  small  part  of  the  north  of  Spain, 
never  fell  under  the  dominion  of  that  people.  Pelagius,  the 
successor  of  the  Gothic  sovereigns,  founded  there  the  little 
kingdom  of  Asturias,  in  718  ;  and  Garcias  Ximenes,  that  of 
Navarre,  in  758. 

§  The  Saracens,  in  their  descent  upon  Spain,  easily  overran  the 
country.  They  had  lately  founded,  in  Africa,  the  empire  of  Mo- 
rocco, which  was  governed  by  Muza.  viceroy  of  th«  caliph  Waled 
Almanisor.  Muza  sent  his  general,  Tariff,  into  Spain,  who  attack- 
ing Don  Rodrigo,  or  Roderic,  the  Gothic  king,  in  a  decisive  baltle, 
overcame  and  slew  him.  The  conqn°rors  succeeded  to  the  sove- 
reignty. Abdallah,  son  of  Muza,  married  the  widow  of  lloderic,  and 
thus  the  two  nations  formed  a  perfect  union. 

7.  Spain,  in  this  manner  conquered  by  the  Saracens,  was 
allotted  to  governors  dependent  on  the  viceroy  of  Africa,  till 
Abdalrahman.  the  last    heir  of  the  family  of  the  Omiades, 
formed  it  into  an  independent  kingdom,  and  fixed  his  resi- 
dence at  Cordova.     This  was  about  the  year  756  A.  C. 

It  may  be  remarked  here,  that  all  (hat  part  of  the  kingdom 
of  Spain  which  was  under  the  dominion  of  the  Moors,  em- 
braced the  religion  of  their  conquerors  ;  but  the  two  northern 
provinces  above  named,  remained  true  to  the  Christian  faith. 

Abdalrahman,  at  Cordova,  laid  the  foundation  of  a  flour- 
ishing empire,  which  lasted  for  a  considerable  period.  He 
greatly  encouraged  learning,  and  thus  vied  with  Haroun  Ai 
Raschid  at  Bagdad,  as  a  patron  of  letters.  Cordova  became 
renowned  as  one  of  the  most  enlightened  spots  in  Europe, 
under  several  succeeding  reigns. 

§  The  part  of  Spain  which  remained  independent  of  the  Moorish 
yoke-  presents  little  that  is  important  in  its  history.  We  may  there- 
fore pass  it  over  with  the  remark,  that  its  Christian  sovereigns  be- 
came rather  strengthened  than  weakened  in  their  power  from  time 
to  time. 

FRANCE. 

8.  In  FRANCE,  the  weak  race  of  the  Merovingian  kings 
continued  to   hold   the  sovereignty,  till  the  year   751  A.  C. 
On  the  death  of  one  of  them,  viz.  Dagobert  II.,  (638)  who 
left  two  infant  sons,  the  government,  during  their  minority, 
was  assumed  by  their  chief  officers,  termed  Mayors  of  the 


FRANCE.  93 

Palace.  Under  the  management  of  these  ambitious  men, 
the  kings  of  France  enjoyed  little  more  than  the  name. 

In  the  time  of  Thierry,  grandson  of  Dagobert  II.,  the  ce- 
lebrated Pepin  d'Heristel  was  mayor  of  the  palace.  He  re- 
stricted Thierry,  nominally  the  sovereign  of  the  two  great 
divisions  of  the  Frank  monarchy,  (Austrasia  and  Neustria) 
to  a  small  domain,  and  ruled  France  during  thirty  years  with 
great  wisdom. 

The  son  of  Pepin,  whose  name  was  Charles  Martel,  was 
still  more  celebrated  than  his  father.  Under  three  kings,  he 
governed  France  with  signal  ability,  having  succeeded  to  the 
office  of  mayor  of  the  Palace. 

§  After  his  father  Pepin's  death,  Charles  was  confined  by  his  mo- 
ther-in-law, in  prison.  But  escaping  thence,  he  was  proclaimed  duke 
of  Austrasia,  and  took  possession  of  the  sovereign  authority  over  all 
the  kingdom.  He  made  war  several  times  on  Childeric,  his  first 
nominal  sovereign,  and  finally  secured  him  as  a  prisoner. 

9.  Charles  was  victorious  over  all  his  domestic  foes,  and 
his  arms  kept  in  awe  the  neighbouring  nations,  whom  he  fre- 
quently defeated.  But  the  most  signal  service  which  he  ren- 
dered to  France,  to  Europe,  and  to  mankind  at  large,  was 
his  victory  over  the  Saracens,  in  732  A.  C.  These  destroying 
fanatics  threatened  all  Europe  with  subjugation  to  the  Maho- 
metan dominion  and  religion  ;  and,  but  for  their  providential 
defeat  by  Charles  Martel,  might  have  been,  to  this  day,  the 
masters  of  the  civilized  world. 

§  The  Saracens  penetrated  into  France  from  Spain.  They  were  led 
by  Abderame,  a  consummate  general,  who  commanded  in  the  name 
of  the  caliph,  and  who  soon  defeated  the  duke  of  Aquitain.  After 
this  victory,  his  desperate  bands  were  about  to  overrun  the  king- 
dom. Here,  however,  the  genius  and  bravery  of  Charles  rescued 
the  nation  from  destruction.  He  brought  them  to  a  general  action 
between  Poictiers  and  Tours,  and  notwithstanding  their  bravery 
and  numbers,  he  succeeded  in  defeating  them  with  immense  slaugh- 
ter. They  afterwards  rallied  in  the  vicinity  of  Narbonne,  but  were 
again  defeated,  and  at  last  driven  out  of  the  French  territory. 

By  this  event,  the  terror  with  which  the  Saracens  had  inspired 
Europe  was  greatly  diminished,  and  Charles  obtained  for  himself 
the  surname  of  Martel,  or  the  Hammer. 

After  the  death  of  Thierry  IV.,  Charles,  without  placing 
another  king  on  the  throne,  continued  to  govern  as  before, 
with  the  title  of  duke  of  France.  After  several  more  victo- 
ries over  his  enemies,  Charles  dying,  bequeathed  the  govern- 
ment of  France,  as  an  undisputed  inheritance,  to  his  two  sons 


94  MODERN  HISTORY. PERIOD  IV. 

Pepin  le  Bref,  and  Oarloman.  As  mayors  of  the  palace,  the 
one  governed  Australia,  and  the  other  Neustria  and  Burgun- 
dy. The  nominal  sovereign,  at  this  time,  was  Childeric  III., 
a  weak  and  insignificant  prince.  The  sole  administration 
devolved  at  length  on  Pepin,  as  Carloman  renounced  l.he  world 
and  became  a  monk.  Pepin,  whose  talents  were  powerful, 
and  whose  turn  of  mind  was  warlike,  governed  with  great 
efficiency,  and  conquered  several  of  the  neighbouring  tribes. 
In  the  year  751,  he  assembled  a  parliament  at  Soissons. 
where  he  was  proclaimed  king  of  France,  having  first  obtain- 
ed the  sanction  of  Pope  Zachary.  Childeric  was  confined  in 
a  convent,  and  thus  ended  the  Merovingian  race  of  kings. 
The  Carlovingian  now  succeeded. 

§  Pepin  was  called  Le  Bref,  or  the  short,  on  account  of  the  lowness 
of  his  stature,  his  height  being  only  four  and  a  half  feet.  Soon  after 
he  was  crowned,  he  inarched  against  the  revolted  Saxons,  whom  he 
defeated  ;  and  pursuing  his  brother  Grippo  into  Aquitain,  he  united 
Septimia,  now  Languedoc,  to  the  crown.  His  brother,  who  was  a 
turbulent  spirit,  and  gave  him  disquiet,  at  length  perished.  Pepin 
was  thus  left  to  pursue  without  molestation  his  useful  designs. 

10.  Having  been  crowned  the  second  time,  by  Pope  Ste- 
phen II.,  in  return  for  this  service,  Pepin  marched  against  the 
Lombards,  who  had  invaded  the  principality  of  Ravenna,  and 
threatened  Rome  itself.     The  Lombards   were  spared,  only 
by  the  surrender  of  Ravenna,  which  Pepin  bestowed  on  the 
Holy  See.     Thus  commenced  the  temporal  authority  of  the 
popes. 

The  Saracens,  who  stilt  possessed  a  part  of  the  south  ol 
France,  were  forced  by  his  arms  from  the  country,  and  thus 
the  limits  of  his  dominions  were  extended  in  that  quarter. 
After  a  splendid  and  successful  reign,  he  died  of  a  dropsy  in 
the  chest,  at  the  age  of  fifty-three  or  fifty -four  years,  768  A.  G. 
§  It  is  related  of  this  monarch,  that  his  diminutive  size  was  compen- 
sated by  an  uncommon  strength  of  body.  Having  been  told  that 
several  of  his  courtiers  had  secretly  ridiculed  his  personal  appear- 
ance, he  invited  them,  on  the  next  day,  to  attend  the  spectacle  of  a 
fight  between  a  lion  and  a  bull.  When  the  two  combatants  were  let 
loose,  the  lion  leaped  on  his  adversary,  and  the  bull  was  in  danger 
of  instant  destruction.  "  Is  there  any  among  you,"  exclaimed  the 
king  to  the  courtiers  that  surrounded  him,  "  who  has  sufficient  re- 
solution to  oblige  the  lion  to  let  go  his  hold  ?"  No  one  spake. 
"  Mine,  then,  shall  be  the  task,"  said  Pepin,  elevating  his  voice  ;  and 
leaping  into  the  amphitheatre  with  a  drawn  sword,  he  approached 
the  lion,  and  with  a  single  blow  separated  the  head  from  the  body. 

11.  The  dominions  of  Pepin  were,  at  his  death,  divided 


FRANCE.  95 

| 

between  his  two  sons  Charles  and  Carloman.  The  latter 
dying1  two  years  afterwards,  Charles  came  into  possession  of 
the  whole  kingdom.  The  exploits  and  policy  of  this  prince, 
procured  for  him  the  title  of  Great,  which  was  incorporated 
with  his  name,  Charlemagne,*  as  he  is  known  in  history.  He 
excelled  all  the  sovereigns  of  his  age,  both  as  a  warrior  and 
statesman,  although  he  is  said  to  have  been  extremely  illite- 
rate. With  a  great  reputation  for  talent,  he  has,  however 
descended  to  us  as  being  deficient  in  several  moral  qualities, 
particularly  in  humanity. 

His  cruelty  was  exercised  chiefly  upon  the  Saxons,  with 
whom  he  was  engaged  in  war  during  thirty  years.  Their 
bravery  and  love  of  freedom  gave  him  infinite  trouble.  They 
revolted  no  less  than  six  times,  and  were  as  often  reduced  by 
force  of  arms.  As  a  means  of  subduing  their  bold  and  fero- 
cious character,  he  attempted  to  convert  them  to  Christianity  ; 
but  their  obstinacy  induced  him  to  resort  to  compulsory  pro 
cesses  for  this  end.  Several  thousands  of  them  were  but- 
chered on  their  refusal  to  receive  Christian  baptism. 

Besides  his  success  against  the  Saxons,  Charlemagne  put 
an  end  to  the  kingdom  of  the  Lombards  in  Italy,  as  has  al- 
ready heen  narrated  ;  he  successfully  encountered  the  arms 
of  the  Saracens  :  defeated  numerous  barbarous  tribes,  and  ex- 
tended his  empire  beyond  the  Danube. 

§  Notwithstanding  the  short  stature  of  his  father,  Charlemagne  is 
said  to  have  been  seven  feet  in  height,  and  of  a  robust  constitution. 
He  was  no  less  signalized  for  activity  and  vigour  of  mind.  His  su- 
pervision of  his  dominions  was  most  strict  and  vigilant.  He  heard 
and  saw  every  thing  for  himself.  He  discountenanced  luxury,  en- 
couraged industry,  and  sought  to  elevate  the  social  and  intellectua. 
character  of  his  subjects. 

When  he  saw  any  of  his  courtiers  sumptuously  dressed,  he  would 
invite  them  to  a  hunting  party,  in  the  course  of  which  he  led  them 
into  the  wilds  and  forests.  On  their  return,  he  would  not  permit 
them  to  change  their  garments  which  the  thorns  had  torn.  Afte~ 
showing  them  his  uninjured  sheepskin  cloak,  as  a  contrast  to  their 
tattered  vestments,  he  would  say,  by  way  of  advice  or  reproach, 
"  Leave  silks  and  finery  to  women ;  the  dress  of  a  man  is  for  use, 
not  for  show." 

In  his  wars,  Charlemagne  met  with  scarcely  a  disaster.  The  only 
considerable  reverse  that  he  ever  experienced,  was  when  he  was  re- 
crossing  the  Pyrenees,  after  conquering  Navarre,  and  a  part  of  Ar- 
ragon.  The  rear  of  his  army  was  then  cut  to  pieces  by  the  Gascons, 
in  the  plains  of  Roncevaux.  On  this  occasion,  his  nephew,  the  cele- 


*  Charlemagne — Charles  the  Great. 


96  MODERN  HISTORY. — PERIOD  IV. 

• 

brated  champion  Roland,  lost  his  life — an  event  which  laid  the  fuiin 
datum  of  the  u  Orlando  i-'wioso"  of  Ariosto. 

As  the  reign  of  Charlemagne  extends  several  years  into 
the  following  period,  we  shall  resume  it,  at  the  commence- 
ment of  that  period,  with  a  sketch,  in  the  biographical  de- 
partment, of  his  more  private  history  and  character. 

Distinguished  Characters  in  Period  IV. 

1.  Mahomet,  an  Arabian  impostor,  and  founder  of  the  re 
ligion  which  is  called  by  his  name. 

2.  Adhelme,  a  British  theological  writer. 

3.  Bede.  a  venerable  English  historian. 

>  O 

4.  Charles  Mattel,  the  father  of  a  race  of  kings,  and  con 
queror  of  the  Saracens. 

5.  John  Damaseenus,  a  Christian  writer,  strongly  tinctured 
with  the  Aristotleian  philosophy. 

§  From  the  paucity  of  great  men  during  this  period,  genius  and 
learning  must  have  been  at  a  low  ebb  indeed,  and  the  human  mind 
greatly  debased  and  neglected. 

1.  Mahomet,  as  has  already  been  stated,  was  born  at  Mecca,  in  569 
A.  C.  The  tribe  from  which  he  descended,  was  that  of  the  Koras- 
hites,  the  most  noble  in  Arabia.  His  immediate  ancestors. ^  seem, 
however,  to  have  been  undistinguished  ;  and  though  his  natural  ta- 
lents were  great,  it  is  certain  that  his  education  was  inconsiderable. 
He  acquired  knowledge,  but  not  from  books.  Intercourse  with  man- 
kind had  sharpened  his  faculties,  and  given  him  an  insight  into  the 
human  heart 

The  steps  he  took  in  propagating  his  religion  have  already  been 
detailed  in  part.  It  may  be  added,  that  the  main  arguments  which 
Mahomet  employed  to  persuade  men  to  embrace  this  imposture,  were 
promises  and  threats,  wliu*.  he  knew  would  work  easiest  on  the 
minds  of  the  multitude.  II  s  promises  related  chiefly  to  paradise, 
and  to  the  sensual  delights  to  ue  enjoyed  in  that  region  of  pure  wa- 
ters, shady  groves,  and  exquisite  fruits.  Such  a  heaven  was  very 
taking  with  the  Arabians,  whose  bodily  temperament,  habits,  and 
burning  climate,  led  them  to  contemplate  images  of  this  sort  with  ex- 
cessive pleasure. 

On  the  other  hand,  his  threats  were  peculiarly  terrific  to  this  peo- 
ple. The  punishment  attending  a  rejection  of  his  religion,  he  made 
to  consist  of  evils,  that  seemed  most  insufferable  to  their  feelings. 
The  reprobates  would  be  permitted  to  drink  nothing  but  putrid  and 
boiling  water,  nor  breathe  any,  save  exceedingly  hot  winds ;  they 
would  dwell  forever  in  continual  fire,  intensely  burning,  and  be  sur- 
rounded with  a  black,  hot,  salt  smoke,  as  with  a  coverlid,  &c. ;  and. 
to  fill  the  measure  of  their  fears,  by  joining  the  present  with  the  0> 
ture  life,  he  threatened  most  grievous  punishments  in  this  world. 

As  it  was  one  of  the  impostor's  dogmas,  that  his  religion  might  ':3 


DISTINGUISHED  CHARACT 


defended  and  propagated  by  the  sword,  he  inveiite3<lje  doctrine  of 
a  rigid  fate,  to  reconcile  the  minds  of  the  timid,  and  acftharcjoiir  to 
the  brave,  under  the  exigencies  of  war.  He  taught  that  those  whc 
were  slain  in  battle,  though  they  had  tarried  at  home  in  their  houses, 
must,  nevertheless,  have  died  at  that  very  moment, — the  time  of 
every  man's  life  being  before  appointed  by  God,  in  that  unqualified 
sense ;  that  is,  without  reference  to  means. 

Mahomet  was  distinguished  for  the  beauty  of  his  person.  He  had 
a  commanding  presence,  a  majestic  aspect,  piercing  eyes,  a  flowing 
beard,  and  his  whole  countenance  depicted  the  strong  emotions  of 
nis  mind.  His  memory  was  retentive,  his  wit  easy,  and  his  judg- 
ment clear  and  decisive.  In  his  intercourse  with  society,  he  observed 
the  forms  of  that  grave  and  ceremonious  politeness,  so  common  to 
his  country.  His  natural  temper  may  not  have  been  worse  than  that 
of  many  others ;  but  the  imposture  which  he  forced  upon  mankind, 
was  an  instance  of  most  daring  impiety  and  wickedness. 

Mahomet  persisted  in  his  religious  fraud,  or  fanaticism,  to  the  last. 
On  his  death  bed  he  had  asserted,  that  the  angel  of  death  was  not 
allowed  to  take  his  soul,  till  he  had  respectfully  asked  the  permission 
of  the  prophet.  The  request  being  granted,  Mahomet  fell  into  the 
agony  of  dissolution  ;  he  fainted  with  the  violence  of  pain,  but  re- 
covering his  spirits  in  a  degree,  he  raised  his  eyes  upwards,  and  look- 
ing steadfastly,  uttered  with  a  faltering  voice,  the  last  broken,  though 
articulate  words,  "  O  God ! — pardon  my  sins. — Yes, — I  come — among 
my  fellow-citizens  on  high  ;"  and  in  this  manner  expired. 

2.  Adhelme  was  the  first  bishop  of  Sherbourne,  (England.)     He 
is  said  to  have  been  nephew  to  Ina,  king  of  the  West  Saxons.     The 
period  of  his  death  was  709.     He  composed  several  poems  concern- 
ing the  Christian  life,  but  his  fancy  was  quite  indifferent.     He  wrote 
in  Latin,  and  is  reported  to  be  the  earliest  Englishman  who  wrote  in 
that  tongue.     A  translator  of  his  writings,  speaks  of  him  as  pro- 
foundly versed  in  Greek,  Latin,  and  Saxon. 

3.  Bede,  who  was  surnamed  the  Venerable,  was  an  English  monk. 
His  birth-place  was  Wearmouth,  in  the  bishopric  of  Durham,  where 
he  was  born  in  672  or  673.     He  is  celebrated  as  a  writer  on  Eccle- 
siastical history.     In  his  youth  he  studied  with  great  diligence,  and 
soon  became  eminent  for  learning.     Such  was  his  fame,  that  he  was 
frequently  consulted  on  various  subjects,  by  scholars  from  different- 
parts  of  the  country. 

He  published  his  excellent  Ecclesiastical  history  of  England,  in 
731,  when  he  was  about  fifty-nine  years  of  age.  He  wrote  other 
works,  particularly  an  epistle  to  the  bishop  of  York,  which  exhibits 
a  more  curious  picture  of  the  state  of  the  church  at  that  time,  than 
is  elsewhere  to  be  found.  That  epistle  was  the  last  of  Bede's  wri- 
tings. His  last  sickness,  was  a  consumption,  ending  in  an  asthma, 
which  he  supported  with  great  firmness.  During  his  weakness,  he 
never  remitted  the  duties  of  his  place,  being  employed  the  wnole  of 
the  time  in  instructing  the  monks.  He  appears  to  have  been  a 
person  of  genuine  piety.  His  death  was  in  735. 

4.  Charles  Martel  was  the  son  of  Pepin  d'Heristel,  and  duke  of 

9 


MODERN   HISTORY. — PERIOD  IV. 

Austrasia.  •  He  succeeded  his  father  as  Mayor  of  the  Palace,  as  has 
before  been  stated.  That  he  was  a  man  of  great  capacity,  appears 
from  the  record  of  his  exploits.  As  the  progenitor  of  the  Carlo 
vingian  race  of  kings,  and  conqueror  of  the  Saracens,  when  they 
were  upon  the  point  of  overrunning  all  Europe,  he  is  entitled  to  a 
very  respectful  notice  in  the  page  of  history.  Divine  Providence 
seems  to  have  raised  him  up  for  a  great  purpose,  in  checking  the 
conquering  career  of  the  followers  of  the  false  prophet.  The  pro- 
digious number  of  375,000  Saracens,  he  is  said  to  have  defeated  and 
slain.  He  died  in  741. 

5.  John  Damascenus  flourished  in  the  eighth  century,  dying  about 
the  year  750.  His  birth-place  was  Damascus.  He  was  liberally 
educated,  and  early  made  great  progress  in  literature.  He  succeed- 
ed his  father,  as  counsellor  of  state  to  the  Saracen  Caliph  of  Damas- 
cus. Becoming  zealous  for  the  forms  of  religion,  and  warmly  es- 
pousing the  cause  of  images,  he  greatly  offended  Leo  Isauricus,  the 
Eastern  emperor. 

There  is  a  wild  legend  of  the  times,  that  the  emperor  caused  the 
hand  of  Damascenus  to  be  cut  off,  and  that  it  was  miraculously  re- 
placed by  the  kind  interposition  of  the  Virgin  Mary.  After  awhile, 
he  is  said  to  have  retired  from  public  affairs,  and  spent  the  remain- 
der of  his  life  in  solitude.  In  this  situation  he  wrote  books  of  divini- 
ty, of  which  he  left  many  behind  him.  He  is  not  generally  thought 
to  have  been  an  evangelical  writer.  Mosheim  says  that  he  surpassed 
all  his  contemporaries  among  the  Greeks  and  Orientals,  but  was  su- 
perstitious, and  absorbed  in  a  vain  philosophy. 


PERIOD   V. 

The  Period  of  the  New  Western  Empire;  extending  from 
the  Crowning  of  Charlemagne,  800  A.  C.,  to  the  First 
Crusade,  1095  years  A.  C. 

NEW  WESTERN  EMPIRE. 

SEC.  1.  The  New  Western  Empire,  so  called,  included  the 
dominions  of  Charlemagne,  or  the  countries  of  which  he  was 
acknowledged  as  the  sovereign,  in  800  A.  C.  It  was  at  this 
period  that  the  title  of  Emperor  of  the  West,  was  conferred 
upon  him.  He  was  established  in  that  august  sovereignty, 
by  being  crowned  at  Rome,  by  Pope  Leo  III. 

It  is  thought  by  some,  that  had  he  chosen  Rome  as  the 
seat  of  his  government,  and  at  death  transmitted  an  undivi- 
ded dominion  to  his  successor,  the  fallen  empire  of  the  Ro- 


HEW    WESTERN    EMPIRE.  99 

mans  might  have  once  more  been  restored  to  prosperity  and 
greatness.  But  Charlemagne  had  no  fixed  capital,  and  divi- 
ded, even  in  his  life-time,  his  dominions  among  his  children. 

The  countries,  included  under  the  title  of  the  New  Western 
Empire,  were  principally  France,  Burgundy,  Germany,  Ita- 
ly, and  a  part  of  Spain.  The  Empire,  as  such,  continued 
but  a  short  time.  One  country  after  another  separated  from 
it  under  the  successors  of  Charlemagne,  and  Germany,  at  last, 
became  the  sole  seat  or  representative  of  the  Empire.  Bo- 
fore  the  expiration  of  the  present  Period,  the  structure  reared 
by  the  French  monarch,  was  dissolved.  After  pursuing  the 
few  details  of  the  empire  as  a  body,  we  shall  resume  our 
narrative  of  the  individual  countries,  in  their  separate  or  in- 
dependent state. 

5  The  occasion  and  the  manner  of  the  crowning  of  Charlemagne, 
wore  as  follows: 

He  was  wont  to  pass  annually,  from  the  Pyrenees  into  Germany, 
and  thence  into  Italy.  In  approaching  Rome  for  the  last  time,  the 
Pope  despatched  a  messenger  to  meet  him  with  the  keys  of  the  Con- 
fession of  St.  Peter,  and  the  standard  of  the  city  of  Rome.  From 
this  union  of  religious  and  military  attributes,  it  was  evident  that 
Charlemagne  was  on  the  eve  of  becoming  emperor. 

Accordingly,  on  Christmas  day,  which  was  then  the  day  of  the 
new  year,  being  present  at  the  service  of  the  mass,  and  on  his  kners 
before  the  altar,  the  Pope  came  suddenly  behind  him,  and  placed  on 
his  head  the  Crown  of  the  Caesars.  This  act  was  followed  by  loud 
acclamations  among  the  populace.  An  august  title,  which  had  lain 
dormant  for  several  centuries,  was  thus  revived,  but  it  did  not  restore 
Rome  to  its  ancient  splendour,  for  reasons  which  were  given  above. 

Charlemagne  lived  nearly  14  years  after  he  became  Emperor  of 
the  West.  He  died  at  Aix-la-Chapelle,  in  the  72d  year  of  his  age, 
and  the  46th  of  his  reign. 

2.  Charlemagne  was  succeeded,  814  A.  C.,  by  his  son,  Louis 
the  Debonaire,  or  the  Mild.  Of  the  lawful  children  of  Charle- 
magne, Louis  alone  survived  his  father,  and  all  the  imperia] 
dominions  came  of  course  into  his  hands,  except  Italy,  which 
the  emperor  had  settled  on  Bernard,  one  of  his  grandsons. 

The  reign  of  Louis  was  Tiighly  calamitous.  In  817,  lie 
associated  his  eldest  son,  Lothaire,  in  the  empire,  and  gave 
Aquitain  to  Pepin,  his  second  son,  and  Bavaria  to  Louis,  his 
third. 

A  disagreement  occurring  between  Louis  and  Bernard, 
king  of  Italy,  the  latter  was  subdued,  and  had  hi?  eyes  put 
out,  in  consequence  of  which  he  died  three  days  after.  The 


100  MODERN  HISTORY. — PERIOD  V. 

murder  of  his  nephew  affected  Louis  with  such  a  degree  of 
remorse,  that  he  performed  public  penance  on  account  of  the 
crime. 

The  children  of  Louis  greatly  embittered,  and  even  short- 
ened his  life.  First  quarrelling  among  themselves,  they  then 
attacked  their  father ;  and  as  he  was  alternately  subdued 
and  restored,  his  spirits  were  at  length  broken,  and  he  died 
after  an  inglorious  and  turbulent  reign,  840  A.  C. 

§  Louis  had  a  son  by  a  second  wife,  named  Charles,  who,  as  will 
soon  appear,  became  king  of  France  upon  the  death  of  his  father.— 
As  a  second  partition  of  the  empire  was  made,  in  order  to  give  a 
share  to  this  younger  son,  the  other  brothers  were  highly  disaffect- 
ed. This  was  one  occasion  of  their  contention. 

When  Louis  found  his  end  approaching,  he  set  aside  for  Lothaire, 
a  sword  and  a  golden  sceptre,  the  emblems  of  the  empire  he  intend- 
ed for  him,  on  condition,  however,  that  lie  should  abide  by  the  parti- 
tion in  favour  of  Charles.  As  he  did  not  make  any  mention  of  his 
son,  Louis  of  Bavaria,  (Pepin  had  already  deceased,)  it  was  intimated 
to  the  old  kin,?,  that  as  a  Christian,  he  ought  not  to  leave  the  world, 
without  bestowing  upon  Louis  his  pardon.  The  dying  monarch 
shook  his  hoary  locks,  and  pointing  to  them  with  emotion,  replied, 
"I  pardon  him,  but  you  may  tell  him,  that  it  was  he  who  has  brought 
down  my  gray  hairs  with  sorrow  to  the  grave." 

3.  Charles,  surnamed  the  Bald,  succeeded  Louis  the  mild, 
in  a  part  of  his  original  dominions,  840  A.  C.  Soon  after 
his  accession,  followed  the  terrible  battle  of  Fontenay,  between 
the  three  brothers  now  left,  viz.  Lothaire,  Louis  and  Charles, 
in  which  Charles  and  Louis  were  victorious.  Lothaire,  as 
the  appointed  emperor,  had  wished  to  obtain  the  possession  of 
all  his  father's  territories,  and  refused  to  allow  the  partition  in 
favour  of  Charles.  But  being  overcome  in  the  battle  of  Fon- 
tenay, he  was  obliged  to  relinquish  his  pretensions,  and  to 
accede  to  such  a  division  of  the  empire,  as  his  brothers  now 
made  among  themselves. 

Lothaire,  who  preserved  the  title  of  emperor,  had,  assigned 
to  him,  Italy,  and  several  of  the  southern  provinces  of  France, 
Louis  had  the  whole  of  Germany.  France,  including  Neus- 
tria  and  Aquitain,  fell  to  the  lot  of  Charles.  Thus  the  fine 
Empire  of  the  West,  founded  by  Charlemagne,  was  lost  to 
the  house  of  France,  by  the  separation  of  Germany  from 
that  house.  Instead  of  remaining  hereditary,  the  crown  be- 
came elective,  after  it  had  passed,  as  it  did  finally,  into  the 
hands  of  the  Germans. 

§  The  battle  of  Fontenay  was  fought  with  the  greatest  obstinacy 


NEW    WESTERN    EMPIRE.  101 

Historians  agree  in  stating  that  100,000  men  perished  on  that  occa- 
sion. Lothaire  fled-to  the  Saxons,  yet  laid  his  plans  in  such  a  man- 
ner as  to  obtain  from  his  brothers  a  portion  of  the  empire. 

'In  the  reign  of  Charles,  France  was  plundered  by  the  Normans, 
who  had  begun  their  depredations  even  in  the  time  of  Charlemagne. 
But  their  progress  was  then  inconsiderable.  In  843,  however"  they 
sailed  up  the  Seine,  and  plundered  Rouen ;  while  another  fleet  en- 
tered the  Loire,  and  laid  waste  the  country  in  its  vicinity  ;  the  ma- 
rauders not  only  securing  great  quantities  of  spoil,  but  carrying 
men,  women  and  children  into  captivity.  In  845,  they  entered  the 
Seine  again  with  a  fleet,  and  advanced  to  Paris.  Its  inhabitants  fled, 
and  the  city  was  burnt.  With  another  fleet  they  approached  to  Bor- 
deaux, and  pillaged  it.  Charles,  instead  of  repressing  the  incursions 
of  these  barbarians  with  his  arms,  purchased  their  forbearance  with 
money. 

(1.)  Lothaire,  the  emperor,  died  in  855.  Before  his  death, 
he  divided  his  dominions  among  his  three  sons.  Louis  II. 
was  the  son  who  succeeded  him  with  the  title  of  emperor. 
He  was  a  brave  and  virtuous  sovereign,  and  died  875. 

(2.)  Louis,  to  whom  Germany  was  assigned,  was  a  power- 
ful monarch,  and  rendered  himself  formidable  to  his  neigh- 
bours. He  died  876.  Upon  this  event,  Charles  marched 
with  a  large  army  to  seize  his  dominions,  but  he  was  soon 
defeated  by  his  nephew  Carloman,  the  son  of  Louis  II.,  ha- 
ving been  first  crowned  emperor  by  the  Pope. 

(3.)  Charles,  on  the  death  of  Louis  II.,  son  of  Lothaire, 
(875)  assumed  the  empire,  or,  as  is  said,  purchased  it  from 
pope  John  VIII.,  on  condition  of  holding  it  as  a  vassal  to  the 
Holy  See.  This  prince,  after  contending  for  the  space  of  two 
years,  with  the  possessors  of  the  other  portions  of  the  empire, 
with  various  success,  died  of  poison,  877  A.  C.  His  reign 
must  be  pronounced,  on  the  whole,  to  have  been  a  weak  and 
inglorious  one. 

He  was  the  first  of  the  French  monarchs,  who  made  dig- 
nities and  titles  hereditary.  Under  the  distracted  reigns  of  the 
Carlovingian  kings,  the  grandees  obtained  great  power,  and 
commanded  a  formidable  vassalage.  They  chose  to  reside 
on  their  territorial  possessions,  and  refused  to  take  any  inter- 
est in  the  general  concerns  of  the  country.  Intrenched  in 
their  castles  and  fortresses,  they  defied  the  power  of  the  go- 
vernment, while  the  country  was  disturbed  and  desolated  hy 
their  feuds. 

The  Empire  of  the  West  being  now  effectually  dismem- 

9* 


102  MODERN    HISTORY. — PERIOD    V. 

bered,  though  there  were  afterwards  temporary  junctions  oi 
its  different  parts,  we  may  properly  resume  our  narrative  of 
the  several  countries  in  their  separate  state.  As  the  power 
which  formed  this  empire  emanated  from  France,  it  is  natural 
to  speak  of  this  first.  Indeed,  we  have  been  under  the  neces 
sir,y  of  noticing  it  already  more  than  the  rest.  Germany,  not 
Living  had  a  political  existence  before  the  era  of  Charlemagne, 
will  be  new  on  the  list  of  nations. 

FRANCE. 

4.  Louis  IT.,  the  Stammerer,  succeeded  Charles,  as 
king  of  France,  877  A.  C.  Nothing  of  importance  occurred 
during  his  reign,  which  was  a  short  one,  of  only  nineteen 
months.  His  two  sons,  Louis  III.,  and  Carloman,  became 
joint  possessors  of  the  throne  upon  his  death.  Their  reign 
was  short,  but  it  was  characterized  by  union,  vigour,  and  a 
degree  of  success  against  their  enemies,  the  Normans.  They 
died,  the  one  in  882,  and  the  other  in  884. 

§  Their  deaths  were  each  accidental.  Louis,  in  pursuing  a  young 
female  who  fled  from  him,  struck  his  head  against  the  door,  and 
was  killed  by  the  blow.  Carloman,  who  survived  him  but  a  short 
time,  in  hunting  a  wild  boar,  was  wounded  by  a  spear  which  one  of 
his  attendants  launched  against  the  animal.  To  save  the  attendant 
from  the  blame  that  might  be  attached  to  the  act,  Carloman  report- 
ed that  he  had  been  wounded  by  the  wild  boar.  Though  he  lived 
several  days,  he  persevered  in  keeping  the  cause  of  his  death  a 
secret. 

5.  Charles,  surnamed  the  Fat,  was  chosen  by  the  peers  of 
France  to  fill  the  vacant  throne,  885.  He  was  brother  and 
successor  to  Louis  II.,  the  German,  and  son  of  the  Louis,  to 
whom  Germany  was  originally  assigned.  For  a  short  time, 
France  and  Germany  were  again  under  the  same  sway.  At 
the  expiration  of  two  years,  however,  Charles  was  deposed 
on  account  of  his  cowardice,  and  the  imperial  dignity  was 
transferred  to  Germany. 

The  nobility  then  elected  Eudes,  count  of  Paris,  to  fill 
the  throne,  887,  till  Charles,  a  younger  brother  of  Louis  III., 
and  Carloman,  should  attain  to  the  age  of  manhood.  Upon 
the  death  of  Eudes,  Charles,  who  was  surnamed  the  Simple, 
was  introduced  to  the  sovereignty,  898,  but  he  was  deposed 
by  Robert,  the  brother  of  Eudes,  in  922.  Robert  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Rali'ho,  or  Rodolph,  duke  of  Burgundy,  the  year 
after. 


FRANCE.  103 

§  Charles  the  Simple,  died  in  prison,  929.  He  was  a  weak  mo- 
narch, and  despised  by  his  nobles.  It  is  said,  however,  that  in  bat- 
tle, he  killed  the  valiant  Robert  with  his  own  hand.  Upon  the  death 
of  Charles,  Rodolph  was  in  quietpossession  of  the  throne. 

It  was  during  the  reign  of  Charles  that  the  Normans  invaded 
Neustria,  which  was  ceded  to  them  in  911.    To  Rollo,  their  chief, 
the  king  gave  his  daughter,  Giselle,  in  marriage.    From  this  peopl 
the  country  was  called  Normandy,  and  it  is  from  this  race  of  war  • 
riors,  that  we  shall  trace  the  future  conquerors  of  England. 

6.  Louis  IV.,  the  son  of  Charles  the  Dimple,  was  called  to 
the  throne  of  France,  in  936.     He  was  surnamed  Outremer, 
or  Transmarine,  on  account  of  having  been  brought  up  in 
England.     During  his  reign,  and  that  of  his  successor,  Lo- 
thaire,  Hugh  the  Great,  the  most  powerful  lord  of  France, 
directed,  for  the  most  part,  the  government.    The  same  situ- 
ation was  held  by  his  son,  Hugh  Capet,  under  Louis  V.,  the 
successor  of  Lothaire.     When  Louis  died,  Hugh,  like  another 
Pepin,  placed  himself  on  the  throne  of  France. 

§  The  corruption*  of  these  times,  and  the  peculiar  uncertainty  and 
infelicity  attending  the  condition  of  kings,  are  manifest,  from  the 
fact,  that  both  Lothaire  and  Louis  were  poisoned  by  their  queens. 

7.  Hugh  Capet,  the  head  of  the  third  dynasty  of  kings 
in  France,  called  the  Capetian,  began  to  reign  in  987  A.  C. 
He  was  crowned   at   Rheims,  on  the  third  of  July.     His 
administration  was  marked  with  ability.     He  enacted  several 
salutary  laws  and  ordinances,  and  established  his  residence 
in  Paris,  which  had  been  deserted  by  his  predecessors  during 
more  than  two  hundred  years.     He  delegated   a  portion  of 
the  supreme  authority  to  his  son  Robert,  near  the  beginning 
of  his  reign. 

§  The  true  heir  to  the  crown,  was  Charles  of  Lorrain,  uncle  to 
Louis  V.  Attempting  to  secure  his  rights  by  force,  he  was  at  last 
betrayed  and  confined  in  prison,  where  he  soon  died. 

Hugh,  either  through  modesty,  or  the  fear  of  exciting  the  jea- 
lousy of  his  nobles,  never  assumed  the  insignia  of  royalty.  He  al- 
ways, even  on  great  and  solemn  occasions,  appeared  in  a  plain  dress 
and  simple  style. 

8.  Robert,  the  son  of  Hugh  Capet,  succeeded  his  father  in 
996.     Marrying  a  cousin  in  the  fourth  degree.  Bertha,  who 
was  the  daughter  of  the  king  of  Burgundy,  his  marriage  was 
annulled,  himself  excommunicated,  and  his  kingdom  put 
under  an  interdict  by  the  pope.     This  was  the  first  instance 
of  such  an  exercise  of  the  papal  authority  in  France.     The 
distress  and  confusion  that  ensued,  obliged  Robert,  \auch 


104  MODERN    HISTORY. — PERIOD   V. 

against  his  inclinations,  to  dismiss  Bertha,  and  to  expiate  hia 
offence  by  a  solemn  penance. 

He  soon  after  married  Constantia  of  Toulouse,  who  proved 
to  be  a  vexatious  partner,  and  cruel  queen. 

§  The  superstition  of  the  times  was  seen  in  the  affair  of  the  Pope's 
interdict.  The  mass  was  no  longer  celebrated  ;  the  sacrament  re- 
fused to  the  sick ;  and  the  dead  left  without  burial.  There  were  no 
longer  any  regulations  of  police ;  and,  as  all  dreaded  to  approach  an 
excommunicated  person,  the  king  was  abandoned.  He  commanded, 
however,  the  services  of  two  faithful  domestics,  who  passed  through 
the  fire  whatever  he  had  touched,  and  threw  to  the  dogs  the  refuse 
of  the  table. 

The  king,  in  his  second  marriage,  was  extremely  unhappy.  Con- 
stantia continually  tormented  him.  She  caused  the  king's  favourite, 
grand  master  of  the  palace,  to  be  assassinated.  She  sowed  discord 
between  the  sons  of  Robert.  And  her  intolerance  in  religion  was 
such,  that  she  ordered  thousands  of  a  certain  sect  of  heretics  to  be 
burned  at  the  stake. 

It  is  a  circumstance  worthy  of  notice,  that  in  the  province  of  Lan- 
guedoc,  where  these  cruelties  were  particularly  exercised,  the  pro- 
testant  faith  has  since  constantly  predominated  over  Catholicism. 

Robert  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  of  the  French  kings  who,  accord- 
ing to  the  superstitions  of  the  vulgar,  received  the  supernatural  gift  of 
curing  scrofulous  affections,  thence  denominated  the  king's  evil,  by 
touching  the  sick,  and  pronouncing  these  words, "  The  king  touches 
thee,  and  may  God  cure  thee." 

9.  On  the  death  of  the  king,  his  two  sons,  Henry  and  Ro- 
bert, both  aspired  to  the  throne.  It  belonged  to  Henry,  but 
the  infamous  Constantia  had  contrived  to  create  an  interest  in 
favour  of  Robert.  After  some  bloodshed,  Henry  was  invested 
with  the  sovereign  authority,  1031  A.  C.  He  was  an  ac- 
tive sovereign,  who  knew  how  to  maintain,  and  even  extend 
his  dominion,  but  he  was  not  always  judicious  in  his  en- 
terprises. 

§  He  subdued  several  of  his  rebellious  nobles,  defeated  an  army  ol 
a  younger  brother  who  had  claimed  an  inheritance  in  the  monarchy, 
and  espoused,  for  a  time,  the  cause  of  William  of  Normandy,  against 
the  Norman  grandees.  He,  however,  soon  attacked  the  latter — a 
rash  step,  which  laid  the  foundation  of  long  and  disastrous  wars. 

About  the  commencement  of  Henry's  reign,  a  dreadful  famine 
desolated  not  only  France,  but  the  rest  of  Europe.  The  dead  were 
disinterred  to  serve  as  food  for  the  living.  The  passengers  were 
intercepted  on  the  high  ways,  and  carried  into  the  woods  to  be 
devoured  by  the  famishing  peasantry.  In  one  place,  human  flesh 
was  publicly  exposed  for  sale ;  and  in  another,  an  innkeeper  mass^ 
cred  the  poor  during  the  night,  so  as  to  furnish  his  table  for  guests 


ITALY.  105 

on  the  following  day.    The  season  was  such  that  corn  could  not  be 
raised,  and  the  want  of  pasture  occasioned  the  death  of  cattle. 

10.  Henry  left  the  crown  to  his  son  Philip  I.,  then  seven 
years  old,  1060  A.  C.,  under  the  regency  of  Baldwin,  count 
of  Flanders.     Philip  was  rather  a  spectator  than  an  actor  in 
the  political  events  of  his  reign.     He  lived  beyond  the  com- 
mencement of  the  first  crusade,  having  swayed  the  sceptre 
during  forty-eight  years.     His  principal  war  was  with  Wil- 
ham  of  Normandy,  now  become  king  of  England.     From 
this  date  commenced  a  long  hostility  between  the  English 
and  French  monarchies. 

ITALY. 

11.  In  the  division  of  the  Western  Empire  among  the  sons 
of  Louis  the  Debonaire,  Italy,  as  we  have  seen,  was  assign- 
ed to  Lothaire,  with  the  title  of  emperor.     His  successor,  as 
we  have  also  seen,  was  Louis  II.,  his  son,  who  died  in  875. 
The  succeeding  year,  Charles  the  Bald,  king  of  France,  was 
proclaimed  king  of  Italy  by  a  diet  at  Pavia.     But  he  retain- 
ed this  sovereignty  only  two  years,  his  death  occurring  in  877. 

Italy  was  afterwards  ravaged  by  contending  tyrants  ;  but 
in  964,  Otho,  the  Great,  reunited  it  to  the  dominions  of  the 
German  empire.  A  series  of  wars,  however,  continued  dur- 
ing at  least  two  centuries,  occasioned  by  the  invasions  of  the 
Normans,  and  the  claims  of  the  emperors,  till  Italy  was  di- 
vided into  several  independent  states.  These  wars  are  too 
unimportant  and  uninteresting  to  be  noticed  in  this,  or  the 
following  period.  Italy,  therefore,  once  the  mistress  of  the 
world,  must,  for  a  time,  be  left  out  of  the  records  of  nations, 
except  as  her  affairs  shall  be  incidentally  noticed  in  the  his- 
tory of  Germany.  Her  independent  sovereignties,  formed  at 
different  times,  as  Naples,  the  estates  of  the  Church,  Tusca 
ny,  Parma,  Lombardy,  the  Genoese,  and  the  Venetian  territo- 
ries, may,  in  some  subsequent  period,  be  duly  noticed. 

§  A  transaction,  in  which  Otho  II.,  the  second  German  emperor 
after  Italy  was  re-united  to  the  empire,  was  engaged,  may  be  here  re- 
lated. Several  cities  of  Italy  took  occasion  to  throw  off  their  alle- 
giance to  the  emperor.  Otho,  hearing  o/  it,  soon  entered  Italy  with 
an  army,  and  adopted  the  following  most  cruel  method  to  punish 
the  authors  of  the  tumults. 

He  invited  the  nobles  of  Rome  to  a  grand  entertainment  in  the 
Vatican  palace  and  When  the  guests  had  placed  themselves  at  the 


106  MODERN    HISTORY. PERIOD    V. 

table,  he  forbade  them,  under  pain  of  death,  to  speak  or  move  at 
what  they  should  hear  or  see.  Instantly  they  were  surrounded  by 
armed  men,  and  while  they  sat  trembling,  the  emperor  composedly 
ordered  the  names  of  those  concerned  in  the  late  disturbances  to  be 
read  over,  and  the  guilty  to  be  put  to  death  in  the  midst  of  the  hall. 
After  the  bloody  mandate  was  executed,  he  was  all  smiles  and  com- 
plaisance to  the  other  guests,  during  the  entertainment. 

It  may  be  recorded  here,  that  it  was  during  the  present 
period,  the  foundation  of  the  temporal  power  of  the  popes 
was  laid.  In  1080,  Matilda,  countess  of  Tuscany,  bequeath- 
ed a  large  portion  of  her  dominions  to  pope  Gregory  the  VII. 
From  that  time  the  popes  possessed  great  power  in  the  states 
of  Europe.  Although  the  emperors  (German)  asserted  their 
sovereignty  over  Italy  and  the  popedom,  and  claimed  the 
absolute  right  of  electing  the  pope  ;  yet  it  was  with  a  con- 
stant resistance  on  the  part  of  the  Romans,  and  a  general 
repugnance  of  the  popes,  when  once  established. 

SPAIN. 

12.  The  empire  of  Charlemagne,  in  Spain,  comprised  but 
a  small  part  of  that  country.  Indeed,  all  that  the  Christians, 
(including  the  native  Spaniards  and  the  French,)  possessed, 
constituted  only  about  a  fourth  of  the  kingdom,  viz.,  Asturia, 
part  of  Castile  and  Catalonia,  Navarre,  and  Arragon.  Cata- 
lonia and  Navarre  were  subdued  by  Charlemagne,  but  his 
successors  seem  to  have  taken  no  interest  in  the  conquest ;  it 
probably  soon  reverted  back  to  the  Christians  of  Spain.  All 
the  remainder  of  the  Peninsula,  including  Portugal,  was  oc- 
cupied by  the  Moors. 

Cordova,  a  luxurious  and  magnificent  city,  was  the 
Moorish  capital.  It  was  a  great  school  for  the  sciences,  and 
the  resort  of  the  learned  from  all  parts  of  the  world.  In  the 
tenth  century,  their  dominions  were  divided  among  a  num- 
ber of  petty  sovereigns,  who  were  constantly  at  war  with 
one  another.  Had  the  Christians  availed  themselves  of  this 
state  of  things,  they  might  perhaps  have  then  regained  the 
whole  kingdom ;  but  they  were  unhappily  contending  among 
themselves,  and  it  was  sometimes  the  case,  that  the  Christian 
princes  formed  alliances  with  the  Moors  against  one  ano- 
ther. 

§  Taste  and  the  sciences  flourished  in  Cordova,  and  the  south  ol 
Spain,  when  the  rest  of  Europe  had  become  involved  in  barbarism 


GERMANY.  107 

and  ignorance.  Cordova,  as  the  seat  of  government,  enjoyed  a 
splendid  period  of  two  hundred  years,  reckoning  from  the  middle  of 
the  eighth,  to  the  middle  of  the  tenth  century.  During  that  period, 
the  Moorish  portion  of  Spain  boasted  of  a  series  of  able  princes, 
who  gained  the  palm-over  all  the  nations  of  the  West,  both  in  arts 
and  arms. 

It  was  only  after  the  Moorish  princes  became  luxurious  and  effe- 
minate, that  the  nation  was  divided  into  a  number  of  petty  states, 
the  principal  of  which,  were  Toledo,  Cordova,  Valentia, -and  Seville. 

To  add  to  the  divided  state  of  Spain,  both  among  the  Moors  and 
Christians,  the  country  abounded  with  independent  lords,  who  were 
warriors  and  champions  by  profession,  making  it  their  business  to 
decide  the  quarrels  of  princes,  or  to  volunteer  their  service  and  that 
of  their  vassals  and  attendants,  on  such  occasions.  Of  this  descrip- 
tion of  persons,  termed  knights-errant,  the  most  distinguished  was 
Rodrigo  the  Cid,  who  undertook  to  conquer  the  kingdom  of  New 
Castile,  for  his  sovereign,  Alphonso,  king  of  Old  Castile.  Of  the 
passion  for  knight  errantry,  however,  it  is  proposed  to  speak  in  some 
other  place. 

The  contentions  among  the  petty  kingdoms  of  Spain  need 
not  detain  us  here,  nor  will  it  be  expedient  to  dwell  on  the 
subsequent  history  of  Spain,  until  the  expulsion  of  the  Moors, 
and  the  union  of  the  whole  country  under  one  head,  towards 
the  conclusion  of  the  fifteenth  century. 

GERMANY. 

13.  Germany  was  known  in  ancient  times,  but  it  possess- 
ed no  political  importance  till  the  era  of  Charlemagne.  Pre- 
viously, it  was  a  rude  and  uncivilized  country,  and  fluctuating 
in  its  government.  Charlemagne  may  therefore  be  consider- 
ed the  reviver,  if  not  the  founder  of  the  German  empire. 
As  a  component  part  of  his  sovereignty,  it  has  been  already 
noticed  so  far  down  as  the  termination  of  the  short  reign,  or 
rather  usurpation,  of  Charles  the  Bald,  of  France,  in  877.  At 
that  period,  or  perhaps  a  few  years  subsequent,  it  maybe  con 
eidered  as  having  been  effectually  separated  from  France;  anH 
of  all  the  dominions  of  Charlemagne,  it  has  alone  descended 
as  an  empire,  and  the  representative  of  the  sway  which  he 
once  held  over  the  nations  of  the  West.  The  emperor  of 
Germany  is  to  this  day,  nominally  at  least,  regarded  as  suc- 
cessor to  the  Emperors  of  Rome. 

§  Germany,  is  said  to  be  compounded  of  the  Celtic  word  ger, 
brave,  and  man,  signifying  a  warlike  people.  In  ancient  times,  it 
comprehended  all  the  country  from  the  Baltic  to  Helvetia,  and  from 


108  MODERN    HISTORY. — PERIOD    V. 

the  Rhine  to  the  Vistula.  The  primitive  inhabitants  were  most  pro- 
bably  the  Celts.  But  our  information  respecting  Germany  is  scanty 
till  the  period  of  the  Roman  conquests  in  that  country.  Some  ages 
before  that  time,  the  Goths,  or  Teutones,  had  migrated  from  the 
eastern  part  of  Europe,  along  the  Euxine,  and  established  them- 
selves on  the  shores  of  the  Baltic,  in  Belgica,  in  the  north  of  France, 
and  the  south  of  England ;  driving  the  original  inhabitants  into  the 
northern  and  western  regions.* 

When  Rome  was  in  the  zenith  of  its  power,  Germany  seems  to 
have  been  divided  into  a  number  of  independent  principalities  ;  but 
the  inhabitants  frequently  united  in  the  defence  of  their  common  li- 
berty, and  many  bloody  battles  established  their  reputation  for  bra- 
very, before  they  sunk  under  the  power  and  polic)r  of  their  in- 
vaders. At  length,  however,  their  country  was  reduced  to  a  state 
of  provincial  subjection  to  the  masters  of  the  world ;  and  upon  the 
decline  of  the  Western  Empire  of  Rome,  Germany  became  a  prey  to 
the  Franks,  and  a  considerable  part  of  it  remained  under  the  do- 
minion of  earls  and  marquisses,  till  Charlemagne  extended  his 
power,  both  military  and  civil,  over  the  whole  empire. 

14.  The  successor  of  Charles  the  Bald,  was  Charles  III, 
called  the  Fat,  after  an  interregnum  of  three  years,  881  A.  C. 
France  was  also  under  his  sway  at  the  same  time,  but  he 
was  soon  afterwards  deposed,  and  reduced  to  the  greatest  ex- 
tremities. 

15.  In  887,  Arnold,   a   natural   son  of  Carloman,  and 
nephew  of  Charles  III.,  was  proclaimed  emperor  of  Germany. 
In  the  course  of  his  reign,  he  defeated  the  Normans,  took 
Rome,  and  was  crowned  there  by  the  pope.     His  son  Louis 
III.,  became  his  successor  in  899,  when  only  seven  years  of 
age.    He  was  the  last  emperor  descended  in  the  male  line  from 
Charlemagne. 

§  The  reign  of  Louis  is  said  to  have  been  so  much  agitated  by  di- 
visions between  the  lords  and  the  bishops,  that  the  young  emperor 
died  of  grief. 

From  the  death  of  Louis,  the  empire  became  strictly  elect- 
ive, although,  during  the  hereditary  succession,  the  consent  of 
the  bishops  and  grandees  had  always  been  asked. 

16.  Conrad,  duke  of  Franconia,  was   elected  to  fill  the 
vacant  throne  in  912.     He  reigned  seven  years,  during  which 
time  he  quelled  several  revolts,  and  purchased  peace  of  the 
barbarous  Hungarians 

§  The  German  grandees,  who  assembled  at  Worms,  first  offered 
the  imperial  diadem  to  Otho,  duke  of  Saxony ;  but  he  declining  it 

*  Webster's  Elements,  &c. 


GERMANY.  109 

on  account  of  his  advanced  age,  persuaded  them  to  appiy  the  invi- 
tation to  Conrad.  The  latter  was  of  imperial  descent  by  his  mother, 
who  was  a  daughter  of  Arnold.  During  his  reign,  the  affairs  ol 
Germany  were  conducted  with  great  prudence. 

17.  Upon  the  death  of  Conrad,  the  imperial  dignity  was 
bestowed  on  Henry  I.,  surnamed  the  Fowler.     This  prince 
possessed  great  abilities,  and  introduced  order  and  good  go- 
vernment among  his  people.     He  built  and  embellished  cities, 
reduced  and  conciliated  many  of  the  revolted  lords,  and  con- 
quered several  tribes,  as  the  Hungarians,  Danes,  Sclavonians, 
Bohemians,  &c.     He  added  Lorrain  to  his  dominions. 

§  Great  as  Henry  was  as  a  statesman,  he  manifested  considerable 
zeal  in  propagating  the  Christian  faith.  A  portion  of  the  Vandals 
whom,  he  subdued,  were,  under  his  auspices,  converted  to  this  religion. 
He  maintained  no  correspondence  with  the  See  of  Rome,  inasmuch 
as  he  had  been  consecrated  by  his  own  bishops. 

18.  His  son  Otho  I.,  the  great,  was  elected  emperor,  936. 
He  carried  on  the  system  of  his  father,  in  repressing  the  usur- 
pations, of  the  lords.     The  conquest  of  Bohemia  he  began  in 
938,  and  finished  in  950.     In  961  he  expelled  Berenger  II. 
and  his  son,  Adalbert,  from  Italy,  and  caused  himself  to  be 
crowned  at  Milan.     The  next  year  he  was  crowned  by  Pope 
John  XII.  and  from  that  time  he  may  be  justly  styled  the 
emperor  of  the  Romans.     John  afterwards  revolted  against 
him,  but  was  soon  deposed. 

Otho  was  the  greatest  prince  of  his  time.  After  an  active 
and  commendable  reign  of  thirty  years,  he  died  of  an  apo- 
plectic disorder,  in  972.  His  remains  were  interred  in  the 
cathedral  church  of  Magdebourg,  where  his  tomb  may  be 
still  distinguished  by  a  Latin  inscription. 

§  Otho  owed  his  ascendancy  in  Italy  to  the  disorders  and  crimes  of 
the  Papacy.  Being  invited  into  that  country  by  the  Pope  and  the 
Italian  states,  while  they  were  contending  with  Berenger,  he  defeat- 
ed the  latter,  and  in  return  for  the  honours  which  the  Pope  conferred 
upon  him,  he  confirmed  the  donations  made  to  the  Holy  See  by 
Pepin,  Charlemagne,  and  Louis  the  Debonaire. 

§  The  treachery  of  the  Pope,  (John  XII.)  obliged  the  emperor,  in 
two  or  three  successive  instances,  to  visit  Italy  to  compose  the  dis- 
orders that  took  place.  The  last  time,  he  executed  exemplary  ven- 
geance on  his  enemies,  by  hanging  one  half  of  the  senate.  Calling 
together  the  Lateran  Council,  he  created  a  new  Pope,  and  obtained 
from  the  assembled  bishops,  a  solemn  acknowledgment  of  the  abso- 
lute right  of  the  emperor  to  elect  to  the  papacy,  to  give  the  investi- 
ture of  the  crown  of  Italy,  and  to  nominate  to  all  vacant  bishoprics. 

The  power  of  parental  affection  is  strikingly  exhibited  in  the  fol- 

10 


110  MODERN    HISTORY.-^-PERIOD  V. 

lowing  incident  of  Otho's  life.  Ludolphus,  his  son,  had  engaged  in 
an  unnatural  revolt,  which  produced  some  serious  hostilities,  and 
occasioned  the  destruction  of  the  city  of  Ratisbon ;  but  after  some 
time,  the  prince  was  made  sensible  of  his  error,  and  seized  an  op- 
portunity while  the  emperor  was  hunting,  to  throw  himself  at  his 
feet,  and  implore  his  clemency.  "  Have  pity,"  said  he,  "  upon  your 
misguided  child,  who  returns,  like  the  prodigal  son,  to  his  father.  If 
you  permit  him  to  live  after  having  deserved  death,  he  will  as- 
suredly repent  of  his  folly  and  ingratitude,  and  the  residue  of  his 
life  shall  be  spent  in  the  faithful  discharge  of  filial  duty."  To  this  af- 
fecting appeal,  Otho  could  reply  only  by  a  flood  of  tears  and  a  pa- 
ternal embrace ;  but  when  his  agitation  subsided,  he  assured  the 
penitent  of  his  warmest  favour,  and  generously  pardoned  all  his 
adherents. 

19.  Otho  II.,  surnamed  the  Sanguinary,  succeeded  his 
father  in  973,  during  whose  reign,  and  that  of  several  others, 
nothing  of  importance  occurred.  The  names  of  the  sovereigns 
who  followed,  down  to  Henry  IV.,  are  Otho  III.,  St.  Henry, 
Conrad  II.,  and  Henry  III.  They  occupied  a  period  of  about 
eighty-three  years. 

20.  Henry  IV.,  the  Great,  succeeded  his  father  at  the  age 
of  six  years,  in  1056.     He  maintained  a  perpetual  struggle 
with  the  popes,  who  insisted,  that  only  the  cardinals  should 
elect  the  bishop  of  Rome.     It  was  the  lot  of  this  emperor  to 
experience  a  large  share  of  papal  insolence  and  tyranny. 
After   a   spirited  contest  with  Pope  Gregory  VII.,    during 
which,  the  pope  was  twice  his  prisoner,  and  the  emperor  as 
often  excommunicated  and  deposed,  Henry  fell,  at  last,  the 
victim  of  ecclesiastical   vengeance.     At  the  instigation   of 
Pope  Urban  II.,  the  two  sons  of  the  emperor,  Conrad  and 
Henry,  rebelled  against  their  father,  and  to  such  an  extremity 
was  he  reduced,  through  their  barbarity  and  the  pope's  act  of 
excommunication,  that  he  could  scarcely  obtain  the  means  of 
subsistence. 

His  sufferings  were  terminated  by  death  soon  after  the  ex- 
piration of  the  present  period,  viz.  in  1106,  he  having  lived 
sixty-four  years,  and  reigned  forty-eight.  Henry,  .in  his 
youth,  was  vicious  to  an  uncommon  extent,  and  gave  up 
himself  freely  to  the  indulgence  of  his  passions.  Misfortune, 
afterwards,  abated  his  sensual  excesses,  if  it  did  not  thorough- 
ly reform  his  character.  He  lived  to  acknowledge,  that  "  the 
hand  of  the  Lord  had  touched  him."  On  the  whole,  he  was 


ENGLAND.  Ill 

endowed  with  many  excellent  qualities — courage,  clemency, 
liberality,  and,  finally,  with  contrition  and  resignation. 

§  The  insolent  treatment  he  received  from  the  Pope,  appears  from 
the  following.  On  one  occasion,  he  set  out  for  Italy,  with  his  wife 
and  infant,  in  order  to  humble  himself  at  the  foot  of  his  holiness. 
On  his  arrival  at  the  place  where  the  Pope  was,  he  was  admitted 
within  the  outer  gate,  and  informed  that  he  must  expect  no  favour 
until  he  should  have  fasted  three  days,  standing  from  meaning  to 
evening,  barefooted  amid  the  snow,  and  then  implored  forgiveness 
for  his  offences.  This  penance  was  literally  performed,  notwith- 
standing the  fatigue  of  the  journey,  and  on  the  fourth  day  he  re- 
ceived an  absolution. 

The  liberality  of  Henry's  disposition  was  such,  that  he  is  said  to 
\ave  entertained  the  sick,  the  lame,  and  the  blind,  at  his  own  table, 
%nd  even  to  have  lodged  them  in  his  own  apartment,  that  he  might 
^e  at  hand  to  minister  to  their  necessities. 

ENGLAND. 

Saxon  Kings. — Norman  Family. 

21.  England,  which  had  been  divided  into  seven  distinct 
sovereignties  during  more  than  two  centuries,  became  one 
entire  kingdom,  in  827  A.  0.  This  change  was  effected  by 
the  prudence  and  valour  of  Egbert,  prince  of  the  West  Sax- 
ons, who  inhabited  that  part  of  the  heptarchy,  which  was 
called  Wessex  and  Sussex. 

The  occasion  which  offered  for  the  conquest  and  union  of 
the  heptarchy,  arose  from  the  fact,  that  Egbert  alone  remain- 
ed of  the  descendants  of  the  Saxon  conquerors  of  Britain ; 
he,  therefore,  naturally  looked  to  the  dominion  of  the  several 
states,  as  a  sort  of  right ;  nor  did  he  hesitate  to  claim  it,  also, 
with  his  sword.  Success  attended  his  undertaking,  and  four 
hundred  years  after  the  arrival  of  the  Saxons  in  Britain, 
were  they  united  into  one  powerful  kingdom. 

22  The  English,  who  were  so  happily  united  under  Eg- 
bert, enjoyed  their  prosperity  but  a  short  period.  The  pirati- 
cal Danes,  or  Normans,  who  had  molested  the  English  coasts 
for  fifty  years,  now  became  still  more  troublesome.  During 
the  life  of  Egbert,  they  twice  attempted  an  invasion,  but  were 
repulsed  with  much  slaughter. 

The  death  of  Egbert,  and  the  character  of  his  successor, 
Ethel  wolf,  a  prince  of  a  very  yielding  disposition,  encouraged 
the  Danes  to  multiply  their  depredations.  They  were  often 


118  MODERN    HISTORY. — PERIOD    V. 

defeated,  but  could  not  be  expelled.     By  his  will,  Ethelwolf 
divided  England  between  his   two  eldest  sons — Ethelbald 
and  Ethelbert.  Alfred,  afterwards  so  illustrious,  was  a  young 
er  son. 

§  It  was  Ethelwolf  who,  through  facility  of  disposition,  not  only 
granted  to  the  priesthood  a  perpetual  right  to  tithes,  but  exempted 
it  from  all  services  and  imposts. 

The  reign  of  Ethelbald  and  Ethelbert  was  short, — com- 
mencing in  857,  and  ending  in  866.  To  Ethelred,  a  third 
brother,  the  sceptre  was  bequeathed.  He  died  bravely,  in 
battle  against  the  Danes,  and  then  the  immortal  Alfred  suc- 
ceeded, in  872. 

23.  This  prince,  who  was  only  twenty-two  years  of  age, 
when  he  ascended  the  throne,  found  his  kingdom  in  a  most 
miserable  condition.  It  was  scourged  and  afflicted  by  an- 
archy, domestic  barbarism,  and  foreign  aggression.  By  his 
efforts,  however,  he  succeeded  in  raising  it  to  an  eminence 
and  happiness,  surpassing  what  might  have  been  expected  at 
that  period.  His  talents,  virtues,  and  character,  were  of  the 
highest  order,  and  have  justly  endeared  his  name  and 
memory  to  the  bosom  of  every  Englishman.  The  institu 
tions  which  he  founded  are,  to  this  day,  the  glory  of  the  Bri 
tish  realm. 

He  patronised  learning  and  the  arts — encouraged  manu 
factures  and  commerce — appropriated  a  seventh  of  his  reve 
nue  to  restore  the  ruined  cities,  castles,  palaces,  monasteries—- 
founded  or  revived  the  university  of  Oxford — divided  Eng- 
land into  counties  and  hundreds — took  a  survey  of  the  coun- 
try, and  formed  a  code  of  laws,  which,  though  now  lost,  is 
generally  deemed  the  origin  of  the  common  law. 

§  The  wisdom  of  his  civil  institutions  may  be  seen  in  his  division 
of  the  country.  This  plan  was  resorted  to  with  a  view  to  restore 
the  order  which  the  violence  and  rapacity  of  the  Danes  had  sub- 
verted. Besides  a  division  into  counties  and  hundreds,  there  were 
the  smaller  divisions  of  tithings.  Ten  householders  formed  a  tith- 
ing, who  were  answerable  for  each  other's  conduct,  and  over 
whom  a  headborough  was  appointed  to  preside.  Every  man  was 
registered  in  some  tithing,  and  none  could  change  his  habitation, 
without  a  certificate  from  the  headborough. 

In  the  decision  of  differences,  the  headborough,  also  called  tith- 
ing-man,  summoned  his  tithing  to  assist  him.  In  affairs  of  great 
moment,  or  in  controversies  between  the  members  of  different  tith- 
mgs,  the  cause  was  brought  before4he  court  of  the  hundred,  which 


ENGLAND,  l!3 

was  assembled  every  four  weeks.  Here  we  may  trace  the  origin  of 
juries.  Twelve  freeholders,  sworn  to  do  impartial  justice,  tried  the 
cause  in  this  court.  The  county  court,  which  met  twice  a  year, 
and  consisted  of  the  freeholders  of  the  county,  was  superior  to  that 
of  the  hundred,  from  which  it  received  appeals.  Here  disputes  be- 
tween the  inhabitants  of  different  hundreds  were  settled.  The  ulti- 
mate appeal  from  these  several  courts,  lay  to  the  king  in  council. 

The  reign  of  Alfred  was  signalized  by  his  contest  with  the 
Danes.  Within  the  space  of  one  year,  he  defeated  them  in 
*ight  battles  ;  but  a  new  irruption  of  their  countrymen,  forced 
him  to  solicit  a  peace,  which  these  pirates  frequently  inter- 
rupted by  fresh  hostilities.  At  this  juncture,  Alfred  was  com- 
pelled to  secure  his  person  by  retreating  into  an  obscure  part 
of  the  country.  Here  he  continued,  disguised  in  the  habit 
of  a  peasant,  for  many  months,  until  the  disorders  in  the  Da- 
nish army  offered  a  fair  opportunity  for  attacking  them.  This 
he  embraced  with  great  effect.  Instead  of  cutting  them  off  en- 
tirely, as  he  might  have  done,  lie  incorporated  many  of  them 
with  his  English  subjects.  It  was  after  these  exploits,  that  he 
turned  his  attention,  as  already  mentioned,  to  the  internal 
improvements  of  his  kingdom.  •  He  died  in  the  full  vigour 
of  his  age  and  faculties,  after  a  glorious  reign  of  twenty-nine 
years,  and  was  justly  surnamed  the  Great. 

§  Alfred  having  perceived  the  remissness  of  the  enemy,  from  whose 
pursuit  he  had  secreted  himself,  ventured  at  length  to  quit  his  retire- 
ment. With  a  few  of  his  retainers,  he  had  made  some  sudden  and  par- 
tial attacks  on  the  Danes ;  but  before  he  attempted  to  assemble  his 
subjects  generally  in  arms,  he  was  determined  to  explore  the  state  of 
the  enemy. .  His  skill  as  a  harper  procured  him  admission  into  their 
camp.  Having  been  introduced  to  Guthrum,  their  prince,  he  played 
before  him  in  his  tent.  Here  he  witnessed  their  supineness. 

Encouraged  by  what  he  had  seen,  he  sent  private  emissaries  to 
the  most  considerable  of  his  friends,  and  summoned  them  to  meet 
him  with  their  retainers,  at  a  certain  place.  The  English  crowded 
around  the  standard  of  a  monarch  whom  they  so  fondly  loved,  and 
before  their  ardour  could  cool,  he  led  them  victoriously  against  the 
enemies  of  their  country. 

24.  Edward,  surnamed  the  Elder,  succeeded  his  father  Al- 
fred, in  901.  He  lived  in  a  stormy  period,  being  continually 
molested  by  the  Northumbrian  Danes ;  yet  he  was  generally 
successful  in  his  wars,  and  his  administration  of  government 
was  honourable  to  his  character.  He  reigned  twenty-four 
years. 

§  Ethelwald,  a  younger  son  of  Alfred,  inherited  his  father's  passioa 

10* 


114  MODERN    HISTORY. PERIOD    V. 

for  letters,  and  lived  a  private  life — a  happy  turn  and  destiny  lor 
the  son  of  a  prince. 

25.  Athelstan,  a  natural  son  of  Edward,  succeeded  him, 
925.     He  was  an  able  and  popular  sovereign,  and  opposed 
with  success  the  Northumbrian  Danes,  Welsh,  Scots,  &c. 
He  encouraged  navigation,  by  conferring  the  rank  of  thane, 
or  gentleman,  on  every  merchant  who  had  made  three  voy- 
ages to  the  Mediterranean  on  his  own  account.     His  reign 
was  of  sixteen  years  continuance. 

§  He  effected  the  laudable  design  of  translating  the  Scriptures  into 
the  Saxon  tongue,  which  appears  to  have  been  the  earliest  version 
of  that  book  into  the  language  of  Britain. 

26.  Edmund,  a  legitimate  son  of  Edward,  next  ascended 
the  throne,  941.    He  reigned  about  five  years,  having  perish- 
ed by  the  hand  of  Leolf,  a  notorious  robber. 

Edred,  a  brother  of  Edmund,  became  his  successor,  946. 
In  this  prince,  was  the  singular  mixture  of  courage  and  su- 
perstition. His  courage  he  manifested  in  reducing  to  obe- 
dience the  Northumbrian  Danes — his  superstition,  in  becom- 
ing the  dupe  of  the  famous  Dunstan,  Abbot  of  Glastonbury. 
He  abandoned  his  conscience  to  this  deceiver. 

§  Dunstan  invented  several  marvellous  legends  of  his  conflicts  with 
the  devil — pretended  piety,  but  possessed  an  inordinate  ambition — 
and  was  at  last  canonized  as  a  saint. 

27.  Edwy,  a  nephew  of  Edred,  now  filled  the  throne  of 
the  Saxon  kings  of  England,  955.    By  marrying  within  the 
degrees  of  affinity  prohibited  by  the  canon  law,  he  and  his 
beautiful  princess  Elgiva,  both  became  objects  of  monkish  per- 
secution. 

§  Archbishop  Odo,  with  a  band  of  soldiers,  seized  Elgiva,  burned 
her  face  with  a  hot  iron,  and  forcibly  carried  her  into  Ireland. 
When  afterwards  she  attempted  to  return  to  the  arms  of  her  hus- 
band, she  was  secured  by  this  detestable  ecclesiastic,  and  by  his 
order  so  mutilated,  that  she  died  in  a  few  days  in  the  sharpest  torment. 

28.  Edgar,  the  younger  brother  of  Edwy,  succeeded  to  the 
throne,  959.     His  reign  lasted  sixteen  years.     His  private 
character  was  detestable,  on  account  of  his  licentiousness  ;  but 
energy  and  success  distinguished  his  public  administrations. 
He  promoted  the  inhuman  and  fanatical  Dunstan  to  the  arch- 
bishopric of  Canterbury,  and  paying  that  prelate  a  forced  ho- 
mage, he  was  able  to  carry  into  effect  his  various  plans  of  go- 
vernment. 

§  Edgar  obtained  his  wife  Elfrida,  in  the  following  manner.    She 


ENGLAND.  115 

was  a  daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Devonshire,  and  the  greatest  beauty 
of  the  English  court.  Edgar  designing  to  marry  her  if  her  charms 
were  found  answerable  to  report,  sent  his  favourite,  Athelwold,  to 
visit  her,  and  bring  him  an  account  of  her  person. 

The  courtiers  fidelity  was  overcome  by  the  beauty  of  Elfrida, 
and  with  a  view  to  secure  her  for  himself,  he  gave  an  unfavoura- 
ble account  to  the  king,  at  the  same  time  intimating  that  she  would 
on  the  whole  be  an  advantageous  match  for  himself,  on  account  of 
her  riches  and  birth.  The  king  forwarded  his  favourite's  views,  and 
he  obtained  the  hand  of  the  fair  damsel. 

The  truth,  however,  soon  came  to  the  ears  of  the  king,  and  inform- 
ing Atholwold  that  he  would  like  to  be  introduced  to  Elfrida,  and 
the  courtier  being  afraid  to  decline  the  honour,  he  had  an  opportu- 
nity, of  witnessing  with  his  own  eyes,  the  loveliness  of  her  person. 
Atholwold,  in  the  mean  time,  had  been  obliged,  in  the  hope  of  saving 
his  wife,  to  reveal  the  whole  transaction  to  her,  and  besought  her  to 
disguise  her  beauty  on  the  occasion. 

She,  however,  resenting  the  artifice  by  which  she  had  lost  a  crown, 
purposely  sought  to  captivate  the  king  by  a  display  of  her  person, 
and  easily  succeeded.  Edgar  soon  al'ter  embraced  an  opportunity 
in  hunting,  of  stabbing  Athelwold,  and  reaped  the  fruit  of  his 
crime  in  the  possession  of  the  enchanting  fair  one. 

29.  The  reign  of  Edward,  son  of  Edgar,  by  his  first  wife, 
was  short  and  uninteresting.  He  perished  by  assassination, 
which  was  instigated  by  his  step-mother  Elfrida,  978. 

Ethelrecl  II.,  son  of  Edgar,  by  Elfrida,  was  placed  on  the 
throne  at  the  age  of  eleven.  His  surname  was  Unready,  the 
reproachful  epithet  of  his  weakness.  His  hatred  of  the  Danes, 
who  again  molested  England,  was  so  great,  that  he  ordered 
a  massacre  of  all  those  of  that  people  who  had  been  retained 
as  mercenaries  in  his  army.  This  barbarous  mandate  was 
strictly  executed. 

The  Danes  at  home,  however,  resolved  OR  vengeance,  and 
accordingly  under  Svveyn,  their  king,  they  invaded  and  rava- 
ged the  country.  London  was  saved  from  destruction,  only 
by  the  payment  of  a  tribute.  The  weak  Ethelred  fleeing  to 
Normandy,  the  English  nobility  were  ashamed  of  their  prince, 
and  in  despair  of  relief,  offered  the  kingdom  to  Sweyn. 

The  Dane,  however,  died  soon  afterwards,  and  Ethelred 
was  restored  ;  but  Canute,  the  son  of  Sweyn,  asserted  his 
claims  to  the  crown  by  force  of  arms.  He  was  opposed  by 
Edmund,  son  of  Ethelred,  with  various  success. 

In  the  mean  time,  Ethelred  died,  after  a  long  and  inglorious 
reign,  and  Edmund  succeeded  to  the  government,  1016.  In 


116  MODERN    HISTORY PERIOD  V. 

the  war  which  he  carried  on  with  Canute,  he  was  obliged,  at 
length,  to  divide  his  kingdom  with  the  latter.  But  he  sur- 
vived this  treaty  only  a  month,  having  been  cut  off  by  the 
treachery  of  his  brother-in-law,  Edric. 

§  Edmund  was  surnamed  Ironside,  from  his  strength  and  valour  ; 
but  though  he  put  forth  every  effort,  he  could  not  save  his  realm. 
He  left  two  children,  who,  however,  never  succeeded  to  the  throne. 

Canute  became  sole1  monarch,  upon  the  death  of  Edmund, 
in  1017,  and  proved  to  be  the  most  powerful  sovereign  of  his 
time.  He  was  surnamed  the  Great,  and  possessed  eminent 
abilities.  He  was  terrible  in  his  resentments,  but  an  impar- 
tial dispenser  of  justice. 

§  In  the  distribution  of  justice,  he  made  no  distinction  between  the 
Danes  and  English  ;  he  restored  the  Saxon  customs,  and  gradually 
incorporated  the  victors  with  the  vanquished.  His  mind  was  affected 
with  religious  considerations  towards  the  close  of  life,  and  he  became 
alarmed  in  view  of  the  crimes  he  had  committed,  (for  he  had  put 
many  of  his  subjects  to  death  without  cause,)  but  his  piety  was  of 
that  superstitious  kind,  which  displayed  itself  in  building  churches 
and  endowing  monasteries,  the  great  virtues  of  those  ages. 

30.  Of  the  three  sons  whom  Canute  left,  two  ruled  in  suc- 
cession over  England,  viz. — Harold,  surnamed  Harefoot,  from 
his  speed  in  running,  who  reigned  only  four  years,  and  Har- 
dicanute,  who  reigned  but  a  few  months. 

Upon  the  death  of  the  latter,  the  English  freed  themselves 
from  the  Danish  yoke,  and  restored  the  Saxon  line  in  Ed- 
ward, a  younger  son  of  Ethelred,  1041.  He  was  entitled  the 
Confessor,  and  reigned  twenty-five  years  without  merit  of 
any  kind,  unless  it  were  his  ability  to  conciliate  the  esteem 
of  the  monks.  Having  no  children,  and  wishing  to  defeat 
the  views  of  Harold,  the  son  of  the  Earl  of  Godwin,  an  as- 
pirant to  the  throne,  he  appointed  his  kinsman,  William,  Duke 
of  Normandy,  his  successor.  Edward  was  the  last  of  the 
Saxon  kings  of  England. 

§  Ed  ward  united  all  the  laws  of  England  in  one  body,  called  the 
Common  Law.  He  was  the  first  king  of  England,  who  pretended 
to  cure  the  king's  evil  by  his  touch,  a  practice  which  was  continued 
till  the  Hanover  succession. 

31.  On  the  death  of  Edward,  Harold  actually  took  posses- 
sion of  the  throne,  but  William  determined  to  secure  it  as  his 
rightful  inheritance.     His  preparations  were  very  formidable, 
and  he  was  aided  in  this  romantic  age,  by  majay  sovereign 


ENGLAND.  117 

princes,  and  a  vast  body  of  nobility  from  the  different  king- 
doms on  the  continent. 

With  an  army  of  60,000  men,  he  set  sail  for  the  English 
coast.  Harold,  with  nearly  the  same  number  of  soldiers,  met 
him,  and  was  defeated  and  slain  in  the  field  of  Hastings. 
The  English  army  was  nearly  destroyed,  while  the  Normans 
lost  about  15,000  men.  William,  from  this  time  styled  the 
Conqueror,  soon  assumed  the  prerogatives  of  sovereignty, 
1066  A.  C.  The  princes  of  the  Norman  family  ruled  till  the 
time  of  Henry  II. 

William's  administration  of  government  was  marked  with 
ability,  and  in  general,  with  success.  In  consequence  of  the 
discontent  often  manifested  by  his  English  subjects,  he  began 
10  treat  them  too  much  as  a  conquered  people,  and  the  natural 
tyranny  of  his  disposition  increased  by  the  commotions  in 
which  this  policy  involved  him.  Hence  his  measures  were 
frequently  arbitrary  and  cruel. 

He  alienated  the  minds  of  the  conquered,  by  conferring  on 
his  Norman  followers,  all  the  important  places  in  the  govern- 
ment ;  by  causing  the  Norman  language  to  be  the  vehicle  of 
the  church  service,  and  also  of  judicial  proceedings ;  by  re- 
serving to  himself  the  exclusive  privilege  of  killing  game 
throughout  the  kingdom,  and  by  depopulating  a  tract  ot 
country  about  thirty  miles  round,  in  order  to  form  a  forest. 

§  He  was  the  author  ofseveral  other  regulations  of  an  inauspicious 
nature,  some  of  which  were  greatly  vexatious  to  the  people.  He 
introduced  the  feudal  system  ;  substituted  the  murderous  practice  of 
single  combat  for  the  trial  by  jury  ;  compelled  the  people  to  rake 
up  their  fires,  and  put  out  their  lights  at  the  sound  of  the  curfew 
bell ;  and  he  made  it  a  greater  crime  to  destroy  an  animal,  than  to 
murder  -a  man.  One  useful  act  of  his  reign,  was  a  survey  of  all  the 
lands  and  estates  of  the  kingdom,  with  an  estimate  of  their  value,  an 
enumeration  of  every  class  of  inhabitants  who  lived  on  them,  and 
other  important  specifications.  This  record  is  called  the  Doomsday- 
book,  which  is  still  in  being. 

The  children  of  William  brought  on  him  no  small  share 
of  trouble.  His  eldest  son  Robert,  attempted  to  wrest  from 
him  the  sovereignty  of  Maine,  and  his  foreign  subjects  assist- 
ed the  rebel.  The  king  led  against  them  an  army  of  the 
English,  and  during  the  battle  was  on  the  point  of  being  kill- 
ed in  a  rencounter  with  his  son.  Soon  after,  while  waging 
a  war  with  Philip  I.  of  France,  who  had  aided  in  the  rebel- 
lion, he  was  accidentally  killed  by  a  fall  from  his  horse,  1087. 


118  MODERN  HISTORY. PERIOD  V. 

• 

He  reigned  nearly  twenty-one  years  over  England,  and  be- 
queathed the  sceptre  to  his  second  son  William. 

William  was  eminent  as  a  statesman  and  warrior,  and  was* 
at  times  capable  of  generous  emotions  ;  but  the  prominent 
traits  of  his  character  were  very  unamiable.  His  pride,  am- 
bition, austerity,  and  cruelty,  both  inflicted  sufferings  on  his 
people,  and  robbed  his  own  mind  of  peace.  In  his  adminis- 
tration, though  he  was  sometimes  politic,  he  erred  on  the  side 
of  severity. 

§  The  person  of  William,  was  such  as  befitted  a  sovereign,  espe- 
cially in  a  rude  and  warlike  age.  He  was  tall,  majestic,  and  well 
proportioned.  His  strength  was  so  great  that  scarcely  any  other 
person  could  bend  his  bow,  or  wield  his  -arms.  He  was,  however, 
near  being  overcome  by  the  prowess  of  his  son  Robert,  on  a  certain 
occasion. 

While  contending  with  the  forces  of  that  rebel,  he  happened  to 
engage  with  him  in  person.  They  were'mutually  unknown  to  each 
other,  as  they  were  concealed  by  their  armour.  Both  being  vigo- 
rous and  resolute,  a  fierce  combat  ensued.  Robert  at  length  wound- 
ed and  dismounted  his  father,  nor  did  he  discover  who  his  antago- 
nist was,  till  at  that  instant,  in  his  cry  for  assistance,  William's  voice 
was  recognized  by  his  son. 

Struck  with  remorse  and  horror,  the  young  prince  threw  himself 
at  his  father's  feet,  and  implored  forgiveness,  at  the  same  time  assist- 
ing him  to  mount  his  own  horse.  William  was  implacable  at  first, 
but  reflecting  on  his  son's  generosity,  he  soon  became  reconciled  to 
him,  and  invited  him  into  England. 

32.  William  II.,  surnamed  Rufus,  from  his  red  hair,  ascend- 
ed the  throne  in  1087.  He  was  destitute  of  the  few  virtues 
of  his  father,  and  inherited  all  his  vices.  Perfidy,  tyranny, 
and  cruelty,  were  the  chief  ingredients  of  his  character.  Af- 
ter the  defeat  of  one  conspiracy  at  the  beginning,  his  reign 
W7as  a  series  of  despotic  acts,  which  conferred  neither  peace 
nor  honour  on  his  country.  After  a  reign  of  thirteen  years, 
he  was  accidentally  shot  by  Sir  Walter  Tyrrel,  with  an  ar- 
row, while  hunting  in  the  New  Forest. 

§  Tyrrel,  from  fear  of  the  consequences,  fled  to  France.  The  body 
of  William,  after  several  days,  was  found  by  the  country  people, 
and  conveyed  in  a  cart  to  Winchester,  where  it  was  interred.  The 
person  who  carried  the  corpse  of  the  king  to  interment,  was  named 
Purkis,  and  it  is  remarkable,  that  some  of  his  decendants,  are  known, 
at  this  very  day,  to  reside  near  the  same  spot. 

The  chief  monuments  that  perpetuate  the  name  of  Rufus,  are  the 
Tower,  Westminister  Hall,  and  London  Bridge. 


EASTERN  EMPIRE.  119 

EASTERN  EMPIRE. 

I 

33.  The  EASTERN,  or  GREEKEMPIRE,  during  the  present 
period,  was  ruled  by  thirty-nine  emperors,  mos.t  of  them  fol- 
lowing in  succession,  though  in  a  few  instances,  two  or  more 
ruled  at  the  same  time,  and  jointly.  None  of  them  were  very 
distinguished,  though  a  very  few  were  respectable  sovereigns. 
In  general  they  were  a  weak  or  vicious  race,  yet  scarcely  too 
degraded  to  be  rulers  of  the  degenerate  Romans.  A  few 
names  will  appear  below. 

This  people,  compared  with  what  they  had  been,  were  low  ; 
yet  still  they  were  on  an  equality,  at  least,  with  the  first  na- 
tions of  Europe,  at  that  time.  Their  degeneracy  was  rather 
in  moral  and  intellectual  qualities,  than  in  external  show  and 
consequence.  There  remained  among  them  much  of  ancient 
wealth  and  splendour. 

§  In  the  10th  century,  the  provinces  that  still  acknowledged  the  au- 
thority of  the  successors  of  Constantine,  had  been  cast  into  a  new 
form  by  the  institution  of  the  themes,  or  military  governments.  Of 
these,  there  were  twenty-nine,  viz.  twelve  in  Europe,  and  seventeen  in 
Asia ;  but  their  origin  is  obscure.  The  victories  of  a  few  of  the  em- 
porors  had  enlarged  the  boundaries  of  the  Roman  name ;  but  in  the 
eleventh  century  the  prospect  was  darkened.  The  relics  of  Italy 
were  swept  away  by  the  Norman  adventurers,  and  the  Turks  had 
removed  many  of  the  Asiatic  props  of  the  empire.  Still  the  spa- 
cious provinces  of  Thrace,  Macedonia,  and  Greece,  were  obedient  to 
their  sceptre,  and  they  possessed  Cyprus,  Rhodes,  and  Crete,  with 
the  fifty  islands  of  the  ^Ggean  Sea. 

The  subjects  of  the  Byzantine  empire,  were  more  dexterous  than 
other  nations,  and  in  the  support  and  restoration  of  the  arts,  their 
patient  and  peaceful  temper,  and  refined  taste,  are  highly  to  be  com- 
mended. The  first  demand  of  the  public  revenue  Avas  the  pomp 
and  pleasure  of  the  emperors.  The  coasts  and  islands  of  Asia  and 
Europe,  were  covered  with  their  magnificent  villas.  The  great  pa- 
lace, the  centre  of  imperial  residence,  was  decorated  and  enlarged 
by  the  wealth  of  successive  sovereigns  ;  and  the  long  series  of  apart- 
ments were  adorned  with  a  profusion  of  gold,  silver,  arid  precious 
stones. 

Of  the  numerous  emperors  of  this  period,  whose  reigns  in  general 
must  have  been  short,  the  following  only  can  be  noticed. 

Basil  I.,  who  ascended  in  867,  was  from  an  obscure  family,  but 
proved  himself  worthy  of  his  elevation.  He  defeated  the  Saracens 
in  the  east,  and  in  Italy,  but  could  not  prevent  them  from  ravaging 
the  Peloponnesus. 

An  incident  of  this  emperor's  reign  is  the  following.  His  son,  Leo, 
had  oeeii  imprisoned  on  a  false  accusation  of  an  attempt  to  assas- 


120  MODERN   HISTORY. — PERIOD   V. 

sinate  the  emperor.  Frequent  intercessions  were  made  bj  those 
who  believed  in  the  son's  innocence,  to  have  him  released,  till  the 
emperor  in  his  impatience,  forbade  Leo's  name  to  be  mentioned  in  his 
hearing.  It  happened,  however,  one  day,  that  a  parrot  which  had  often 
heard  a  regret  expressed  for  the  unhappy  prince,  on  a  sudden  broke 
out  with,  "  Alas,  poor  Leo  !"  in  the  emperor's  presence.  Basil,  struck 
with  the  sounds,  was  so  moved  that  he  consented  to  his  son's  libera- 
tion. 

Nicephorus  Phocas  possessed  the  reputation  both  of  a  hero  and 
saint.  His  saintship,  however,  was  only  a  pretence.  He  proved  his 
claim  to  heroism  in  his  wars  with  the  Saracens.  He  invaded  Asia, 
and  overran  Mesopotamia.  His  vices,  especially  his  avarice,  render- 
ed him  odious  to  his  subjects.  He  was  assassinated  by  John  Zime- 
sees,  who  succeeded  him  in  the  empire,  and  who  afterwards  met 
with  the  same  fate. 

Basil  II.  marched  against  the  kingdom  of  Bavaria,  and  finally  de- 
stroyed it.  On  this  occasion,  it  is  related  of  him,  that  having  taken 
a  great  number  of  prisoners,  he  divided  them  into  companies  of  an 
hundred  each,  caused  all  their  eyes  to  be  put  out,  and  ordered  them 
to  be  conducted  to  their  king  by  a  man  who  had  one  eye  left.  This 
horrible  spectacle  so  affected  the  king  of  Bulgaria,  that  he  fainted 
away,  and  died  two  days  afterwards. 

CHINA. 

34.  The  thirteenth  dynasty  of  the  emperors  of  CHINA  ter- 
minated during  the  present  period,  which  included  also  five 
other  dynasties.     The  number  of  emperors  was  thirty-three. 
Some  of  them  were  very  wise  men.     In  the  reign  of  Tai- 
tsong,  of  the  thirteenth  dynasty,  Christianity  was  introduced 
into  a  small  part  of  China. 

§  Tai-tsong  was  one  of  the  greatest  of  the  Chinese  princes.  He 
was  wise,  frugal,  and  affable.  His  ministers  attempted  to  excite  in 
him  apprehensions  from  his  too  great  familiarity  with  his  subjects ; 
but  he  replied,  "  I  consider  myself  in  the  empire  as  a  father  in  his 
family.  I  cany  all  my  people  in  my  bosom,  as  if  they  were  my 
children.  What  then  have  I  to  fear  ?" 

Chwang-tsong,  of  the  fifteenth  dynasty,  from  a  general,  stepped  to 
the  throne.  As  emperor,  he  preserved  his  martial  habits,  lived  very 
frugally,  and  slept  on  the  bare  ground  with  a  bell  about  his  neck  to 
prevent  his  sleeping  too  long.  He  was  devout,  and  all  his  prayers 
were  offered  for  the  good  of  his  subjects.  Block  printing  was  in- 
vented among  the  Chinese  during  his  reign. 

SARACENS. 

35.  At  the  commencement  of  the  present  period,  the  SA- 
RACENS were  flourishing  in  science  and  the  arts.    Their  mi- 
litary distinction  was  perhaps  on  the  wane.     Nearly  forty 


SARACENS.  121 

years  had  elapsed  since  the  seat  of  their  empire  was  trans- 
ferred to  Bagdad,  and  Arabia,  in  consequence,  had  lost  much 
of  its  importance.  Many  of  the  chiefs  of  the  interior  provin- 
ces became  independent,  and  withdrew  themselves  from  the 
civil  jurisdiction  of  the  caliph. 

§  It  is  supposed,  that  the  Saracens,  had  they  acknowledged  only 
one  head,  might  have  established  and  perpetuated  an  immense  em- 
pire. But  after  the  extension  of  their  conquests,  they  were  broken 
up  into  separate  states.  Egypt,  Morocco,  Spain,  and  India,  had,  at 
an  early  period,  their  own  sovereigns,  who,  though  they  paid  a  reli- 
gious respect  to  the  caliph  of  Bagdad,  awarded  him  no  temporal 
submission.  Divided  among  themselves,  they  were  destined  ere 
long  to  fall. 

36.  The  principal  military  expedition  of  the  African  Sara- 
cens in  this  period,  was  the  invasion  of  Sicily,  and  the  project- 
ed conquest  of  Italy.    They  actually  laid  siege  to  Rome,  which 
was  strenuously  defended  by  Pope  Leo  IV.     They  were  en- 
tirely repulsed,  having  their  ships  dispersed  by  a  storm,  and 
their  army  cut  to  pieces,  848. 

37.  The  house  of  Abbas,  which  now  enjoyed  the  caliphate, 
furnished  twenty-two  caliphs  during  this  period.  These  reign- 
ed in  succession,  and  Bagdad  continued  to  be  the  seat  of  their 
power.  In  the  year  1055,  however,  Bagdad  was  taken  by  the 
Turks,  and  the  caliphs,  from  that  time,  instead  of  being  tem- 
poral monarchsj  became  only  the  supreme  pontiffs  of  the  Ma- 
hometan faith. 

At  the  time  of  the  first  crusade,  in  the  beginning  of  the 
nexl  period,  Arabia  was  governed  by  a  Turkish  sultan,  as 
were  Persia,  and  the  greater  portion  of  lesser  Asia. 

§  We  can  notice  only  one  or  two  of  the  caliphs  of  Bagdad.  Adad- 
odawla  was  deemed  a  great  prince.  He  was  magnanimous,  liberal, 
prudent,  and  learned  ;  but  he  was  also  insatiably  ambitious.  A  re- 
mark which  he  made  when  at  the  point  of  death,  is  a  melancholy 
comment  on  human  greatness.  With  a  faultering  tongue,  he  cried, 
"  What  have  all  my  riches  and  prosperity  availed  me  ?  My  power 
and  authority  are  now  at  an  end." 

Mahmud  Gazai,  wras  a  famous  conqueror.  He  invaded  and  con- 
quered a  part  of  India.  The  following  striking  anecdote  is  related 
of  him  by  historians.  A  poor  man,  who  had  complained  to  him 
that  one  of  his  soldiers  had  driven  himself  and  family  out  of  his 
house  in  the  night,  was  told  to  inform  the  prince  if  that  occurrence 
should  take  place  again.  The  poor  man  had  occasion  to  inform  the 
prince,  who  went  to  the  house,  and  causing  the  lights  to  be  extin- 
guished, cut  the  intruder  in  pieces.  The  prince  then  commanded 
the  flambeaux  to  be  lighted,  and  after  closely  inspecting  the  corpse, 

11 


122  MODERN  HISTORY. PERIOD    V. 

offered  thanks  to  God,  and  asked  for  some  refreshment.    This  being 
afforded,  he  ate  heartily  of  the  mean  fare. 

Being  interrogated  by  his  host  respecting  the  reason  of  his  con- 
duct, he  replied,  "  Ever  since  your  complaint,  my  mind  has  been 
harassed  with  the  thought,  that  none  but  one  of  my  own  sons  would 
commit  such  an  act  of  audacity.  I  had  resolved  to  show  him  no 
lenity,  and  commanded  the  lights  to  be  put  out,  that  the  sight  oi 
him  might  not  affect  me ;  but  on  seeing  that  the  criminal  was  not 
my  son.  I  returned  thanks  to  the  Almighty." 

Distinguished  Characters  in  Period  V. 

1.  Charlemagne,  a  successful  warrior  and  able  sovereign 

2.  Photius,  a  learned  Christian  writer  and  philosopher. 

3.  Erigena,  a  Scotch  philosopher  and  learned  divine. 

4.  Alfred,  a  wise,  learned,  and  virtuous  prince. 

5.  Al  Razi,  an  eminent  Arabian  scholar,  and  physician. 

6.  Avicenna,  an  Arabian  philosopher  and  physician. 

7.  SuidaSj  a  Greek  lexicographer. 

§  1.  Charlemagne,  of  whom  some  account  has  already  been  given, 
was  king  of  France,  by  succession,  and  emperor  of  the  west,  by 
conquest,  in  800.  He  laid  the  foundation  of  the  dynasty  of  the 
Western  Franks.  Though  his  empire  did  not  hold  together,  long 
after  his  death,  his  successors  in  the  several  states  of  which  it  had 
been  composed,  reigned  several  centuries,  in  the  line  of  the  Franks. 
Indeed,  this  was  the  case,  till  the  house  of  Austria  was  founded. 

Charlemagne  was  in  many  respects  an  admirable  sovereign.  Ho 
excelled  in  war ;  and  although  he  was  so  illiterate  that  he  could 
not  spell  his  name,  he  was  great  in  the  cabinet,  and  patronised 
learning.  He  invited  into  France,  literary  and  scientific  men  from 
Italy,  and  from  the  Britannic  Isles.  The  latter,  in  those  dark  ages, 
preserved  more  of  the  light  of  learning,  than  any  of  the  western 
kingdoms. 

His  private  character  has  been  much  eulogized,  though  it  is  ac- 
knowledged that  he  was  sometimes  rigid  and  cruel.  He  was  simple 
in  his  manners  and  dress,  and  opposed  to  parade  and  luxury.  Eco- 
nomy, industry,  and  plainness,  characterised  him  in  a  domestic  state 
His  daughters  were  assiduously  employed  in  spinning  and  house- 
wifery, and  his  sons  were  trained  by  himself  in  all  manly  exercises 
Except  when  he  held  his  general  assemblies,  his  dress,  table  and  at- 
tendants were  like  those  of  a  private  person. 

He  was  a  man  of  almost  incredible  activity.  Instead  of  confiding 
in  the  reports  of  others,  he  personally  saw  that  his  orders  were  ex- 
ecuted. The  condition  of  his  subjects  was  constantly  in  his  view. 
In  one  place,  he  ordered  the  repairs  of  a  highway;  in  another,  the 
construction  of  a  bridge  ;  and  in  another,  he  afforded  the  necessary 
aid  to  agriculture  and  commerce.  Each  of  the  provinces  partook 
in  its  turn  of  his  benefits. 

Charlemagne  founded  several  seminaries  of  learning;  but  the 


DISTINGUISHED    CHARACTERS.  123 

Darkness  of  the  times  could  scarcely  be  alleviated  by  all  his  efforts. 
He  suppressed  mendicity,  and  established  a  fixed  and  invariable 
price  for  corn.  The  meanest  of  his  subjects  were  thus  enabled  to 
provide  against  their  wants,  and  all  complaints  on  this  head  were 
banished.  °  After  rearing  a  splendid  empire,  he  departed  this  life  at 
the  age  of  seventy-one  years. 

2.  Photius  was  patriarch  of  Constantinople  in  the  ninth  century, 
and   the  greatest  man  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived.     He  possessed 
the  patriarchate  only  ten  years,  during  which,  hs  was  exposed  to  a 
most  turbulent  opposition  and  cabal.     He  was  at  last  deposed,  ana 
died  in  a  monastery.     He  deserves  a  high  rank  in  point  of  erudi- 
tion.    He  was  the  author  of  a  commentary  on  the  ancient  writers, 
a  collection  of  the  canons  of  the  church,  epi.stl.es,  &c.     These  are 
yet  valuable  on  several  accounts.     In  commenting  on  the  scriptures, 
although  he  followed  reason,  rather  than  authority,  he  is  not  on  the 
whole  a  model  fit  to  be  taken.     He  explained  with  ability  the  cate- 
gories of  Aristotle.     He  died  in  886. 

3.  Erigena,  John  Scotus,  was  born  at  Ayr,  in  Scotland,  according 
to  some  authorities,  and  was  very  learned,  in  a  very  barbarous  age. 
He  was  employed  by  king  Alfred  to  promote  learning  and  the  liberal 
arts.     For  this  purpose  he  was  appointed  to  preside  at  Oxford,  over 
the  studies  of  geometry  and  astronomy  in  particular.     He  spent 
three  years  in  this  situation ;  but  some  disputes  and  disturbances 
arising  at  Oxford,  he  left  that  place  and  retired  to  a  monastery  at 
Walinsbury.     There  he  opened  a  school,  but  his  harshness  and  se- 
verity to  his  scholars  so  provoked  them,  that  they  stabbed  him  with 
(he  iron  bodkins  they  then  .wrote  with,  in  such  a  manner,  that  he 
died,  833.     Moshehn  speaks  of  Erigena  as  an  eminent  philosopher 
and   learned   divine,  and  as  manifesting  uncommon  sagacity   and 
genius.     He  wrote  a  book   on  Predestination,  and  translated  into 
Latin  four  pieces  of  Dionysius,  the  Areopagite,  and  was  the  author 
of  some  other  works. 

4.  Alfred,  so  justly  surnamed  the  Great,  was  born  in  849,  as  is 
supposed,  at  Wantage,  in  Berkshire.     He  succeeded  to  the  crown  on 
the  death  of  his  brother  Ethelred  in  871 ;  but  he  had  scarcely  time 
to  attend  to  the  funeral  of  his  brother,  before  he  was  obliged  to 
fight  for  his  kingdom  and  life,  with  the  piratical  Danes.     His  mili- 
tary exploits,  with  several  other  things,  have  been  above  related.    The 
particulars  which  may  with  propriety  be  added,  are  the  following. 

Alfred  was  both  a  wise  and  a  pious  prince.  His  qualities  were 
most  happily  blended  together,  so  that  no  one  encroached  on  ano- 
ther. He  reconciled  a  most  diligent  attention  to  business,  with  the 
purest  and  warmest  devotion — the  severest  justice  with  the  most  ex- 
emplary lenity — the  brightest  capacity  and  inclination  for  science 
with  the  most  shining  talents  for  action.  He  was  equally  a  warrior 
and  a  legislator.  He  united  with  rich  mental  endowments,  every 
personal  grace  and  accomplishment. 

The  darkness  and  superstitions  of  the  age,  were  too  powerful  for 
his  efforts  and  institutions.  He  could  not  expel  them  to  any  great 


124  MODERN    HISTORY. — PERIOD  V. 

extent.  Yet  he  did  considerable  to  elevate  the  character  of  his 
countrymen,  and  he  aimed  at  much  more.  In  addition  to  the  schools 
and  seminaries  of  learning  which  he  founded,  he  afforded  the  attrac- 
tive influence  of  his  own  example. 

His  time  he  usually  divided  into  three  equal  portions — one  was 
employed  in  exercise  or  the  refection  of  the  body — -mother  in  the 
despatch  of  business — and  a  third  in  study  and  devotion.  He  con- 
veyed his  instructions  to  the  people  in  parables,  stories,  &c.  couch- 
ed in  poetry;  as  he  considered  these  best  adapted  to  their  capa- 
city. He  translated  the  Fables  of  yEsop,  the  histories  of  Orosius 
and  Beda.  and  Boethius  on  the  Consolation  of  Philosophy.  In  these 
various  literary  enga^'M.ents,  he  sought  the  good  of  his  people,  as 
well  as  his  own  personal,  intellectual  improvement. 

5.  Al  Razi,  a  name  not  perhaps  well  known  in  European  literature, 
was  famous  in  the  Arabian  annals;  and  the  Arabians  at  this  era 
were  the  most  enlightened  of  the  nations.     This  person  is  said  to 
have  been  extremely  well  versed  in  all  kinds  of  ancient  learning; 
though  he  excelled  most  in  physic,  and  is  styled  the  Phomix  of  the 
age.     He  applied  himself  to  the  study  of  philosophy  with  such  suc- 
cess, that  he  made  a  wonderful  pi  ogress  in  every  branch  of  it,  and 
composed  a  great  number  of  books  upon  physical  and  philosophical 
subjects.     He  composed  12  books  on  alchemy,  in  which  he  asserted 
the  possibility  of  a  transmutation  of  metals,  and  was  the  first  writer 
on  the  small-pox. 

He  is  said  to  have  contracted  webs  in  his  eyes  by  the  immoderate 
eating  of  beans  ;  and  towards  the  close  of  his  life,  lost  both  of  them 
by  cataracts.  He  would  not  permit  an.occulist,  who  came  to  couch 
him,  to  perform  the  operation,  because  he  could  not  tell  of  how 
many  little  coats  the  eye  consisted ;  saying  at  the  same  time,  that  he 
was  not  very  desirous  of  recovering  his  sight,  as  he  had  already  seen 
enough  of  the  world  to  make  him  abhor  it.  He  died  about  the  year  935. 

6.  Avicenna,  who  is  much  celebrated  among  his  countrymen,  the 
Mahometans,  was  born  in  the  year  980,  and  died  in  1036.  The  num- 
ber of  his  books,  including  his  smaller  tracts,  is  computed  at  near 
one  hundred,  the  majority  of  which  are  either  lost,  or  unknown 
in  Europe.     At  the  age  of  ten  years,  he  had  made  great  progress  in 
classical  literature.     It  is  said  that  hft  read  over  Aristotle's  metaphy- 
sics 40  times,  got  it  by  heart,  but  could  not  understand  it.    Acciden- 
tally meeting  with  a  book  which  treated  of  the  objects  of  metaphy- 
sics, he  perceived  what  Aristotle  meant,  and  out  of  joy  at  the  disco- 
very, gave  alms  to  the  poor. 

7.  Suidas  flourished  between  975  and  1025.     His  native  country 
is  not  known.     He  is  the  author  of  a  very  useful  Greek  Lexicon 
The  work  contains  much  historical  and  geographical  information. 
No  particulars  seem  to  have  been  recorded  respecting  his  life,  either 
by  himself  or  by  others.    He  is  known  only  by  his  book. 


THE    CRUSADES.  125 


PERIOD  VI. 

The  period  of  the  Crusades ;  extending  from  the  First 
Cr/tsaf/kj  1095  years  A.  GY.,  to  the  founding  of  the 
Turkish  Empire,  1299  years  A.  C. 

During  this  period.  we  have  manifold  proofs  of  the  darkness  o 
the  times,  with  a  singular  mixture  of  a  spirit  of  adventure,  and  lofty 
daring.  The  age  was  peculiarly  characterised  hy  the  crusades,  the 
passion  for  pilgrimages,  the  exploits  of  chivalry,  and  the  production 
of  romances.  Barbarism  and  turbulence  extensively  prevailed,  while 
the  lights  of  science  were  few  and  dim.  In  England,  however,  there 
was  the  early  dawn  of  literature. 

THE  CRUSADES. 

SECT.  1.  Tu  giving  an  account  of  the  CRUSADES,  we  include 
a  porti  ;n  of  the  history  of  the  principal  European  nations.  For 
this  leason,  less  of  the  separate  history  of  those  nations  will 
appear  during  this  period,  than  would  otherwise  be  introdu- 
ced. The  Crusades  were  common  to  all  Christendom,  and 
all  felt  a  deep  interest  in  them.  The  other  peculiarities  of  the 
times,  as  pilgrimages,  chivalry,  the  feudal  system,  (fee.  since 
thev  belonged  to  the  established  customs  and  institutions  of 

*/ 

Europe,  will  be  unfolded  in  the  General  Views.  In  the  Cru- 
sades, the  political  and  military  history  of  a  great,  part  of  the 
world  is  carried  on  for  a  long  time. 

2.  The  Crusades  were  wars  undertaken  principally  during 
the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries,  hy  the  Christian  nations 
of  Etirope,  on  account  of  religion.  They  were  termed  Cru- 
sades, from  the  cross  which  was  the  badge  of  the  combatants. 
The  object  of  these  wars  was  the  deliverance  of  Palestine, 
and  particularly  the  tomb  of  Jesus  Christ  from  the  dominion 
of  the  Turks  or  Mahometans. 

The  Turks,  or  Turcomans,  a  race  of  Tartars,  having,  in 
1055,  taken  Bagdad,  and  thus  overturned  the  empire  of  the 
caliphs,  came  into  the  possession  of  tbe  countries  which  these 
caliphs  had  governed,  and  the  caliphs  themselves,  instead  of 
temporal  monarchs,  became  sovereign  pontiffs  of  the  Mahome- 
tan faith.  Palestine,  and  particularly  Jerusalem,  were  of  course 
under  the  sway  of  the  Turks,  and  the  seat  of  their  religion. 

11* 


126  MODERN   HISTORY. PERIOD  VI. 

Tri  this  situation  of  things,  the  resort  of  pilgrims  to  the 
tomb  of  our  Saviour  was  attended  with  much  difficulty  and 
danger.  While  the  Saracens  held  possession  of  the  country, 
the  pilgrims  were  permitted  to  have  free  access  to  the  holy 
city  ;  but  its  new  masters,  the  Turks,  were  a  more  wild  and 
ferocious  people.  They  insulted  and  robbed  those  fanatical 
devotees — a  circumstance,  in  such  an  age,  of  sufficient  im- 
portance to  arouse  all  Europe  for  the  deliverance  of  Jerusalem 
from  the  infidels.  The  Roman  pontiffs  were  the  principal 
instigators  of  these  desperate  adventures. 

§  In  an  age  of  religious  enthusiasm,  and  in  an  unenlightened  state 
of  society,  it  is  not  surprising  that  Judea  should  have  been  an  object 
of  veneration,  or  superstitious  regard  to  the  Christian  world.  Here 
the  great  events  recorded  in  the  sacred  scriptures  transpired — the 
chosen  people  of  God  subsisted  through  many  generations — unnum- 
bered miracles  were  performed — the  Mosaic  and  Christian  dispen- 
sations were  set  up — even  God's  own  Son,  the  Messiah,  lived,  suffer- 
ed, and  died.  Here  prophets  and  apostles  had  preached,  ^nd  writ- 
ten, and  shed  their  blood  in  testimony  of  the  truth,  and  every  tenant- 
ed part,  especially  the  Holy  City,  was  marked  by  some  divine  inter- 
position or  manifestation,  most  dear  to  the  lover  of  piety. 

A  country  so  hallowed,  is  capable,  even  now,  of  exciting  the  most 
delightful  associations;  and  though  we  are  in  no  danger  of  attempt- 
ing any  thing  like  a  crusade,  yet  nothing  relating  to  such  a  land  can 
be  contemplated  without  deep  emotion.  What  sensations  then  must 
have  been  excited  in  a  deeply  enthusiastic  and  superstitious  age  ' 
And  much  as  we  smile  at  their  folly,  how  easily  can  we  account  for 
the  ardour  which  was  displayed  by  unlettered  minds  and  fanatical 
tempers,  on  the  subject  of  the  crusades  !  Connected  also,  as  "was  a 
pilgrimage  to  the  holy  land,  with  the  idea  of  merit,  and  merit  even 
sufficient  to  purchase  salvation,  nothing  can  be  conceived  more  cal- 
culated to  arouse  every  honourable  and  indignant  feeling,  than  the 
obstructions  in  the  way  of  such  a  devotion.  It  was  a  hardship  not 
to  be  endured,  that  the  Christian  disciple  should  be  prevented  from 
approaching  and  musing  over,  with  a  sort  of  adoration,  the  sepul- 
chre in  which  his  blessed  Redeemer  was  laid, 

2  £  There  were  five*  expeditions  of  the  kind  here  spoken 
of,  which,  during  nearly  two  centuries,  drained  from  Europe 
most  of  its  life-blood  and  treasures.  All  western  Europe  be- 
came involved  in  these  destructive  wars,  but  the  French  en 
tered  upon  them  with  more  enthusiasm  than  any  other  na- 
tion. 

The  first  crusade  was  preached  by  Peter,  commonly  styled 

*  Some  reckon  a  larger  number. 


THE    CRUSADES.  127 

the  hermit.  After  having  sufficiently  excited  Christendom  by 
his  rude  eloquence,  he  found  vast  multitudes  ready  to  engage 
in  the  hazardous  undertaking.  The  jxjpes,  however,  had 
for  some  time  contemplated  die  same  design,  and  Urban  II., 
the  reigning  pontiff,  availed  himself  of  this  opportunity  of 
executing  his  splendid  project  of  arming  the  whole  of  Chris- 
tendom against  the  Mahometans,  through  the  instrumentality 
of  Peter.  Two  general  councils  were  called  and  held  on  the 
subject,  one  at  Placentia  arid  the  other  at  Clermont,  and  were 
attended  by  many  thousands.  The  pope  himself  harangued 
the  multitude,  and  offered  to  all  who  woidd  engage  in  the  ser- 
vice, plenary  indulgence,  and  full  absolution  of  sins. 

Peter,  Avho  possessed  none  of  the  necessary  qualities  of  a 
military  leader,  was  placed  at  the  head  of  this  motley  crowd 
of  all  ages,  conditions,  and  character,  amounting  to  eighty 
thousand  men.  They  commenced  their  march  towards  the 
Enst,  in  the  spring  of  1096,  and  were  soon  followed  by  an 
addition  of  two  hundred  thousand  persons  of  the  same  pro- 
miscuous description.  They  were  any  thing  rather  than  a 
regularly  appointed  army,  or  efficient  military  force.  Their 
progress  was  marked  by  outrages  ;  not  more  than  one  third 
of  them  leached  the  scene  of  action  ;  and  those  who  did, 
were  nearly  all  cut  off  in  battle  on  the  plain  of  Nice. 

§  Peter  the  Hermit,  was  a  native  of  Amiens,  m  Picardy,  (France.) 
He  seems  to  have  been  the  first  effectual  mover  of  this  mighty,  and 
tt  may  be  properly  added,  mad  project.  His  own  pilgrimage  to  the 
tomb  of  onr  Saviour,  had  made  him  acquainted  with  the  dangers  and 
vexations  to  which  pilgrims  were  exposed  in  Asia,  and  became  the 
occasion  or  cause  of  the  enterprise  in  which  he  embarked.  Fired 
with  a  sense  of  his  own  wrongs,  and  those  of  his  fellow  pilgrims, 
he  sought  the  gratification  of  revenge,  or  at  least,  the  means  oi 
preventing  the  recurrence  of  those  evils,  in  future.  For  this  purpose 
he  travelled  from  city  to  city,  and  from  kingdom  to  kingdom,  repre- 
senting with  a  rude  but  pathetic  eloquence,  the  grievances  of  the 
pilgrims,  and  urging  the  necessity  of  making  a  common  effort  against 
the  common  enemy  of  Christians  and  their  religion.  On  this  sub- 
ject he  exhorted  all  whom  he  met,  and  hesitated  not  to  call  on  no- 
bles as  well  as  their  vassals — the  rich  as  well  as  the  poor. 

His  applications  of  this  kind  were  aided  by  his  personal  appear- 
ance. He  was  a  monk,  and  exhibited  all  the  austerity  of  that  cha- 
racter. He  was  an  enthusiast,  and  displayed  more  than  an  enthu- 
siast's madness.  He  travelled  bare  headed,  and  with  naked  arms 
and  legs,  having  only  a  part  of  his  body  covered  with  a  coarse  gar- 
ment. He  seemed  wasted  with  fasting,  and  exhausted  with  anxiety 


128  MODERN    HISTORY. PERIOD   VI. 

and  toil.  He  bore  aloft  in  his  hand  a  ponderous  crucifix,  to  which 
he  pointed  with  the  most  animated  gestures  ;  nor  did  he  restrain  his 
prayers,  whatever  his  situation  might  be,  but  poured  his  whole  soul 
in  loud  and  prolonged  supplications  in  the  streets  and  highways.- 

The  body  of  enthusiasts  who  crowded  arcmnd  him  \vasi, iunr 
Princes,  noblemen,  artisans,  peasants,  monks,  and  even  \vo.n;-M.  ma- 
nifested equal  anxiety  to  ben  1  their  steps  to  the  East,  and  exji  -I  l /if 
infidel  hordes  from  the  consecrated  land.  To  the  v.ci.ms  and  aban- 
doned in  character— 1>  the  ambitious  and  disorderly — to  robbers,  in- 
cendiaries, murderers,  and  other  offenders,  a  (it  opportun.ty  wo.-;  pre- 
sented of  procuring  the  pardon  of  their  sins,  and  at  i,ie  same  time 
of  indulging  in  unbounded  lust  and  rapine. 

As  Malmsbury  curiously  observes,  "the  report,  of  the  council  oi 
Clerniont,  wafted  a  cheering  gale  over  the  minds  of  Christians. 
There  was  no  nation  so  remote,  no  people  so  retired,  as  did  not  re- 
spond to  the  papal  wishes.  This  ardent  lov  •  not  only  inspired  tiie 
continental  provinces,  but  the  most  distant  islands  and  savage  coun- 
tries. The  Welshman  left  his  hunting  ;  the  Scotch  his  fellowship 
with  vermin;  the  Dane  his  drinking  party  ;  the  Norwegian  his  raw 
fish."  Robert  of  Normandy,  after  mentioning  in  general  terms  the 
contributions  of  men  which  France  and  England  made  to  the  holy 
war,  thus  singularly  mixes  other  nations : 

"  Of  Normandy,  of  Denmark,  of  Norway,  of  Bretagne, 
Of  Wales,  and  of  Ireland,  of  Gascony,  and  of  Spain, 
Of  Provence,  and  of  Saxony,  and  of  Allemagne, 
Of  Scotland,  and  of  Greece,  of  Rome  and  Aquitain  " 

At  this  time,  "  every  wonderful  event  in  the  natural  world  was 
regarded  as  an  indication  of  the  divine  will.  Meteors  and  stars 
pointed  at  and  fell  on  the  road  to  Jerusalem.  The  skies  were  in- 
volved in  perpetual  storms,  and  the  blaze  and  terror  of  anxious  and 
disordered  nature  showed  the  terrific  harmony  of  heaven  with  the 
sanguinary  fury  of  earth.  Man  fully  responded  to  the  supposed 
calls  of  God.  The  moral  fabric  of  Europe  was  convulsed  ;  the  re- 
lations and  charities  of  life  were  broken  ;  society  appeared  to  be 
dissolved.  Persons  of  every  age,  rank,  and  degree,  assumed  the 
cross.  The  prohibition  of  women  from  undertaking  this  journey 
was  passed  over  in  contemptuous  silence.  They  separated  them- 
selves from  their  husbands  where  men  wanted  faith,  or  resolved  to 
follow  them  with  their  helpless  infants.  Monks,  not  waiting  for  the 
permission  of  their  superiors,  threw  aside  their  black  mourning 
gowns,  and  issued  from  their  cloisters  full  of  the  spirit  of  holy  war- 
riors. They  who  had  devoted  themselves  to  a  solitary  life,  mistook 
the  impulses  of  passion  for  divine  revelations,  and  thought  that  hea- 
ven had  annulled  their  oaths  of  retirement.  A  stamp  of  virtue  was 
fixed  upon  every  one  who  embraced  the  cause ;  and  many  were 
urged  to  the  semblance  of  religion,  by  shame,  reproach,  and  fashion. 
When  families  divided,  nature  and  fanaticism  contended  for  the 
mastery.  A  wife  consented  to  the  departure  of  her  husband,  on  his 
vowing  to  return  at  the  end  of  three  years.  Another  in  whom  fear 


THE  CRUSADES.  129 

was  stronger  than  hope,  was  lost  in  violence  of  grief.  The  husband 
wore  the  semblance  of  indifference,  unmoved  by  the  tears  of  his  wife 
and  the  kisses  of  his  children,  though  his  heart  reproached  him  for 
the  sternness  of  his  countenance.  On  the  other  hand,  fathers  led 
their  sons  to  the  place  of  meeting — women  blessed  the  moment  of 
separation  from  their  husbands,  or  if  they  lamented,  it  was  from 
tht  cause  they  were  not  permitted  to  share  the  honours  and  perils  of 
the  expedition.  In  some  instances,  the  poor  rustic  shod  his  oxen 
like  horses,  and  placed  his  whole  family  m  a  cart,  where  ,*  was 
amusing  to  hear  the  children,  on  the  approach  to  any  large  town  or 
castle,  inquiiing  if  the  object  before  them  was  Jerusalem." 

Such  was  the  disordered  rabble  that  attempted  the  conquest  of 
Palestine,  and  such  the  circumstances  under  which  the  expedition 
commenced.  Only  a  small  part  of  the  vast  multitude  ever  reached 
Asia.  From  the  beginning  they  were  illy  provided  with  necessaries^ 
and  therefore  had  recourse  to  acts  of  rapine.  Their  progress,  so  de- 
structive to  the  countries  through  which  they  passed,  was  frequently 
arrested  by  collision  with  their  inhabitants.  The  Jews  of  Germa- 
ny were  the  first  sufferers  ;  but  it  was  in  Hungary  and  Bulgaria 
especially,  that  the  outrages  committed  by  the  Crusaders  were  visit- 
ed upon  their  own  heads.  When  they  arrived  at  Constantinople, 
the  emperor,  Alexius  Commenus,  to  whom  they  behaved  themselves 
with  the  utmost  insolence  and  folly,  was  not  slow  to  rid  himself  of 
his  troublesome  guests.  For  this  purpose  he  furnihsed  them  with 
every  aid  which  they  required,  and  lent  his  ships  to  transport  them 
across  the  Bosphorus. 

They  thence  pursued  their  march,  but  the  Sultan  Solyman  meet- 
ing them  on  the  plains  of  Nice,  their  numbers  were  too  much  redu- 
ced to  offer  him  any  thing  else  than  an  easy  victory.  Of  their  bones, 
Solyman  erected  a  pyramid  near  the  city,  as  a  monument  of  his  own 
fortune,  and  of  their  headlong  counsels. 

3.  A  new  host,  which  was  the  most  valuable  part  of  this 
expedition,  arrived  in  the  mean  time,  at  Constantinople,  as  a 
general  rendezvous.  The  commanders  were  experienced 
generals  and  men  of  renown.  Among  them,  were  Godfrey 
of  Bouillon,  by  some  called  commander  in  chief ;  Baldwin 
his  brother;  Robert,  duke  of  Normandy  ;  Hugh,  count  of  Ver- 
mandois  ;  Raymond,  count  of  Thoulouse  ;  Bohemond,  prince 
of  Tarentum ;  and  Tancred,  his  cousin.  These  and  other 
warlike  princes  and  captains,  inspired  by  religious  enthu- 
siasm, or  military  ardour,  pledged  themselves  to  redeem  the 
holy  sepulchre  from  the  infidels.  The  troops,  when  reviewed 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Nice,  amounted  to  100,000  horse, 
and  600,000  foot,  including  women  and  servants. 

Alexius,  the  eastern  emperor,  did  not  suffer  them  to  remain 
Long  at   Constantinople ;  but  after  seeking  to  obtain  an  as- 


130  MODERN    HISTORY. PERIOD    Vi. 

tendency  over  them  as  a  superior  ally,  be  had  the  address  to 
accelerate  their  departure.  They  at  length  met  the  Sara- 
cens, whom  they  overpowered  hy  numbers.  Having  twice 
defeated  the  enemy,  they  took,  af'er  immense  difficulty,  losses, 

•  ''€-»  •/          '  / 

and  delay,  (he  cities  of  Nice,  Edessn,  and  Antiocli. 

§  Constantinople,  nt  the  period  when  the  crusader?  met  there,  was 
the  k-gest  and  most  beautiful  city  of  Europe.  The  most  that  re- 
mained of  ancient  elegance  in  manners  and  in  arts,  was  included  in 
that  emporium.  It  \vas  the  marl  of  the  world,  and  the  scat  of  em- 
pire. Though  the  Gmeks  were  degenerate,  yet  such  was  the  splen- 
dour of  their  capital. 

The  hardy  warriors  of  the  north,  beheld  with  amazement,  these 
scenes  of  magnificence  and  wealth,  whilst  they  despised  the  effemi- 
nate manners  and  unwarlike  character  of  the  people.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  accomplished  inhabitants  of  Constantinople,  looked  upon 
the  northern  warriors  as  barbarians.  They  speak  of  them  as  illit- 
erate, fierce,  and  savage,  and  as  nearly  resembling  their  ancestors, 
the  Goths  and  Vandals,  who  overturned  the  Roman  empire.  They 
treated  their  guests  sometimes  with  respect,  but  oftener  with  the 
most  hateful  duplicity. 

The  gold  and  artifices  of  the  emperor  were  emp]oyed  not  without 
effect — most  of  the  leaders  of  the  Croises  taking  the  oath  of  fealty 
to  him  as  their  liege  lord.  He  was  not  averse  to  the  destruction  ot 
his  enemy,  the  Turk ;  but  the  numbers  and  bravery  of  the  warriors 
of  the  north,  filled  his  bosom  with  jealousy.  On  various  pretences, 
many  of  them  were  cut  off  in  his  own  territories,  and  they  experi- 
enced several  alternatives  of  peace  and  war  in  the  country  of  the 
Greeks. 

The  characters  of  the  celebrated  leaders  of  the  Croises,  on  this  oc- 
casion, may  require  a  passing  notice.  Godfrey  was  endowed  by  na- 
ture with  her  choicest  gifts.  He  possessed  all  the  knowledge  of  the 
times;  and  the  gentlest  manners  were  united  with  the  firmest  spirit. 
He  was  capable  of  the  grandest  enterprises;  his  deportment,  was 
moral,  and  his  piety  was  fervent.  To  sum  up  his  character,  ,in 
arms  he  was  a  hero— in  his  closet  a  saint. 

The  qualities  of  Baldwin  were  not  so  conspicuous.  He  was  brave 
indeed,  but  he  was  ambitious ;  and  his  courage  was  stained  with  sel- 
fishness, cruelty,  and  injustice.  Hugh,  wrho  was  brother  of  the 
French  king,  called  to  his  side  the  armed  pilgrims  from  Flanders, 
and  England,  and  a  part  of  France.  He  was  a  brave  and  accom- 
plished cavalier,  but  undevout,  and  of  a  proud  deportment.  Robert, 
who  was  a  son  of  William  the  Conqueror,  entered  upon  the  holy 
war  with  a  furious  and  precipitate  passion.  He  was  eloquent  and 
skilful,  but  imprudent,  yielding,  and  voluptuous. 

Bohemond  posessed  neither  religion  nor  probity ;  yet  to  the  eye  of 
the  vulgar,  he  was  one  of  the  most  devoted  soldiers  of  Christ.  He 
was  intriguing,  rapacious  and  versatile.  Tancred  was  a  compara- 


•* 


THE    CRUSADES. 

lively  pure  and  brilliant  spirit.   He  was  bold  and  generous,  and  would 
have  been  humane  to  all  mankind,  had  it  not  been  for  the  spirit  of 
,he  age.    Raymond  was  inexorable  in  his  hatred  of  the  Musselmans; 
pride,  selfishness,  and  avarice  tarnished  his  character. 
The  soldier  pilgrims  all  convened  on  the  plains  of  Nice. 

"There  the  wild  Crusaders  form, 

There  assembled  Europe  stands, 
Heaven  they  deem  awakes  the  storm, 

Hell  the  paynims'  blood  demands." 

The  details  of  the  siege  and  capture  of  Nice,  and  the  subsequent 
operations  against  Edessa  and  Antioch,  cannot  be  narrated.  Suffice 
it  to  say,  that  Nice  fell  by  means  of  the  policy  of  Alexius,  who  had 
joined  the  Franks  or  crusaders.  While  the 'latter,  who  had  with 
much  difficulty  and  loss,  effected  some  breaches  in  the  wall,  were 
about  to  storm  anew  the  repairs,  the  emperor  snatched  the  victory 
from  their  grasp,  by  secretly  proposing  more  favourable  terms  to  the 
besieged,  than  could  be  expected  from  an  enemy  that  would  enter 
the  city  sword  in  hand.  The  soldiers  clamoured ;  while  the  Latin 
generals,  thinking  of  greater  objects,  dissembled  their  disgust,  and 
endeavoured  by  fair  persuasions  to  stifle  the  anger  of  their  troops. 

The  conquest  of  Edessa,  beyond  the  Euphrates,  was  achieved  by 
a  few  ambitious  and  courageous  soldiers,  who  had  separated  for  a 
time  from  the  main  body  of  the  Franks,  under  the  command  of 
Baldwin  and  Tancred. 

Before  Antioch  could  be  reached,  some  fighting  was  necessary,  and 
the  Christians  triumphed — much  fatigue  was  to  be  borne,  and  here 
many  of  them  sunk.  The  horrors  of  the  way,  and  the  heat  of  a 
Phrygian  summer,  were  fatal  to  multitudes.  Five  hundred  perished 
in  one  day.  Mothers,  no  longer  able  to  afford  sustenance  to  their 
infants,  exposed  their  breasts  to  the  swords  of  the  soldiers.  Many 
of  the  horses  perished :  the  baggage  was  then  placed  on  the  backs 
of  goats,  hogs,  and  dogs.  When  the  crusaders  came  to  a  country  of 
streams,  they  threw  themselves  without  caution  into  the  first  river 
that  presented  itself,  and  nature  could  not  support  the  transition 
from  want  to  satiety. 

The  siege  of  Antioch  was  protracted,  nor  was  this  wholly  sur- 
prising, considering  the  state  of  defence  in  which  the  city  was 
placed  ;  as  well  as  on  the  other  hand,  the  unskilful  operations  of  the 
Croiscs,  the  famine  in-  their  camp,  the  numerous  desertions  from 
among  them,  and  the  relaxation  of  their  morals.  The  Latin  chiefs 
put  forth  prodigious  efforts  of  valour;  but  the  city  was  finally  taken 
by  stratagem.  A  traitor  delivered  it  into  the  hands  of  the  Franks, 
and  10,000  Turks  were  massacred.  When  the  thirst  of  blood  was 
slaked,  the  assassins  turned  robbers,  and  became  as  mercenary  as 
they  had  been  merciless.  They  seized  all  the  wealth  of  the  place, 
and  exchanged  their  fierceness  for  the  more  civilized  vices  of  de- 
bauchery and  hypocrisy.  While  they  rioted  in  unbounded  indul 
gence,  they  gave  God  thanks. 

The  taking  of  Ar.tioch  was  very  soon  followed  by  a  set  battle 


132  MODERN    HISTORY. — PERIOD   VI. 

with  the  Mussel  mans  ;  for  the  hosts  of  the  Moslem  world  pitched 
their  tents  round  the  fallen  capital.  The  excesses  of  the  crusaders 
Avere  followed  by  famine  in  its  every  horrid  form ;  and  hud  not 
some  superstitious  frauds  been  practised,  by  which  their  zeal  and 
courage  were  re-excited,  they  would  have  shrunk  from  a  contest 
with  the  formidable  army  which  now  opposed  them  under  the  ex- 
citements  of  religion ;  however,  they  met  it,  and  triumphed  in  the 
affray. 

4.  The  Croises  pursued  their  successes,  and  after  various 
desertions  and  delays  they  penetrated  to  Jerusalem.  Thia 
venerable  city,  which  had  been  so  often  destroyed  and  rebuilt, 
was  taken  by  storm  after  a  siege  of  six  \veeks,  and  the  whole 
of  its  inhabitants,  both  Mahometans  and  Jews,  were  barba- 
rously put  to  the  sword,  1099  A.  C.  The  crusaders  were  by 
this  time  reduced  to  a  very  inconsiderable  number.  Of  the 
709.000  that  appeared  before  Nice,  40,000  only  encamped 
around  Jerusalem.  Of  these,  only  21,500  were  soldiers.  In- 
cluding the  rabble  of  Peter,  the  possession  of  Nice,  Edessa, 
and  Antioch,  had  cost  the  lives  of  more  than  850,000  Euro- 
peans. 

§  The  victories  of  the  Crusaders  were  gained  with  difficulty. 
After  the  capture  of  Antioch,  their  embarrassments  were  not  a 
few.  Alexius  had  acted  a  cowardly  and  perfidious  part.  Hugh, 
count  of  Verimndois,  soon  abandoned  the  holy  cause,  a*nd  returned 
to  France.  The  march  of  the  Christian  forces  was  purposely 
delayed  several  months,  by  the  commanders,  although  the  soldiers 
were  impatient  to  proceed  to  Jerusalem.  This  delay,  however,  was 
attended  by  the  most  serious  evils.  Discord  prevailed  among  the 
princes — rapine  and  theft  among  the  people.  A  pestilence  spread 
throughout  their  hosts,  which,  in  a  few  months,  destroyed  more 
than  one  hundred  thousand  persons.  In  the  mean  time,  several 
wars  of  ambition  were  waged,  in  the  neighbouring  provinces.  Th 
forces  which  attacked  the  town  of  Marra,  were  so  urged  by  famin 
that  many  of  the  soldiers  turned  cannibals,  and  devoured  the  fles 
of  their  enemies,  whom  they  massacred  with  the  utmost  cruelty. 

At  length,  the  Christian  warriors  set  their  faces  towards  the  hoi 
city.  When  it  came  in  view,  every  heart  glowed  with  rapture- 
every  eye  was  suffused  with  tears.  The  joy  of  a  moment  out 
weighed  years  of  sorrow.  In  their  heated  imaginations,  the  sepul- 
chre was  redeemed,  and  the  cross  triumphed  over  the  crescent,  IJut 
the  anticipation  of  success  was  much  easier  than  the  reality.  The 
most  strenuous  exertions  were  necessary,  and  the  enthusiasm  and 
valour  of  the  Christians  were  carried  to  the  greatest  height.  After 
several  alternations  of  partial  victory  and  defeat,  the  walls  of  the 
sacred  city  were  carried,  and  all  Jerusalem  was  in  possession  of  the 
champions  of  the  cross.  The  blood  of  the  Saracens  attested  the 
ferocity  of  the  victory,  and  the  price  at  which  their  conquest 


THE  CRUSADES.  133 

obtained.  Ten  thousand  of  the  vanquished  were  butchered  in  the 
mosque  of  Omar  alone,  to  which  they  had  fled  as  a- sacred  asylum. 
In  this  place,  the  croises  are  said  to  have  ridden  in  the  blood  of  the 
Saracens  up  to  the  knees  of  their  horses.  Ten  thousand,  or  accord- 
ing to  some,  a  much  larger  number,  were  massacred  in  the  streets. 
The  Christians*  committed  these  dreadful  deeds  from  principle  rather 
than  from  passion.  It  was  a  horrid  principle  indeed ;  but  intoler- 
ance was  unhappily  the  spirit  of  the  age. 

5.  With  considerable  foresight,  the  conquerors  of  Jerusalem 
established  a  Christian  kingdom  in  the  heart  of  Palestine. 
An  extension  of  territory  was  indispensable  to  the  security  of 
the  city  from  the  Mussulman  hordes  that  surrounded  it.    At 
the  head  of  this  kingdom,  Godfrey,  the  most  worthy  of  the 
heroes  of  Christendom,  was  placed  by  the  suffrages  of  the 
Christians.    He  reigned  however  but  one  year,  during  which 
time  he  defeated  the  sultan  with  an  immense  army  at  Asca- 
lon.     At  the  expiration  of  the  year,  he  was  compelled  to  give 
up  his  kingdom  to  the  pope's  legate.     Several  kings  reigned 
after  him,  but  their  history  need  not  be  told. 

An  impolitic  act  of  the  crusaders,  by  which  their  power  was 
weakened,  was.  at  length,  the  division  of  Syria  and  Palestine 
into  four  separate  states.  Having  accomplished  their  object, 
they  began  to  return  to  Europe ;  but  in  proportion  as  they 
withdrew,  the  Turks  recovered  their  strength.  The  crusa- 
ders, who  remained  in  Asia,  found  themselves  so  surrounded 
by  foes,  that  they  were  at  last  obliged  to  solicit  aid  from  Chris- 
tendom. 

§  The  fruits  of  this  first  crusade  ill  repaid  its  immense  loss  and  ex- 
pense, and  were  comprised  within  the  small  territory  of  Jerusalem, 
the  dominion  of  which  was  bounded  by  the  term  of  eighty  years. 
The  holy  war,  nevertheless,  continued  to  be  recommended  by 
the  popa  and  the  clergy  with  unabated  earnestness.  It  was  still  re- 
presented to  be  the  cause  of  the  Son  of  God,  an  engagement  in  which 
was  the  most  meritorious  of  all  acts,  and  insured  salvation,  whether 
in  the  success  or  defeat. 

6.  The  aid  which  was  needed  in  the  East  was  socfri  afford- 
ed.    Europe  sent  forth  a  second  crusade  in  1147.     St.  Ber- 
nard, who  was  the  great  oracle  of  the  age,  ha/,  the  influence 
to  excite  Louis  VII.  of  France,  and  Conrad  111.  of  Germany, 
to  undertake  the  defence  of  the  kingdom  of  Jerusalem.  Three 

^j 

hundred  thousand  of  their  subjects  assumed  the  cross.     The 
bsue  of  this  enterprise  was  disastrous  in  the  extreme. 

Manuel,  the  emperor  of  the  Greeks,  gave  intelligence  of  their 
plans  to  the  Turkish  sultan,  and  provided  them  with  freache- 

12 


MODERN  HISTORY. PERIOD  VI. 

rous  guides.  The  army  of  Conrad,  which  took  the  lead,  fell 
first  into  the  snare.  Those  who  did  not  perish  by  hunger  in 
the  deserts,  fell  into  the  jaws  of  the  Musselmans.  Only  a 
tenth  part  secured  their  retreat  to  the  army  of  Louis.  Louis, 
also  duped  by  the  Grecian  emperor,  advanced  through  the 
same  country  to  a  similar  fate.  In  the  defile  of  a  mountain  near 
Laodicea;  his  army  was  totally  defeated. 

At  Jerusalem,  these  unfortunate  monarchs  met  to  lament 
their  sad  reverses  of  fortune.  The  feeble  remains  of  the  mighty 
armies  which  they  had  led,  were  joined  to  the  Christian  pow 
ers  of  Syria,  and  a  fruitless  siege  of  Damascus  was  the  final 
effort  of  the  second  crusade. 

§  A  few  particulars  may  be  given  respecting  the  preacher  of  the  se- 
cond crusade.  St.  Bernard,  by  the  superiority  of  his  talents,  and  also 
ofliis  consideration  in  the  eyes  of  Europe,  was  far  more  capable  than 
Peter  the  Hermit,  of  exciting  enthusiastic  emotions.  His  ardent  and 
religious  mind  soon  disdained  the  follies  of  youth ;  and  casting  off  the 
desire  of  celebrity  as  a  writer  of  poetry  and  songs,  he  wandered  in  the 
regions  of  spiritual  reverie,  or  trod  the  rough  and  thorny  paths  of 
polemical  theology. 

At  the  age  of  23,  he  embraced  the  monastic  life,  and  soon  after- 
wards founded  the  monastery  of  Clairvaux,  in  Champaigne.  His 
miraculous  eloquence  separated  sons  from  their  fathers,  and  husbands 
from  their  wives.  His  earnestness  and  self-denial  in  religion,  gained 
him.  the  reverence  of  his  contemporaries,  and  in  disputes  he  was 
appealed  to  as  an  incorruptible  judge.  Such  was  his  austerity, 
that  happening  once  to  fix  his  eyes  on  a  female  face,  he  immediately 
reflected  that  this  was  a  temptation,  and  running  to  a  pond  he  leap- 
ed up  to  his  neck  into  the  water,  which  was  of  an  icy  coldness,  to 
punish  himself  and  vanquish  the  enemy. 

Such  a  man  was  the  fit  tool  of  the  pope,  Eugenius  III.,  who  order- 
ed him  to  travel  through  France  and  Germany,  and  to  preach  a 
plenary  indulgence  to  those  who  would,  under  the  banners  of  their 
kings,  bend  their  way  towards  the  holy  land.  As  Peter  had  repre- 
sented the  scandal  of  suffering  the  sacred  places  to  remain  in  the 
hands  of  the  infidels,  the  eloquent  Bernard  thundered  from  the  pul- 
pit the  disgrace  of  allowing  a  land,  which  had  been  recovered  from 
pollution,  to  sink  into  it  again.  This  voice  raised  armies  and  depo- 
pulated cities.  According  to  his  own  expression,  "  the  towns  were 
deserted,  or,  the  only  people  that  were,  in  them  were  widows  and 
orphans,  whose  husbands  and  fathers  were  yet  living." 

7.  The  state  of  the  holy  land  between  the  second  and 
third  crusades  deserves  a  passing  notice.  A  feeble  sway  was 
held  by  most  of  the  chiefs  of  the  kingdom  of  Jerusalem.  The 
death  of  Baldwin  III.,  however,  was  lamented  as  a  public 
calamity.  His  successors  were  Almeric,  Baldwin  IV.,  and 


THE  CRUSADES.  135 

Guy  de  Lusignan.  The  miseries  of  war  were  often  expe- 
rienced from  their  Musselman  enemies.  It  was  daring  this 
period,  that  the  celebrated  Saladin,  nephew  of  the  Sultan  of 
Egypt,  attained  the  height  of  his  glory,  and  became  lord  of  that 
country.  He  formed  the  design  of  recovering  Palestine  from 
the  Christians. 

8.  The  occasion  of  the  third  crusade  was,  the  success  of  Sa- 
iadin  against  the  Latins  in  Jerusalem.     He  had  previously 
subdued  Tiberias,  and  received  the  submission  of  Acre,  Jaffa, 
and  some  other  places.    Jerusalem  offered  an  obstinate  resist- 
ance, but  in  vain.     The  city  was  taken  after  a  siege  of  a  few 
days,  and  Guy  de  Lusignan  was  made  prisoner,  1187  A.  G. 
The  conqueror  treated  the  inhabitants  with  singular  clemency. 
The  infidels  were  now  once  more  established  m  the  city  of  the 
prophets. 

§  The  conquered  Latins,  on  being  obliged  to  leave  Jerusalem,  con- 
sumed four  days  in  weeping  over  and  embracing  the  holy  sepulchre. 
The  women  entreated  the  conqueror  to  release  to  them  their  fathers, 
husbands,  and  brothers.  With  courteous  clemency  Saladin  released 
all  the  prisoners  whom  they  requested,  and  loaded  them  With  pre- 
sents. 

9.  The  conquests  effected  by  the  infidels,  filled  Europe  with 
grief,  and  almost  with  despair.    The  losses  occasioned  by  the 
former  crusades,  had  rather  dismayed  the  public  mind.  Small 
masses  of  men  continued  indeed  to  move  towards  the  East, 
but  it  required  a  degree  of  management  and  much  exhorta- 
tion to  wake  up  a  general  interest  in  favour  of  a  third  crusade. 
Pope  Clement  III.  at  length  prevailed  on  three  sovereigns  to 
engage  in  the  holy  enterprise.     These  were  Philip  Augustus, 
of  France,  Richard  I.,  sumamed  the  Lion-hearted,  and  Fre- 
derick Barbarossa,  of  Germany. 

The  forces  of  Philip  and  Richard  are  computed  at  one  hun- 
dred thousand  soldiers  ;  it  does  not  appear  how  many  follow- 
ed the  standard  of  Frederick.  The  latter,  in  passing  through 
the  Greek  empire,  was  prudent  and  humane,  although  the 
haughtiness  and  duplicity  of  the  emperor  Isaac  Angelus,  sub- 
jected him  to  much  inconvenience.  The  Germans  defeated 
the  Turks  in  a  general  engagement,  and  took  Iconium.  But 
unfortunately,  their  sovereign  lost  his  life  in  consequence  of 
bathing  in  the  river  Calycadnus.  After  the  death  of  Barba- 
rossa, his  army  dwindled  to  a  small  number. 


136  MODERN  HISTORY. PERIOD  VI. 

The  English  and  French,  for  a  short  time,  proceeded  h^» 
moniously  in  the  career  of  victory.  They  took  Acre,  a  place 
of  great  strength.  Soon,  however,  the  bitter  feelings  of  mi- 
litary envy  and  national  hatred  began  to  be  excited,  the  con- 
sequence of  which  was,  that  the  French  monarch  returned 
home,  leaving' a  portion  of  his  army  under  the  command  of 
Richard.  Left  alone  to  sustain  the  contest,  Plantagenet  dis- 
played all  the  heroism  of  chivalry.  He  found  himself  at  the 
head  of  nearly  thirty  thousand  French,  German,  and  English 
soldiers.  With  this  force  he  defeated  the  illustrious  Saladin, 
near  the  plains  of  Ascalon.  Political  disturbances  in  England, 
made  Richard  solicitous  to  return  thither,  especially,  as  his 
ranks  were  now  thinned  by  disease  and  famine.  With  this 
object  in  view,  he  concluded  a  favourable  treaty  with  his  ene- 
my, and  attempted  to  return  to  his  dominions.  In  passing 
through  Germany,  however,  unaccompanied  by  his  troops,  he 
was  seized  by  the  order  of  the  duke  of  Austria,  and  made 
prisoner.  It  was  not  until  after  along  captivity,  and  the  pay 
ment  of  an  immense  ransom,  that  he  was  restored  to  his  na- 
tive land.  Not  long  after  the  departure  of  Richard,  Saladh> 
paid  the  debt  of  nature. 

§  In  the  treaty  which  was  formed  between  Richard  and  Saladin, 
the  Christian  monarch,  and  the  sultan  of  Egypt,  interchanged  ex- 
pressions of  esteem.  The  grasping  of  each  other's  hands,  was  the 
only  and  sufficient  pledge  of  fidelity.  A  truce  was  agreed  upon  for 
three  years  and  eight  months  ;  the  fort  of  Ascalon  was  to  be  destroy- 
ed ;  but  Jaffa  and  Tyre,  with  the  country  between  them,  were  to  be 
surrendered  to  the  Christians. 

In  leaving  Palestine,  Richard,  with  his  queen,  embarked  in  a  ship; 
but  the  violence  of  a  tempest  dispersed  his  fleet,  and  so  shat- 
tered the  vessel  he  was  in,  that  it  became  impossible  for  him  to 
reach  England  in  that  way.  He  then  made  for  Germany  ;  but  his 
person  was  endangered  as  he  travelled  the  country,  since  the  fact  of 
his  being  there  became  known  to  some  of  his  enemies.  After  va- 
rious escapes,  he  arrived  at  a  town  near  Vienna.  Two  individuals 
only  were  with  him.  one  of  whom  was  a  boy,  who  understood  the 
German  language. 

The  party  were  too  harassed  to  proceed.  The  German  boy  was 
sent  to  the  market-place  to  purchase  provisions.  Through  the  libe- 
rality of  his  master,  he  was  so  neatly  and  elegantly  dressed,  that  the 
people  could  not  but  notice  him.  The  consequence  was  that  he  was 
questioned,  and  giving  unsatisfactory  answers,  he  was  seized  and 
scourged.  Being  at  length  threatened  with  the  cutting  out  of  his 
tongue,  if  he  did  not  tell  the  truth,  he  was  obliged  reluctantly  to  dis 
close  the  secret  of  the  real  quality  of  his  master. 


THE    CRUSADES.  137 

Richard  was  immediately  secured,  and  though  at  first  treated 
with  respect,  was  soon  confined  in  prison.  Being  sold  at  length  to 
che  emperor,  Henry  VI.  removed  him  to  a  castle  in  the  Tyrol.  But 
the  strongest  walls  are  not  sufficiently  secure  for  the  feors  of  a  ty- 
rant. Armed  men  were  sent  into  his  chamber,  and  commanded  to 
watch  him  with  the  utmost  strictness. 

Here,  sometimes,  the  royal  captive  calmed  his  angry  soul,  by  sing- 
ing the  warlike  deeds  of  the  heroes  of  romance.  At  other  times,  he 
diverted  melancholy  by  the  composition  of  poems.  Occasionally, 
he  forgot  his  misfortunes,  and  the  apparent  negligence  of  his  friends. 
His  native  hilarity  conquered  the  bitterness  of  his  spirit ;  he  laugh- 
ed at  the  frequent  intoxication  of  his  gaolers,  he  sported  the  keen- 
ness of  his  wit,  and  in  the  boisterousness  of  his  merriment,  displayed 
his  personal  strength  and  agility. 

At  the  request  of  his  mother,  the  queen  Eleanora,  the  Pope  inter- 
fered for  his  release ;  and,  after  a  trial  on  some  pretended  crime,  it 
was  concluded  to  ransom  the  English  monarch,  as  though  he  had 
been  a  prisoner  of  war,  the  English  people  paying  about  150,000 
marks  of  silver  to  the  German  emperor. 

10.  By  the  energy  of  Richard,  Palestine  was  saved  from 
becoming  a  Mussulman  colony  i  and  so  much  of  the  sea  coast 
was  in  the  hands  of  the  Christians,  and  so  enfeebled  was  the 
enemy,  that  it  was  safe  to  commence  hostilities,  whenever 
Europe  should  again  pour  forth  her  religious  and  military  fa- 
natics. This  event  was  not  long  delayed,  notwithstanding 
the  infinite  losses  and  sufferings,  which  had  hitherto  resulted 
from  the  crusades. 

A  fourth  crusade  was  fitted  out  in  1202,  by  Baldwin,  count 
of  Flanders,  who  collected  an  army  of  the  Flemish  and 
French,  professedly  to  attack  the  Mahometans,  though  it 
seems  to  have  found  another  enemv.  Like  the  other  crusa- 

»/ 

ders,  he  made  the  eastern  Christians  first  feel  the  effect  of 
European  adventure  and  military  enthusiasm.  Indeed,  his 
efforts  ended  here ;  for,  arriving  at  Constantinople,  at  a  time 
when  there  was  a  dispute  for  the  succession,  his  interference 
afforded  the  occasion  of  plundering  the  city,  and  securing  the 
possession  of  the  imperial  throne  of  the  East.  The  Venetians 
lent  their  vessels  for  the  enterprise,  and  participated  in  it. 

§  Some  historians  reckon  a  crusade  anterior  to  the  war  carried  on 
by  Baldwin,  denominating  his  the  fifth.  There  were  expeditions 
from  Germany  in  the  intermediate  time ;  but  it  may  be  doubtful 
whether  they  deserve  the  name  of  a  distinct  crusade.  Indeed,  there 
were  so  many  different  expeditions,  some  public  and  others  private, 
that,  the  designation  of  a  certain  number  of  separate  crusades,  seems 
*omewhat  arbitrary.  According  to  the  common  accounts,  we  have 

12* 


138  MODERN  HISTORY. — PERIOD  VI. 

assigned  the  name  of  the  fourth  crusade,  to  the  expedition  of  which 
the  count  of  Flanders  was  the  leader. 

The  third  crusade  was  created  by  the  ordinary  influence  of  papal 
power  and  royal  authority ;  but  the  fourth  sprang  from  genuine 
fanaticism.  Fvtlk,  who  was  worthy  of  companionship  with  Ber- 
nard, became  a  preacher  distinguished  by  the  vehemence  with  which 
he  declaimed  against  certain  vices  of  the  age.  With  his  celebrity, 
increased  his  desire  to  be  generally  useful  to  mankind.  The  natu- 
ral consequence  in  that  superstitious  age,  was,  that  he  turned  his 
eye  towards  the  east,  and  assumed  the  cross.  The  copious  matter 
of  his  sermons  was  the  war  with  the  infidels.  Around  the  man 
of  God,  all  classes  thronged,  and  thousands  were  eager  to  assume 
the  insignia  of  holy  warriors.  Nor  was  Pope  Innocent  III.  inactive 
in  the  cause,  having  required  the  various  temporal  and  spiritual 
chiefs  of  Christendom  to  take  up  arms  for  the  defence  of  Palestine, 
or  at  least  to  send  him  considerable  succours  of  men  and  money. 

Application  having  been  made  to  the  Venetians  for  the  loan  oi 
their  ships,  and  the  Venetians  themselves  desiring  to  embark  in  the 
enterprise,  the  croises  at  length  set  sail  for  Constantinople.  That 
proud  city,  once  the  sister  and  rival  of  Rome,  was  fallen  so  low, 
that  the  aid  of  the  western  barbarians  was  invoked  by  a  claimant  to 
the  throne  of  the  Caesars.  In  his  behalf,  war  against  the  Greek  em- 
pire was  resolved  on,  and  Constantinople  was  made  the  point  of 
attack.  The  particulars  of  the  assault  need  not  be  given,  but  it  is 
a  striking  account  drawn  up  by  an  old  writer,  that  when  the  inva- 
ders, at  the  distance  of  three  leagues,  beheld  the  city,  "  the  magni- 
tude and  splendour  of  Constantinople  awed  the  courage  of  the 
bravest ;  and  not  without  reason,  for  never  since  the  creation  of  the 
world,  had  so  bold  an  enterprise  been  undertaken  by  so  small  a 
force."  The  Greeks  made  a  display  of  numbers  and  strength,  but 
the  nerves  and  soul  of  war  were  not  in  them.  The  partisans  of  the 
usurper,  Alexius,  made  only  a  feeble  defence,  and  soon  abandoned 
the  city  to  its  fate.  The  city  was  captured,  and  the  young  Alexius 
sat  on  the  throne. 

After  one  or  two  revolutions  in  the  government,  the  allied  army 
of  French  and  Venetians,  who  had  been  paid  the  tribute  which  they 
required,  and  had  been  kept  in  the  vicinity  of  Constantinople,  deter- 
mined to  seize  the  city  on  their  own  account.  This,  after  a  severe 
struggle,  was  effected  ;  and  a  severe  struggle  it  ought  to  have  been 
on  the  part  of  the  invaders,  when  only  20.000  men  captured  the 
largest  city  in  the  world.  There  were  400,000  men  capable  of  bear- 
ing arms  in  Constantinople.  The  excesses  of  the  barbarians  were 
enormous.  To  their  eternal  infamy,  they  destroyed  most  of  the  re- 
mains of  the  noble  monuments  of  genius,  in  the  sculpture  and  sta- 
tuary of  the  Pagan  world.  In  no  conquered  city,  it  is  thought,  was 
there  ever  obtained  so  much  booty.  One  historian  remarks,  that  the 
gold  and  silver,  the  silk,  the  gems,  and  precious  stones,  and  alJ 
those  things  which  are  accounted  riches,  were  found  in  more  abuu 
dance  than  all  the  Latin  world  could  furnish." 


THE  CRUSADES.  139 

11.  Baldwin,  as  the  reward  of  his  success  against  the  capi- 
tal of  the  East,  was  invested  with  the  Roman  purple,  1204 
But  he  was  dethroned  and  murdered,  after  a  reign  of  a  few 
months.     The  Imperial  dominions  were  shared  among  the 
principal  leaders  ;  the  Venetians  obtained  the  Isle  of  Candia, 
as  their  portion.     By  the  acquisition  of  Constantinople,  the 
injuries  of  the  crusaders  were  avenged ;  and,  for  the  present 
they  looked  for  no  other  conquest.     The  dominion  of  the  La- 
lins,  however,  lasted  but  fifty-seven  years.     Few  events  on 
die  page  of  history  have  been  equally  curious  and  interesting, 
with  the  establishment  of  this  people  in  the  city  of  Constan- 
tine. 

12.  In  the  former  part  of  the  thirteenth  century,  succeed- 
ing the  crusade  against  the  Greek  empire,  several  expeditions 
were  fitted  out  against  the  Musselmans.     In  these,  the  Ger- 
mans, Hungarians,  French,  English,  and  Italians,  were  prin- 
cipally concerned.     Their  object  seems  to  have  been,  not  so 
much  Palestine,  as  Egypt.     Success  crowned  their  efforts  at 
first,  and  one  of  the  expeditions,  under  the  duke  of  Austria, 
captured  Darnietta,  an  event  which  filled  the  Musselman  em- 
pire with  alarm  ;  but  the  mortality  of  the  country,  and  the 
return  of  many  of  the  European  soldiers,  with  other  causes, 
finally  rendered  the  acquisitions  of  the  crusaders,  in  that  coun- 
try, of  no  avail,  and  the  unbelievers  still  retained  their  power. 

13.  The  fifth  and  last  of  these  extraordinary  expeditions 
against  the  infidel  world,  was  led  by  Louis  IX.  of  France, 
There  had  been  previously  a  few  smaller  adventures,  espe- 
cially by  the  English,  who  had  the  good  fortune  to  redeem 
the  holy  sepulchre.     But  it  was  soon  lost,  and  the  fears  of  the 
Christian  world  were  in  a  degree  aroused.     It  was,  however, 
obvious  that  the  crusading  spirit  in  Europe  had  at  length  be- 
gun to  languish,  and  it  would  at  this  crisis  have  entirely  died 
away,  had  not  Louis  felt  the  strong  stirrings  of  fanaticism  and 
chivalry.     He  kept  it  alive  a  few  years,  after  which,  this  folly 
of  a  dark  and  barbarous  age  was  heard  of  no  more. 

The  warlike  heroism  and  religious  devotion  of  the  French 
monarch,  commanded  the  reverence  of  mankind.  Indeed,  in 
many  respects,  he  was  an  amiable  and  estimable  prince,  though 
deeply  imbued  with  the  unworthy  superstition  of  the  times. 
His  efforts  preserved  to  the  Christians,  for  a  time,  the  land  of 
Palestine,  which  was  m  danger,  not  from  the  Saracens,  but 


140  MODERN   HISTORY — PERIOD  IV. 

from  the  Tartars.     This  fierce  people  were  then  pouring  over 
the  face  of  Asia. 

Louis  spent  three  years  in  preparation,  when  he  set  out  for 
Palestine,  with  his  queen,  three  brothers,  and  a  powerful  train 
of  French  knights,  1248  A.  C.  He  had  greatly  encouraged 
the  fainting  hearts,  of  the  Christians  in  Palestine,  by  the  men 
and  troops  he  had  sent  thither  before  his  own  departure.  The 
invasion  of  Egypt  was  his  first  object.  Here,  he  lost  one  half 
of  his  army  by  sickness,  was  defeated  in  battle,  and  fell  a 
prisoner  into  the  hands  of  his  enemy. 

After  ransoming  himself  and  his  followers,  he  proceeded  to 
the  Holy  Land,  in  which  he  continued  a  considerable  time. 
On  his  return,  to  France,  he  devoted  himself,  wisely,  to  the 
regular  cares  of  government,  during  thirteen  years,  and  would 
probably  have  long  continued  useful  and  happy,  had  not  the 
mad  spirit  of  crusading  seized  him  again.,  In  obedience  to 
its  dictates,  he  embarked  on  a  crusade  against  the  Moors  in 
Africa.  In  this  adventure,  he  and  the  greater  part  of  his 
army  perished,  in  consequence  of  a  pestilence.  Louis  has 
been  honoured  with  the  title  of  saint. 

§  History  records,  that  on  the  subject  of  crusading,  the  mind  oJ 
Louis  was  influenced  by  the  following  circumstance.  Agreeably  to 
the  temper  of  the  times,  he  had  vowed,  whilst  afflicted  by  a  severe 
illness,  that  in  case  of  recovery  he  would  travel  to  the  holy  land. 
In  the  delirium  of  his  fever  he  had  beheld  an  engagement  between 
the  Christians  and  the  Saracens ;  the  infidels  were  victorious,  and 
the  brave  king  of  a  valiant  nation  fancied  himself  called  upon  to 
avenge  the  defeat. 

The  following  incident  indicated  the  king's  zeal  for  a  crusade. 
One  night,  during  the  Christmas  festival,  Louis  caused  magnificent 
crosses,  fabricated  by  goldsmiths,  to  be  sewn  on  the  new  dresses, 
which,  as  usual  upon  such  occasions,  had  been  bestowed  upon  the 
courtiers.  The  next  day  the  cavaliers  were  surprised  at  the  religious 
ornaments  that  had  been  affixed  to  their  cloaks ;  piety  and  loyalty 
combined  to  prevent  them  from  renouncing  the  honours  which  had 
been  thrust  upon  them,  and  the  good  king  obtained  the  title  of  the 
hunter  for  pilgrims  <\nd  fisher  of  men. 

Louis  could  have  adopted  the  lines  of  a  French  rhymer  of  the 
thirteenth  century. 

"  Lo,  now  the  fruitful  hour  at  hand  ! 

To  thec  the  precious  boon  is  given, 

For  Paynims  waste  the  holy  land, 

And  spoil  the  heritage  of  heaven. 

Shall  we  such  faithless  works  behold, 

With  craven  courage  slack  and  cold  1 

How  elijo,  but  to  the  Giver's  praise, 

May  we  devote  our  wealth  and  days. 


THE  CRUSADES.  141 

The  French,  on  landing  in  Egypt,  captured  Damietta ;  but  the 
rashness  of  the  Count  d'Artois  was  the  means  of  checking 
them  in  the  career  of  victory.  Sad  reverses  soon  ensued,  and 
though  Louis  defended  himself  with  the  greatest  bravery,  he  was 
obliged  to  yield  to  the  enemy.  Being  taken  prisoner  with  his  army, 
he  offered  for  his  own  ransom  the  city  of  Damietta,  and  for  the  de- 
liverance of  his  soldiers  500,000  livres.  One  fifth  part  of  the  latter 
was  remitted  through  the  generosity  of  the  sultan. 

In  Louis'  second  expedition  against  the  infidels,  he  was  joined  by 
the  English ;  so  that  his  force  amounted  to  sixty  thousand  men. 
Mis  fleet  being  driven  into  Sardinia,  a  change  was  made  in  the  de- 
sign of  the  pilgrim  hero,  and  an  attack  upon  the  Musselman  Moors 
of  Africa  was  fixed  upon.  Pestilence,  however,  prevented  the  me- 
ditated blow,  and  the  great  stay  of  the  crusades  fell. 

The  English  portion  of  the  forces,  which  had  not  reached  Africa, 
when  the  death  of  Louis  took  place,  made  their  way  to  Palestine, 
under  the  conduct  of  Prince  Edward.  Feats  of  arms  were  per- 
formed; but  the  Turks  were  fast  overunning  the  holy  land,  and 
with  the  capture  of  Acre,  by  that  adventurous  people,  was  connected 
the  final  loss  of  a  country,  on  which  the  eyes  of  fanatical  Europe 
had  been  fastened  for  more  than  two  hundred  years. 

14.  Among  the  causes  of  the  decline  and  cessation  of  the 
fanatical  military  spirit  of  Europe,  may  be  enumerated  the 
following,  viz.  the  decrease  of  the  moral  influence  of  the  popes, 
and  the  increase  of  their  tyranny,  which  the  people  were  loth 
to  bear — the  avarice  of  the  popes  and  priests,  in  converting  to 
their  own  purposes  the  funds  which  were  raised  to  support  the 
holy  wars — the  consequent  unwillingness  of  the  people  to  be 
taxed — the  scandal  which  was  cast  on  the  crusades,  when 
many  of  the  soldiers  of  the  cross  were  diverted  from  their  re- 
ligious purpose,  to  promote  the  secular  objects  of  the  court  of 
Rome — and  most  of  all,  the  increasing  conviction  on  the  part 
of  the  people,  that  no  lasting  conquest  of  Palestine  could  be 
made  by  the  sovereigns  of  Europe.     These  causes  were  too 
powerful  even  for  the  deep  darkness  and  superstition  of  the 
age,  ambition,  love  of  military  achievement,  and  desire  of 
plunder. 

15.  Various  opinions  have  been  formed  and  maintained 
respecting  the  tendency  and  effects  of  the  crusades.    By  some, 
they  are  thought  to  have  benefitted  Europe  on  the  whole- 
by  others,  they  are  supposed  to  have  been  positively  disadvan- 
tageous.    We  incline  to  the  latter  opinion.     They  who  look 
upon  the  crusades  in  a  favourable  light  in  respect  to  their  con 
sequences,  nevertheless  admit,  that  the}7  were  immediately 


142  MODERN    HISTORY. PERIOD  VI. 

» 

distressing  and  pernicious.  It  is  in  the  final  result  that  they 
imagine  the  crusades  to  have  been  beneficial  on  the  whole. 
In  the  final  result,  it  has  been  maintained  that  they  improved 
the  political  condition,  the  manners  and  customs,  the  naviga- 
tion and  commerce,  the  literature,  and  the  religion  of  Europe, 

That  there  was  a  very  gradual  amelioration  of  the  wes- 
tern nations  in  the  above  particulars,  is  admitted.  But  this 
was  a  state  of  things,  which  it  is  natural  to  believe,  time 
might  have  produced,  aided  as  it  was  by  other  causes.  In 
deed,  from  the  nature  of  the  convulsions  which  attended,  or  ra- 
ther constituted  the  crusades,  it  is  certain  that  they  must  have 
tended  to  retard  the  progress  of  society,  learning,  and  religion, 
so  far  as  they  produced  any  effect?  That  they  were  not  pro- 
ductive of  any  good,  in  any  shape,  it  would  be  hazardous  to 
assert.  But  providence  can  overrule  the  greatest  evil,  so  that 
it  shall  be  less  evil  than  it  would  otherwise  be ;  and  our  point 
is  made  out,  if  the  evil  flowing  from  the  crusades  overbalan- 
ces the  good,  in  quality  or  amount. 

Let  any  one  who  doubts  this,  reflect  that  the  crusades 
\vere  the  offspring  of  a  dark  and  ignorant  age — that  they 
were  kindled  by  the  false  fires  of  fanaticism  and  superstition, 
and  moreover,  were  perverted,  if  so  base  a  project  could  be 
perverted,  by  ambition,  love  of  military  renown,  and  a  savage 
desire  of  plunder.  They  agitated,  convulsed,  and  distressed 
Europe,  and  every  family  in  Europe,  for  two  centuries.  They 
drained  that  portion  of  the  globe  of  men  and  money,  to  an  in- 
supportable degree.  The  bones  of  two  millions  of  Europeans 
were  entombed  in  Asia,  or  whitened  her  plains.  The  trea- 
sures that  were  expended  are  past  computation.  Under  the 
sacred  name  of  religion,  every  crime  and  every  folly  was  me- 
ditated and  committed.  The  path  of  the  fanatical  warriors 
of  the  west  was  every  where  marked  with  blood.  They  were 
too  stupid  and  too  superstitious  to  regard  with  complacency 
or  with  a  desire  of  imitation,  those  superior  modes  of  life  and 
specimens  of  genius  which  they  met  with  in  their  excursions 
into  the  East.  They  even  laid  their  sacrilegious  hands  on  the 
monuments  of  ancient  art,  which  chance  or  bravery  put  into 
their  power,  and  in  the  repeated  conflagrations  of  Constanti- 
nople, they  rejoiced  to  see,  in  many  instances,  the  destruction 
of  those  works,  the  remains  of  which  the  world  has  since 
been  proud  to  own. 


FRANCE.  .  143 

They  err,  who  count  it  glorious  to  subdue 
By  conquest  far  and  wide,  to  over-run 
Large  countries,  and  in  field  great  battles  win, 
Great  cities  by  assaults :  what  do  these  worthies, 
But  rob  and  spoil,  burn,  slaughter  and  enslave 
Peaceable  nations.     *  *  * 

"  A  view  of  the  heroic  ages  of  Christianity,"  says  an  interesting 
historian,  "in  regard  to  their  grand  and  general  results,  is  a  useful 
and  important,  though  a  melancholy  employment.  The  Crusades 
retarded  the  inarch  of  civilization,  thickened  the  clouds  of  ignorance 
and  superstition,  and  encouraged  intolerance,  cruelty  and  fierceness. 
Religion  lost  its  mildness  and  charity ;  and  war  its  mitigating  quali- 
ties of  honour  and  courtesy.  Such  were  the  bitter  fruits  of  the  Ho- 
ly Wars.  We  can  follow  with  sympathy,  both  the  deluded  fanatic, 
and  the  noble  adventurer  in  arms,  in  their  wanderings  and  marches 
through  foreign  regions,  braving  the  most  frightful  dangers,  patient 
in  toil,  invincible  in  military  spirit.  So  visionary  was  the  object,  so 
apparently  remote  from  selfish  relations,  that  their  fanaticism  wears 
a  character  of  generous  virtue.  The  picture,  however,  becomes 
darkened,  and  nature  recoils  with  horror  from  their  cruelties,  and 
with  shame  from  their  habitual  folly  and  senselessness." 

FRANCE. 

16.  In  1108  the  throne  of  Prance  was  ascended  by  Louis 
VI.,  surnamed  the  fat,  son  of  Philip  I.     He  carried  on  a  war 
with  Henry  I.  of  England,  but  was  not  successful.     The 
English  defeated  his  army  at  the  battle  of  Brenneville,  1119 
A.  C.     He  was  an  accomplished  and  energetic  sovereign. 

§  In  Louis'  flight  after  the  battle,  an  Englishman  seized  his  horse's 
bridle,  exclaiming,  "  the  king  is  taken."  u  The  king  is  never  taken," 
said  Louis,  "not  even  in  a  game  of  chess,"  and  then  struck  his  ene- 
my dead  at  his  feet. 

17.  Louis  VII.,  the  young,  succeeded  his  father  in  1137. 
The  extent  of  his  reign  was  46  years.      He  quarrelled  with 
the  Pope  about  the  nomination  of  an  archbishop,  and  had 
his  kingdom  put  under  an  interdict.     He  was  very  unsuc- 
cessfully engaged  in  the  holy  wars,  and  in  consequence  of 
having  divorced  his  queen,  heiress  of  the  great  dutchy  of 
Guienne,  who  soon  married  Henry  Plantagenet,  (afterwards 
Henry  II.  of  England)  he  lost  one  fifth  part  of  the  French 
monarchy,  including  the  provinces  before  held  by  the  En- 
glish. 

§  Louis  was  educated  in  an  Abbey,  and  the  Abbeys  at  this  period 
produced  several  distinguished  men,  among  whom  were  Suger,  his 
minister,  a  man  of  great  political  sagacity ;  St.  Bernard,  whose  agen- 


144  MODERN  HISTORY. PERIOD  VI. 

cy  in  the  second  crusade  has  already  appeared ;  and  Abelard,  who  » 
story  remains  to  be  told. 

In  conformity  to  the  spirit  of  the  age,  and  his  own  education,  Louis 
made  several  pilgrimages,  and  among  others  visited  the  tomb  of  Tho- 
mas a  Becket,  at  Canterbury.  In  one  of  these  pilgrimages  he  died, 
His  tomb,  in  the  abbey  of  Barbeau,  was  opened  in  1556,  by  Charlet 
IX.,  and  the  body  found  in  a  high  state  of  preservation.  On  the  fin 
gers  were  several  gold  rings,  which,  having  been  taken  off,  were 
worn  by  Charles,  together  with  a  gold  chain,  which  was  found  in 
the  tomb. 

18.  The  son  of  Louis,  Philip  II.,  surnamed  Augustus, 
ascended  the  throne  in  1180.  '  His  reign  was  a  long  one  also, 
being  43  years.     Since  the  days  of  Charlemagne,   France 
had  seen  no  sovereign  so  ambitious  and  enterprising  in  war, 
as  Philip.     The  most  signal  events  of  his  reign,  were  his 
expulsion  of  the  Jews  from  France  ;  his  engagement  in  the 
third  crusade,  with  Richard  COBUU  de  Lion ;  his  invasion  ol 
Normandy  during  Richard's  absence  ;  his  victory  over  Otho 
IV.,  emperor  of  Germany ;  and  the  offer  of  the  crown  of 
England  to  him  for  his  son  Louis,  by  the  English  barons 

§  His  engagement  in  the  third  crusade  has  already  appeared.  On 
the  return  of  Richard  to  England,  a  disastrous  war  ensued  between 
him  and  Philip,  the  English  king  determining  to  punish  him  for 
seizing  Normandy.  Richard,  dying  during  the  prosecution  of  this 
war,  was  succeeded  by  his  brother  John,  whose  pretensions  to  the 
crown  of  England  were,  however,  disputed  by  his  nephew,  Arthur, 
aided  by  Philip.  Arthur  having  been  made  prisoner,  and  put  to 
death  by  his  inhuman  uncle,  the  latter  was  summoned  by  Philip,  to 
appear  in  his  quality  as  duke  of  Normandy,  before  a  tribunal  of  his 
peers.  On  his  refusal,  Philip  attacked  and  subdued  several  of  the 
French  provinces  that  were  then  held  by  the  English,  and  united 
Normandy  to  the  crown  of  France,  300  years  after  it  had  been  detach- 
ed from  it  by  the  incapacity  of  Charles  the  simple. 

From  the  reign  of  Philip,  may  be  dated  the  Inquisition, 
which  was  first  established  in  France,  whence  it  found  its 
way  into  Italy,  Spain,  and  Portugal. 

19.  Louis  VIII.,  surnamed  the  Lion,  mounted  the  throne 
of  his  father  in  1223,  and  died  in  1226.     He  was  a  man  of 
valour,  and  hence  his  surname.     He  took  all  the  possessions 
of  the  English  on  the  continent,  as  far  as  the  Garonne.  His 
character  was  that  of  a  persecutor. 

§  Louis  prosecuted  a  barbarous  crusade  against  certain  sectaries  in 
Languedoc  and  Gascony,  who  presumed  to  attack  the  dogmas  01 
the  Church  of  Rome.  At  the  siege  of  Avignon,  he  was  poisoned 
by  the  count  of  Champaign. 


FRANCE.  145 

20.  Louis  IX. 5  styled  Saint  Louis,  became  king  at  the  age 
of  twelve  years,  in  1226,  under  the  regency  of  his  mother. 
Louis  possessed  many  excellent  qualities — was  pious,  upright, 
and  benevolent.     His  single  fault  was  fanaticism ;  though  in 
every  thing  he  did,  the  purity  of  his  motive  was  conspicuous. 
He  conferred  a  considerable  benefit  on  his  country,  notwith- 
standing the  errors  into  which  his  fanatical  spirit  led  him. 
With  Henry  III.  of  England,  he  waged  a  successful  war. 

§  An  account  has  been  given  of  the  two  crusades  in  which  he  was 
so  unfortunately  engaged,  and  in  the  last  of  which  he  perished. 

Henry  III.  demanded  the  provinces  which,  it  seems,  Louis'  father 
nad  promised  to  restore.  A  tender  was  made  of  Poitou,  and  of  the 
best  part  of  Normandy ;  but  this  did  not  satisfy  Henry,  who  resolv- 
ed to  try  the  issue  of  a  battle,  in  which  he  was  defeated. 

21.  Philip  III.,  surnamed  the  Bold,  succeeded  his  father  in 
1270.     His  surname,  it  is  thought,  was  not  well  deserved. 
He  was  the  dupe  of  the  artifices  of  his  courtiers,  and  had  no 
predominant  trait,  except  a  passion  for  amassing  wealth.     He 
brought  back   from   Africa  the   miserable   remains   of  his 
father's  army.     He  died  on  his  return  from  an  expedition 
against  Peter  III.,  of  Arragon,  who  had  usurped  the  kingdom 
of  Sicily,  and   through  whose   instigation,  eight   thousand 
Frenchmen  were  massacred  in  that  island. 

§  Charles  of  Anjou,  uncle  of  Philip,  had  lately  become  king  of 
Sicily,  and  acted  the  tyrant  towards  its  inhabitants.  By  a  deed  of 
cruelty  towards  a  brother  of  the  wife  of  Peter,  he  made  the  latter 
his  enemy.  Peter,  in  revenge,  excited  the  Sicilians  to  revolt  and 
murder.  All  the  French  of  the  island  were,  by  a  previous  concert, 
butchered  in  cool  blood,  on  the  evening  of  Easterday.  Philip  un- 
dertook to  avenge  this  massacre,  but  the  general  failure  of  the  ex- 
pedition, afflicted  the  French  king  so  much,  that  he  fell  into  a  de- 
cay, of  which  he  died. 

22.  Philip  IV.,  the  Fair,  ascended  the  throne  of  his  an- 
cestors, in  1285.     He  was  remarkable  for  his  personal  beauty 
and  accomplishments.     His  disposition,  however,  was  sin- 
gularly contrasted  with  his  features  and  form.     He  was  am- 
bitious, deceitful,  perfidious  and  cruel.     Refusing  to  obey  the 
summons  of  the  Roman  pontiff,  Boniface  VIIL,  to  march 
against  the  Saracens,  he  was  excommunicated,  and  his  king- 
dom laid  under  an  interdict.     A  severe  contest  ensued,  the 
result  of  which  was  the  humiliation  of  the  Pope,  and  even- 
tually his  death. 

In  1314,  Philip  suppressed  the  order  of  the  Knights  Temp- 

13 


146  MODERN    HISTORY.— PERIOD   VI. 

lars,  from  a  desire,  it  was  thought,  to  obtain  their  immense 
wealth. 

§  The  haughty  Boniface,  in  a  bull,  had  declared,  that  "  the  Vicar  of 
Christ  is  vested  with  full  authority  over  the  kings  and  kingdoms  of 
the  earth."  Philip,  in  return  for  the  indignity  put  upon  him,  de- 
nounced Boniface  as  an  impostor,  heretic,  and  simoniac,  and  declar- 
ed the  see  of  Rome  vacant.  He  contrived  also,  by  means  of  a  trusty 
agent,  to  seize  the  person  of  the  pope.  The  persons  concerned  in 
the  transaction,  caused  his  holiness  to  ride  on  a  horse  without  sad- 
dle or  bridle,  with  his  face  turned  towards  his  tail.  He  was,  how- 
ever, rescued  at  length ;  but  the  loss  of  his  immense  treasures, 
while  he  was  retained  from  his  palace,  threw  him  into  a  frenzy 
that  killed  hin* 

ENGLAND. 

23.  Norman  family ,  Plantagenets.  The  throne  of  Eng- 
lar-i,  on  the  death  of  Rufus,  was  secured  by  his  younger 
oroiher,  Henry  I.,  surnamed  Beauclerc,  or  the  Scholar,  1100. 
The  rightful  heir  was  Robert,  an  older  brother  ;  but  as  he 
was  absent  on  a  crusade,  Henry  availed  himself  of  so  favoura- 
ble an  opportunity  to  fill  the  vacant  throne. 

Robert,  who  was  duke  of  Normandy,  soon  arrived  in  Eng- 
land to  claim  his  right ;  but  he  was  prevailed  upon  to  forego 
it,  by  the  offer  of  a  sum  of  money.  Still,  Henry  was  not 
satisfied,  but  ere  long  invaded  Normandy  ;  and  at  last  defeat- 
ed Robert,  brought  him  prisoner  to  England,  caused  his 
eyes  to  be  burned  out,  and  confined  him  for  life,  in  a  castle 
in  Wales. 

The  injustice  -with  which  he  had  treated  ,'tobert,  seems  to 
have  been  visited  upon  him  by  the  hand  of  Providence,  in 
the  calamities  of  his  after  life ;  particularly  in  the  death  of  his 
only  son,  who  was  drowned  on  his  passage  from  Normandy 
to  England. 

Henry  was  one  of  the  most  accomplished  of  the  English 
sovereigns — brave,  affable,  and  learned  ;  but  his  conduct  in 
many  instances,  shewed  that  he  was  wanting  in  moderation, 
purity,  and  gratitude. 

§  Henry  married  a  Saxon  princess,  Matilda  great  grand-daughter 
of  Edmund  Ironside,  and  thus  united  the  Saxon  and  Norman  olnod. 
This  circumstance  endeared  him  to  the  English,  and  procured  then- 
support. 

The  story  of  the  death  of  Henry's  son,  w.  <>se  name  was  William, 
i*  briefly  the  following.  The  captain  ar  •  seamen  of  the  vessel  iy 


ENGLAND.  14i 

which  he  set  sail  for  England,  becoming  intoxicated,  carelessly  struck 
her  upon  a  rock.  She  foundered  immediately,  but  William  was 
saved  by  being  put  into  a  long-boat.  He  had  already  got  clear  of 
the  wreck,  when  hearing  the  cries  of  his  natural  sister,  the  countess 
of  Perche,  he  ordered  the  seamen  to  row  back,  in  hopes  of  saving 
her.  But  the  numbers  who  then  err  wded  in,  soon  sunk  the  boat ; 
and  the  prince  with  all  his  retinue  perished. 

The  effect  of  the  news  on  Henry  was  melancholy  indeed.  Ho 
fainted  away,  and  during  the  remainder  of  his  life,  was  never  known 
to  smile. 

24.  Henry's  cousin,   Stephen,  earl  of  Blois,  was  crowned 
king  of  England,  1135.     His  popularity  enabled  him  to  usurp 
the  throne,  when  of  right  it  belonged  to  the  empress  Matilda. 
or  Maud,  and  her  son  Henry. 

§  Matilda  first  married  Henry  V.,  emperor  of  Germany — afterwards 
Henry  Plantagenet,  earl  of  Anjou.  By  the  latter  she  had  several 
children,  of  whom  Henry  was  the  oldest. 

In  behalf  of  Matilda,  the  earl  of  Gloucester,  natural  bro- 
ther of  the  empress,  took  up  arms  against  Stephen,  defeated 
him  in  the  battle  of  Lincoln,  and  made  him  prisoner.  But 
ihe  fortune  of  war  soon  turned  against  Gloucester.  He  was 
defeated  in  the  battle  of  Winchester,  and  taken  prisoner, 
but  was  exchanged  for  the  king. 

Four  years  after  this  event,  young  prince  Henry,  son  of 
Maud,  invaded  England  ;  but  the  great  men  on  both  sides, 
(earing  the  consequences  of  a  battle,  compelled  the  rival 
princes  to  a  negociation.  The  succession  was  secured  to 
Henry,  after  the  death  of  Stephen.  This  event  taking  place 
the  next  year,  Henry  became  king. 

Stephen  was  well  calculated  to  be  an  efficient  sovereign ; 
but  he  reigned  under  unfavourable  circumstances,  and  his 
elevation  brought  suffering  on  himself  and  his  people.  Dur- 
ing his  whole  reign,  England  was  rent  with  civil  broils. 

§  From  the  beginning,  Stephen  dreaded  Robert,  earl  of  Glouces- 
ter, a  man  of  honour. and  abilities,  and  zealously  attached  to  Maud. 
He  took,  indeed,  the  oath  of  fealty  to  Stephen ;  but  he  took  it  with 
the  reserve,  that  the  king  should  never  invade  any  of  his  rights  or 
dignities.  This  was  an  example  for  others ;  and  many  of  the  cler- 
gy and  nobility,  as  the  price  of  submission,  required  the  right  of 
fortifying  their  castles.  England  was  soon  filled  with  fortresses, 
and  the  power  of  the  aristocracy  rose  to  a  formidable  height. 

25.  Henry  II.  succeeded  to  the  throne  in  1154.     He  was 
the  first  of  the  Plantagenets  who  wielded  the  sceptre,  till 
the  time  of  Henry  IV.     In   him  was  mingled  the 


148  MODEB  X    HISTORY.-  -PERIOD  VI. 

of  the  Saxon  kings  >f  England,  and  of  the  Norman  family 
He  was  the  most  powerful  monarch  of  Christendom.  His  do 
minions  were  more  sxtensive  than  those  of  any  of  his  pre- 
decessors, as,  in  addition  to  England,  he  owned  by  inheritance 
and  by  marriage,  nearly  one  half  of  France,  and  afterwards 
claimed  Ireland  by  conquest. 

Happy  in  the  affections  of  his  people,  he  had  the  prospect 
of  a  prosperous  reign ;  but  though  England  owed  her  first 
permanent  improvements  in  arts,  laws,  government,  and  civil 
liberty,  to  his  measures,  he  was  personally  subjected  to  many 
calamities.  A  most  serious  misfortune,  was  his  contention 
with  Thomas  k  Becket,  archbishop  of  Canterbury.  This 
arrogant  ecclesiastic,  a  man  of  great  talents  and  greater  am- 
bition, availed  himself  of  the  authority  of  his  station,  to  ex- 
alt the  spiritual  power  above  the  crown  ;  and  when  the  king 
undertook  the  reformation  of  the  clergy,  and  to  limit  their 
prerogatives,  he  met  with  the  most  determined  opposition  from 
Becket.  In  the  course  of  the  contention,  the  ecclesiastic  was 
killed.  The  horror  excited  in  Henry's  mind  by  this  event, 
aided  by  the  agitation  into  which  England  was  thrown,  led 
him  to  perform  the  most  humiliating  penance  at  the  tomb  of 
the  saint. 

§  Becket  was  first  promoted  by  the  king,  to  the  dignity  of  chan- 
ceUor  of  England,  to  which  station  his  talents  and  learning  entitled 
him.  Henry  afterwards  appointed  him  to  fill  the  high  place  of  me- 
tropolitan, falsely  supposing  that  from  his  gr.y  and  splendid  turn,  he 
would  not  be  attached  to  ecclesiastical  priv:/eges.  But  no  sooner  was 
he  in  his  new  situation,  than  he  affected  personally  the  greatest  aus- 
terity, and  recited  continually;  prayers  and  pious  lectures,  maintain- 
ing his  ancient  pomp  only  ir  nis  retinue  and  attendants.  In  all  this, 
his  determination  to  exalt  tl>:  spiritual  power,  was  visible  to  sagacious 
observers. 

That  power  was  already  'oo  great.  The  ecclesiastics  of  that  age 
had  renounced  all  imn  te  Late  subjection  to  the  magistrate  ;  and  as 
many  of  them  were  of  low  character,  they  committed  the  most  de- 
testable crimes  with  impunity.  They  were  charged  even  with  the 
foulest  murders.  The  attempts  of  the  king  to  put  this  order  of  men 
into  a  better  state,  resulted  in  what  are  called  the  Constitutions  of 
Clarendon.  These  were  the  decisions  of  a  general  council  of  the 
nobility  and  prelates  at  Clarendon,  in  which,  the  limits  between  the 
civil  and  ecclesiastical  jurisdictions,  are  distinctly  marked,  and  which, 
by  the  king's  influence,  were  framed  so  as  to  favour  his  prerogatives. 

The  clergy,  generally,  professed  to  submit  to  these  decisions,  but 
Becket  stood  aloof:  and  though  at  length  he  took  oath  to  observe 
them,  it  was  by  no  means  in  good  faith.  He  repented  of  his  tempo- 


ENGLAND  149 

rary  subjection,  and  endeavoured  to  influence  the  other  bishops  to 
follow  his  steps.  Henry,  however,  made  him  feel  the  royal  power, 
Dy  Ihe  confiscation  of  his  property  on  some  pretence.  This  act, 
Becket  resented,  by  excommunicating  the  king's  chief  ministers,  and 
abrogating  the  constitutions  of  Clarendon.  On  some  further  instance 
of  his  arrogance,  the  king  was  so  vehemently  agitated,  that  he  ex- 
claimed, almost  in  reproaches,  against  his  servants,  whose  "  want  oi 
zeal,"  he  said,  "left  him  exposed  to  the  machinations  of  that  un 
grateful  and  imperious  prelate."  Four  knights  of  his  household, 
taking  these  passionate  expressions  to  be  a  hint  for  the  primate' 
death,  instantly  agreed  among  themselves,  to  avenge  their  prince's 
quarrel ;  and  pursuing  Becket,  found  him,  slenderly  attended,  in  the 
cathedral  of  St.  Benedict,  and  there,  before  the  altar,  clove  his  head 
with  many  blows. 

Nothing  could  exceed  the  consternation  of  the  king  upon  this 
event,  and  with  a  view  to  avert  the  resentment  of  the  pope,  he  sub- 
mitted to  the  most  humiliating  treatment,  even  to  the  scourging  of 
his  naked  body,  by  the  monks. 

Endless  were  the  panegyrics  on  the  virtues  of  Becket ;  k  U  the 
miracles  wrought  by  his  relics,  were  more  numerous,  more  .14.  tu- 
lous,  and  more  impudently  attested,  than  those  which  ever  mlod  ihe 
legend  of  any  confessor  or  martyr.  He  was  canonized  ;  a  jubilee 
was  established  for  celebrating  his  merits ;  and  innumerable  pilgrim- 
ages were  made  to  his  tomb.  In  one  year,  100,000  pilgrims  are  said 
to  have  resorted  thither. 

An  important  event  in  the  reign  of  Henry,  was  the  con- 
quest of  Ireland.  He  seized  the  opportunity  of  making  war 
on  the  island,  when  one  of  its  petty  chiefs,  expelled  by  his 
sovereign,  sought  his  protection.  Henry's  arms  were  success- 
ful, and  the  island  was  formally  annexed  to  the  English  crown, 
in  1172.  From  that  time,  however,  for  some  centuries,  there 
was  little  intercom /e  between  the  kingdoms  ;  nor  was  the 
island  ever  considered  as  fully  subdued,  till  the  reign  of  Eli- 
zabeth, and  of  her  successor,  James  I. 

§  The  Irish  were  an  early  civilized  people,  and  among  the  first  of 
the  nations  of  the  West,  who  embraced  the  Christian  religion.  But 
by  the  frequent  invasions  of  the  Danes,  and  their  own  domestic  com- 
motions, they  were  replunged  into  barbarism,  for  many  ages.  In  the 
twelfth  century,  the  kingdom  was  divided  into  five  separate  sove- 
reignties, but  these  were  subdivided  among  a  vast  number  of  petty 
chiefs. 

Henry  divided  Ireland  into  counties,  appointed  sheriffs  in  each, 
and  introduced  the  laws  of  England  into  a  part  of  it ;  the  rest  of 
the  kingdom  being  regulated  by  their  ancient  laws,  till  the  reign  of 
Edward  I.,  when,  at  the  request  of  the  nation,  the  English  laws  were 
extended  to  the  whole  kingdom. 

Henry,  much  as  he  accomplished  for  the  welfare  of  JH 

13* 


150  MODERN    HISTORY. — PERIOD    VI. 

realm,  was  seldom  exempt  from  calamity  for  a  long  time  to 
gether.  His  last  years  were  particularly  .unhappy.  Tht> 
fault,  however,  was  in  a  great  measure  his  own.  His  illicit 
passion  for  Rosamond,  whose  extraordinary  beauty  made 
her  the  theme  of  many  a  ballad  and  romance,  excited  the 
resentment  of  his  queen  Eleanora,  through  whose  means, 
three  of  his  sons  rebelled  against  him.  Europe  beheld  with 
astonishment  these  sons,  scarcely  beyond  the  age  of  boy- 
hood, engaged  in  a  series  of  efforts  to  wrest  the  sceptre  from 
so  potent  a  prince  as  Henry.  They  were,  however,  aided 
by  the  king  of  France.  The  contest  began  in  Henry's  French 
territories.  He  soon  crushed  his  enemies  there  ;  then  return- 
ing to  England,  and  obtaining  a  victory  over  the  Scots,  who 
had  embraced  the  cause  of  the  young  princes,  he  immediate- 
ly restored  tranquillity  to  the  country.  He  was  not  suffered 
long  to  rest ;  his  unnatural  sons,  though  leniently  treated,  re- 
volted again,  joined  by  John,  his  fourth  and  favourite  son. 
Henry,  distracted  with  care,  and  overcome  with  the  ingrati- 
tude of  his  children,  died  of  a  broken  heart,  in  the  fifty- 
eighth  year  of  his  age,  and  the  thirty-fifth  of  his  reign. 

§  Two  of  his  sons,  Henry  and  Geoffrey,  died  suddenly  while  en- 
gaged in  their  rebellion.  The  force  of  parental  affection,  is  remark- 
ably exemplified  in  Henry's  death,  and,  to  the  honour  of  the  king, 
deserves  notice.  When  the  son  was  seized  with  a  fever,  he  was 
conscious  of  his  approaching  dissolution,  and  sent  a  message  to  his 
father,  with  a  humble  confession  of  his  faults,  and  entreated  the 
favour  of  a  visit.  The  king  was  not  very  distant,  but  apprehensive 
that  his  sickness  was  feigned,  durst  not  trust  himself  in  his  hands. 
But  when  he  received  intelligence  of  his  death,  he  was  overcome 
with  grief ;  he  fainted  away,  accused  his  own  hard-heartedness,  and 
lamented  that  he  had  deprived  his  son  of  the  opportunity  of  pour- 
ing out  his  soul  in  the  bosom  of  an  affectionate  and  reconciled  father. 

His  son  Richard  associated  his  youngest  brother,  John,  in  the  last 
insurrection.  When  the  unhappy  father  heard  this,  already  sinking 
in  cares  and  sorrows,  he  broke  out  into  expressions  of  the  utmost 
despair ;  cursed  the  day  of  his  birth,  and  loaded  his  ungrateful  chil- 
dren with  maledictions  which  he  never  would  recall. 

Henry  II.,  was  one  of  the  ablest  of  the  English  kings.  His 
reign  was  also  highly  beneficial  to  his  subjects.  He  was  en- 
dowed with  a  natural  sensibility,  which  his  long  experience 
of  the  ingratitude  of  man  never  impaired.  But  his  licentious- 
ness \vas  too  apparent,  and  his  enmities  too  durable.  His 
person  was  of  a  middle  stature,  strong  and  well  proportioned, 
his  countenance  engaging,  and  his  elocution  easy. 


ENGLAND.  15] 

26.  Richard  I.,  the  Lion-hearted,  succeeded  his  father  in 
1189.     He  possessed  a  most  heroic  nature,  and  rivalled  the 
heroes  of  Greece,  in  warlike  enterprises.    His  disposition  was 
open  and  generous,  but  at  the  same  time,  ambitious,  haughty, 
and  cruel.     He  spent  most  of  his  reign  in  the  mad  project  of 
the  crusades,  which  have  already  been  described,  and  particu- 
larly the  part  which  was  acted  by  this  chivalric  king.     After 
an  absence  of  nine  years,  he  reached  England,  but  died  within 
a  few,  months,   having  first  pardoned  his  traitorous  brother 
John,   and  attempted  to  avenge  the  wrongs  he  had  received 
from  Philip  of  France.    His  foreign  and  distant  wars  exhaust- 
ed the  resources  of  his  country. 

27.  John,  surnamed  Lackland,  succeeded  his  brother  upon 
the  decease  of  the  latter.  His  reign  commenced  in  1199,  and 
continued  to  1216  A.  C.     It  was  marked  with  the  most  dis- 
gusting tyranny  and  crime. 

§  He  received  his  surname  from  the  loss  of  his  territories  in  France, 
of  which  he  was  stripped  by  the  French  king.  The  latter  supported 
the  pretensions  of  Arthur,  John's  nephew,  whom  John  finally  mur- 
dered. 

Early  in  his  reign,  he  made  the  pope  his  enemy,  by  ap- 
propriating to  his  own  purposes,  some  of  the  treasures  of  the 
church,  and  he  met  with  the  full  extent  of  the  papal  ven- 
geance. At  first  obstinate,  he  was  finally  intimidated  into 
submission.  His  kingdom  was  put  under  an  interdict,  him- 
self excommunicated,  and  after  several  personal  concessions, 
he  engaged  to  hold  his  kingdom  tributary  to  the  Holy  See. 
By  this  conduct  he  incurred  the  deep  hatred  and  contempt 
of  his  people. 

§  So  greatly  did  the  court  of  Rome  triumph  over  him,  that  John  did 
homage  to  Pandulf,  the  pope's  legate,  in  the  most  abject  manner, 
and  paid  part  of  the  tribute  which  he  owed  for  his  kingdom,  while 
the  legate,  in  the  haughtiness  of  sacerdotal  power,  trampled  on  the 
money,  as  an  earnest  of  the  subjection  of  the  kingdom. 

The  subjects  of  John,  treated  with  such  indignity,  and  even 
sold,  felt  it  necessary  to  vindicate  their  rights.  The  barons, 
under  the  command  of  Langton,  the  primate,  assembled,  and 
binding  themselves  by  an  oath,  to  a  concert  of  measures,  de- 
manded from  the  king  a  ratification  of  a  charter  of  privileges, 
granted  by  Henry  I.  The  king  was  highly  exasperated;  and 
refused  the  demand,  till  resort  was  had  to  the  sword.  Desert- 
ed by  his  people,  he  was  obliged  most  reluctantly  to  yield  a 


152  MODERN    HISTORY. — PERIOD  VI. 

compliance.  At  Runnymede,  where  he  met  his  barons, 
signed,  on  the  19th  of  June,  1215,  that  famous  deed  called 
Magna  Charta,  (the  Great  Charter.)  which  has  had  so  pro- 
pitious an  effect  on  the  liberty  of  Englishmen.  It  secured 
important  rights  to  all  classes  of  his  subjects,  though  some  ot 
its  stipulations,  from  the  change  of  manners  and  institutions, 
appear  at  this  day  trivial  or  ridiculous. 

§  The  charter  consisted  of  fourteen  specifications,  of  which,  two  or 
three,  the  most  important,  were — that  no  aids  or  subsidies  should  be 
allowed  to  be  levied  from  the  subjects,  unless  in  a  few  special' cases, 
without  the  consent  of  the  great  council — that  no  person  shall  be 
tried  on  suspicion  alone,  but  on  the  evidence  of  lawful  witnesses — 
and  that  no  person  shall  be  tried  or  punished,  but  by  the  judgment  ol 
his  peers  and  the  law  of  the  land. 

John  granted  at  the  same  time,  the  Charter  of  the  Forest,  which 
abolished  the  royal  privilege  of  killing  game"  over  all  the  kingdom, 
and  restored  to  the  lawful  proprietors  their  woods,  which  they 
were  allowed  to  enclose  for  their  own  private  purposes. 

The  king,  forced  into  these  measures  against  his  will,  medi- 
tated a  dreadful  revenge  against  his  barons,  by  the  aid  of  fo- 
reign mercenaries,  and  began  to  lay  his  own  realm  waste 
with  fire  and  sword.  But,  at  a  critical  time,  when  Louis,  the 
eldest  son  of  Philip  of  France,  had  arrived  in  England,  to 
assist  the  barons,  with  the  expectation  of  receiving  the  crown 
himself,  John  suddenly  died.  Louis  was  obliged  to  return  to 
France,  and  the  succession  was  settled  on  Henry,  the  son  of 
John,  a  boy  of  nine  years  of  age. 

§  In  the  person  of  John,  the  English  were  scourged  with  a  tyrant, 
more  odious  and  capricious  than  any  other  of  their  sovereigns,  be- 
fore or  since.  To  tyranny,  he  added  cowardice,  levity,  licentious- 
ness, ingratitude,  and  treachery.  His  vices  were,  however,  made, 
providentially,  the  occasion  of  great  blessings  to  his  subjects,  in  the 
enjoyment  of  a  portion  of  liberty,  which  they  wrested  from  his 
weakness. 

28.  Henry  III.  began  his  reign  in  1216,  the  earl  of  Pem- 
broke being  appointed  protector  during  the  king's  minority 
His  disposition,  which  was  easy  and  fickle,  led  him  and  his 
subjects  into  numerous  difficulties  and  disasters.  The  weak- 
ness of  his  understanding  scarcely  preserved  him  from  con- 
tempt, and  joining  profusion  with  oppressive  exactions,  and 
lavishing  his  favours  on  foreigners,  he  displeased  both  the  no- 
bility and  the  populace.  His  reign  was  as  unhappy  as  it  was 
protracted,  being  marked  with  many  bloody  contentions. 


ENGLAND.  153 

§  Henry,  though  in  general  a  mild  and  merciful  prince,  3,  et  violated 
the  great  charter  in  confiscating  the  estates  of  some  of  the  obnoxious 
nobles,  without  a  trial  by  their  peers.  When  remonstrated  with  on 
the  subject,  he  replied,  "  Why  should  I  observe  this  charter,  which 
is  neglected  by  all  my  grandees,  both  prelates  and  nobility  ?"  to 
which  it  was  justly  returned,  "  You  ought,  sir,  to  set  them  the  ex- 
ample." 

Henry's  imprudent  measures  encouraged  Simon  de  Mont- 
fort,  earl  of  Leicester,  to  attempt  to  wrest  the  sceptre  from 
the  feeble  hand  which  held  it.  He  succeeded  in  part  ;  and 
as  the  consequence  of  a  battle,  he  took  both  the  king  and  his 
son  Edward,  prisoners.  But  through  the  interference  of  the 
parliament,  which  Leicester  summoned,  he  deemed  it  prudent 
to  release  the  prince,  who  was  no  sooner  set  at  liberty,  than  he 
took  the  field  against  the  usurper,  and  gained  over  him  the 
famous  battle  of  Evesham.  In  this  battle  Leicester  was  kill- 
ed, and  the  gallant  Edward  enjoyed  the  happiness  of  repla- 
cing his  father  on  the  throne. 

§  Leicester  had  assumed  the  character  of  regent,  after  having  com- 
pelled the  king  to  resign  the  regal  power.  In  the  parliament  which 
was  called,  he  summoned  two  knights  from  each  shire,  and  deputies 
from  the  principal  boroughs.  From  this  era,  is  dated  the  commence- 
ment of  the  House  of  Commons.  Deputies  representing  the  boroughs, 
had  not  before  constituted  a  portion  of  the  national  council. 

In  the  battle  which  took  place  between  Prince  Edward  and  Lei- 
cester, the  rebels,  who  still  retained  the  old  king,  had  purposely  pla- 
ced him  in  the  front  of  the  battle.  Being  clad  in  armour,  and  there- 
by not  known  by  his  friends,  he  received  a  wound,  and  was  in  dan- 
ger of  his  life  ;  but  crying  out  "  I  am  Henry  of  Winchester,  your 
king,"  he  was  rescued  from  impending  death. 

Edward,  afterwards,  sought  and  revived  the  glory  of  the 
English  name,  in  the  land  of  Palestine ;  but  the  kingdom 
suffered  most  severely  in  the  mean  time,  under  the  imbecile 
reign  of  the  aged  monarch  ;  the  barons  oppressing  the  com- 
mon people,  and  the  populace  of  London  returning  to  their 
accustomed  licentiousness.  The  death  of  Henry,  after  a 
reign  of  more  than  55  years,  left  the  kingdom  in  more  vigor- 
ous hands. 

29.  Edward  I.,  (Longshanks)  was  crowned  in  1272.  His 
first  object  was  to  correct  the  disorders  which  the  civil  com- 
motions had  introduced.  In  this  work,  he  let  loose  the  whole 
rigour  of  his  justice  on  the  Jews,  who  had  been  accused  of 
adulterating  the  public  coin.  Multitudes  of  them  lost  their 
lives,  or  their  property  and  homes. 


154  MODERN  HISTORY. PERIOD  VI. 

Edward's  next  project  was  the  conquest  of  Wales.  He  in- 
vaded the  country  with  a  force  too  great  to  he  resisted ;  and 
after  killing  Llewellyn,  the  Welsh  prince,  and  the  flower  of 
his  warriors,  he  received  the  submission  of  the  Welsh  nobili- 
ty, 1283.  From  this  period  Wales  has  been  united  to  Eng- 
land, and  the  English  laws  established  throughout  the  princi- 
pality. 

§  It  is  said  that  Edward,  in  order  to  conciliate  the  Welsh,  gave 
them  for  a  prince,  his  own  son,  who  was  born  in  their  country.  The 
title  of  Prince  of  Wales,  has  ever  since  descended  to  the  eldest  sons 
of  the  English  kings. 

The  Welsh,  inhabiting  the  western  part  of  the  island  of  Great 
Britain,  were  the  descendants  of  that  portion  of  the  ancient  Britons, 
who  had  escaped  the  Roman  and  Saxon  conquests,  and  preserved 
their  liberty,  laws,  manners,  and  language.  The  occasion  of  Ed- 
ward's attack  upon  this  people,  was  their  prince's  refusal  to  perfuTQ 
the  customary  homage  to  the  English  crown. 

The  next  project  of  Edward,  was  the  conquest  of  Scotland. 
Great  success  attended  his  arms  at  different  times,  but  he  was 
never  able  to  effect  a  total  and  final  conquest  of  that  part  of 
the  island.  As  the  history  of  England  and  Scotland  is  so  in- 
timately connected,  a  brief  account  of  the  latter,  to  the  time 
at  which  we  are  now  arrived,  will  be  in  place  below,  and 
will  supersede  the  necessity  of  a  separate  narrative. 

§  The  northern  part  of  the  island  was  anciently  called  Caledonia, 
from  a  word  which  is  said  to  have  signified  a  forest,  or  mountainous 
country.  Subsequently,  and  at  an  early  period,  it  received  the  name 
of  Scotia,  or  Scotland ;  and  then  it  derived  it  from  the  Scots,  who 
originally  lived  in  the  north  of  Ireland.  The  name  Scot,  is  probably 
the  same  as  Scuth,  or  Scythian— the  people  being  emigrants  from 
the  Baltic  countries. 

The  history  of  Scotland,  before  the  reign  of  Malcom  III.,  is  ob- 
scure, and  in  a  degree  uncertain.  This  prince,  by  the  defeat  of  Mac- 
beth, the  murderer  of  his  father  Duncan,  succeeded  to  the  throne  in 
1057.  A  war  which  took  place  between  him  and  William  the  Con- 
queror, was  equally  disastrous  to  both  kingdoms.  He  prolonged  the 
contest  with  Rufus,  the  son  of  William,  with  credit  to  his  bravery ; 
while  to  the  virtues  of  his  queen,  Margaret,  his  kingdom,  in  its  do- 
mestic policy,  owed  a  degree  of  civilization  scarcely  known  in  those 
untutored  ages. 

Under  his  successors,  Alexander  I.,  a  spirited  prince,  and  David 
I.,  a  most  excellent  sovereign,  Scotland  successfully  defended  itself 
against  the  English,  and,  under  the  latter  king,  onquered  the  whole 
earldom  of  Northumberland ;  but  the  defeat  of  William  I.,  (the  Li- 
on) was  disastrous  to  the  kingdom,  since  he  was  taken  prisoner  by 
Henry  II..  and,  as  the  piice  of  his  release,  was  compelled  to  do  ho- 


ENGLAND.  155 

mage  for  his  whole  kingdom.    This  obligation,  however.  Richard  I. 
generously  discharged. 

Alexander  III.,  dying  without  male  issue,  in  1285.  Bruce  and  Bali- 
ol.  descendants  of  David  I.,  by  the  female  line,  were  competitor?  for 
the  crown.  Edward  was  chosen  umpire  of  the  contest,  and  on  this 
ground,  arrogated  to  himself  the  feudal  sovereignty  of  the  kingdom. 
He  took  possession  of  the  country,  and  adjudged  the  crown  to  Bali- 
ol,  on  the  condition  of  his  doing  homage  to  him,  as  liege  lord.  Ba- 
iiol,  however,  soon  renounced  his  allegiance,  but  was  compelled  at 
length  by  the  English  monarch,  to  abdicate  the  throne ;  the  latter 
having  defeated  him  with  great  slaughter,  in  the  battle  of  Dunbar. 

The  war  commenced  by  Edward  against  the  Scots,  did 
not  terminate  during  his  life  time.  It  continued  70  years, 
and  involved  both  countries  in  all  the  miseries  of  bloodshed. 
Edward  twice  defeated  the  facets  and  took  possession  of  their 
country,  and  twice  they  re-asserted  their  liberties  ;  once  under 
the  heroic  but  unfortunate  William  Wallace,  and  once  under 
the  gallant  and  more  fortunate  Robert  Bruce,  the  Scottish 
king.  As  Edward  was  preparing  to  invade  Scotland  the 
third  time,  with  an  immense  army,  he  suddenly  sickened  and 
died,  at  Carlisle,  in  the  35tv  year  of  his  reign,  and  the  69th 
of  his  age.  He  was  removed  for  interment  to  Westminster 
Abbey.* 

§  The  conduct  of  Wallace  was  a  remarkable  instance  of  heroism. 
A  few  patriots,  only,  joined  him  at  first,  but  his  successes  finally 
brought  large  numbers  to  his  standard.  While  Edward  was  absent, 
and  engaged  in  war  on  the  continent,  Wallace  attacked  his  troops  in 
a  desperate  engagement  at  Stirling,  and  obtained  a  complete  victory. 

The  disaffection  of  the  Scotch  nobles,  who  envied  Wallace  his  dis- 
tinction as  governor  of  the  country,  under  Baliol,  again  exposed  them 
to  the  attack  of  the  English.  Edward,  in  person,  defeated  them 
with  an  immpnse  loss,  in  the  battle  of  Falkirk.  After  a  fruitless  re- 
sistance, the  Scots  submitted  to  Edward ;  and  the  heroic  Wallace, 
eventually  betrayed,  and  carried  in  chains  to  London,  was  condemn- 
ed as  a  rebel,  and  infamously  executed  on  Tower-hill,  to  the  lasting 
dishonour  of  the  English  king. 

Robert  Bruce,  grandson  of  the  Bruce  who  was  the  competitor  of 
Baliol,  redeemed  the  honour  of  his  country.  Resenting  its  humili- 
ation, he  set  up  the  standard  of  war.  The  genius  of  the  nation  then 
roused  itself.  Bruce  was  solemnly  crowned  at  Scone,  1306,  and  fu- 
riously attacking  the  English,  who  were  dispersed  in  their  quarters, 
he  again  expelled  them  the  kingdom.  It  was  immediately  afterv 
that  Edward  died,  on  his  way  to  Scotland. 

*  The  tomb  of  this  king  was  opened  in  1774,  when  Ms  body  was  found  un- 
consumed. 


156  MODERN    HISTORY. — PERIOD    VI. 

Edward  was  an  able  prince,  and  excelled  both  as  a  warrior 
and  statesman.  The  wisdom  of  his  political  measures  is  es- 
pecially conspicuous.  In  moral  qualities,  however,  he  wag 
far  from  being  an  example  fit  for  imitation.  Ambition,  a 
spirit  of  revenge,  and  an  unfeeling  heart,  too  plainly  charac- 
terized him. 

Under  his  reign,  the  Constitution  of  England  gradually 
advanced.  He  passed  a  statute  which  declared  that  no  tax 
or  impost  should  be  levied  without  the  consent  of  lords  and 
commons.  He  ratified  magna-charta  on  several  occasions ; 
and  henceforward  this  fundamental  law  began  to  be  regard 
ed  as  sacred  and  inviolable,  while  parliaments  have  been  held 
in  regular  succession. 

GERMANY. 

30.  Germany,  during  this  period,  enjoyed  but  little  trail 
quillity.  The  contest  between  the  Empire  and  the  Papal 
See,  continued  under  a  succession  of  emperors  and  popes, 
but  ended  commonly  in  favour  of  the  latter.  The  treat- 
ment which  some  of  the  emperors  received  from  the  popes, 
was  extremely  humiliating.  Frederick  I.,  (Barbarossa)  a 
prince  of  high  spirit,  after  indignantly  denying  the  suprema- 
cy of  Alexander  III.,  and  refusing  the  customary  homage, 
was  finally  compelled  to  kiss  the  feet  of  his  Holiness,  and  ap- 
pease him  by  a  large  cession  of  territory.  Henry  VI.,  while 
doing  homage  on  his  knees,  had  kis  imperial  crown  kicked 
oil'  by  pope  Celestinus,  who,  however,  made  some  amends 
for  this  indignity,  by  the  gift  of  Naples  and  Sicily.  Henry 
had  expelled  the  Normans  from  these  places,  and  they  now 
became  appendages  of  the  empire,  1194. 

The  claims  of  the  popes  upon  the  empire,  rose  to  such  a 
height,  that  in  the  begining  of  the  thirteenth  century,  In- 
nocent HI.,  established  the  powers  of  the  popedom  on  a  settled 
basis,  and  obtained  a  positive  acknowledgment  of  the  papal 
supremacy,  or  the  right  irreversibly  to  confer  the  crowrn  of 
the  empire. 

It  was  a  consequence  of  the  contentions  between  the  im- 
perial and  papal  powers,  to  divide  the  states  of  Italy,  several 
of  which  belonged  to  the  empire,  into  two  violent  factions, 
by  which  Italy  was  so  long  devastated.  These  were  known 


EASTERN    EMPIRE.  157 

by  the  name  of  the  Guelphs,*  and  Ghibellines,  the  former 
nuimiaining  the  cause  of  the  popes,  the  latter  that  of  the 
emperors.  Frederic  II.,  carried  on  an  opposition  to  four  suc- 
cessive popes ;  but  though  he  was  excommunicated  and  de- 
posed, he  kept  possession  of  his  .throne,  and  exercised  his 
authority  with  a  commendable  firmness.  On  his  death,  1250, 
the  empire  began  to  wane,  and  confusion  and  anarchy  pre- 
vailed till  the  election  of  Rodolph  of  Hapsburgh,  in  1273. 

§  During  the  latter  part  of  the  period  above  referred  to,  there  was 
a  nominal  sovereign,  viz.,  Alphonso  X.,  king  of  Castile,  who  was 
elected  emperor,  but  who,  detained  at  home,  neglected  the  affairs  of 
Germany. 

No  laws  were  then  observed ;  no  order  was  maintained ;  but 
murder,  theft,  and  rapine,  were  committed  with  impunity,  and  the 
constitutions  of  the  empire  were  totally  neglected.  Sanguinary 
wars  resulted  from  the  feuds  of  private  noblemen;  bishops  and 
clergymen,  forgetful  of  their  sacred  character,  embrued  their  hands 
in  blood,  for  the  augmentation  of  their  benefices ;  commerce  was 
almost  annihilated ;  and  travelling  could  not  be  performed  with  any 
safety. 

In  the  history  of  Germany,  during  the  present  period,  few  other 
occurrences  are  worthy  of  notice.  The  following  anecdote  may  be 
worth  recording.  One  of  the  favourites  of  Henry  VI.,  observed  to 
lim  that  he  fatigued  himself  too  much  with  giving  audience,  which 
^frequently  interfered  with  his  regular  meals.  Henry  replied,  "  that 
although  a  private  man  was  at  liberty  to  eat  when  he  pleased,  a 
prince  ought  not  to  sit  down  to  table,  till  he  had  discussed  the  affairs 
of  his  people." 

The  reign  of  Lotharius  was  rendered  remarkable,  by  some  ex- 
cessive heats  in  Germany,  which  withered  the  corn  and  fruits  of 
the  earth,  dried  up  the  most  considerable  rivers,  and  occasioned  a 
dreadful  mortality  among  the  cattle. 

EASTERN  EMPIRE. 

31.  The  affairs  of  the  Eastern  Empire  were,  in  part,  nar- 
rated in  the  history  of  the  crusades.  Little,  therefore,  needs 
be  added  to  this  record,  in  respect  f.o  the  present  period.  The 
outward  splendour  of  the  empire  was  yet  considerable,  but  the 
progress  of  decay  was  obvious.  The  Greeks  manifested 
their  cunning,  and  sometimes  their  treachery,  in  their  treat- 
ment of  the  crusaders.  The  emperors,  though  on  many  ac- 

*  The  family  now  on  the  throne  of  Great  Britain  bear  the  surname  of 
Gueiph,  and  are  descended  from  the  Guelphs  here  spoken  of. 

14 


\ 


158  MODERN    HISTORY. — PERIOD    VI. 

counts  they  wished  success  to  the  crusaders,  yet  dreaded  their 
power,  and  hetween  these  two  passions,  the  soldiers  of  the 
cross  became  the  dupes  and  the  victims  of  their  policy.  The 
weakness  of  the  empire  was  seen,  when  Constantinople,  its 
capital,  was  taken  by  a  handful  of  French  and  Venetian 
crusaders,  and  held  in  subjection  nearly  sixty  years. 

Within  the  limits  of  the  present  period,  about  nine  empe- 
rors sat  on  the  throne  of  the  East,  besides  the  five  French  or 
Latin  emperors  who  reigned  at  Constantinople.  During  the 
reign  of  the  latter,  four  Greek  emperors  reigned  at  Nice,  over 
the  remainder  of  the  empire. 

It  was  under  Michael  Palseologus,  1261,  that  Constantino- 
ple was  recovered  by  the  Greeks  from  its  Latin  conquerors. 
When  the  former  and  ancient  sovereigns  of  the  city  deter- 
mined to  retake  the  seat  of  the  empire,  Pakeologus  was  found 
possessed  of  the  requisite  ambition.  Favoured  by  circumstan- 
ces, and  skilful  in  the  application  of  means,  he  accomplished 
the  object ;  and  the  second  seat  of  the  venerable  Roman  do- 
minion was  destined  yet  longer,  to  be  held  by  the  successors 
of  the  great  Constantine. 

§  The  designs  of  Palreologus  were  promoted  by  the  Genoese,  the 
rivals  of  the  Venetians.  The  Latins  had  been  gradually  driven 
from  their  last  possessions  in  Thrace ;  and  at  a  time  when  the  bra- 
vest of  the  French  and  Venetians  were  absent  from  the  city,  a 
general  of  Palceologus  advanced  in  the  night  to  its  gates.  He  suc- 
ceeded in  entering  it,  partly  by  a  subterranean  passage  into  the 
centre  of  the  <;ity.  Baldwin,  the  Latin  emperor,  in  dismay,  escap- 
ing to  the  sea-shore,  was  conveyed  to  Italy,  and  spent  the  remainder 
of  his  life  in  vainly  attempting  to  rouse  the  Catholic  powers  to 
join  in  his  restoration. 

No  names  besides  Paloeologus  are  much  distinguished,  except 
those  of  Alexis  Comnenus,  and  his  son  John  Alexis.  The  one  was 
an  able  and  politic  sovereign,  as  his  management  of  the  crusaders 
abundantly  evinced.  The  other,  with  talent,  united  moral  worth, 
and  seemed  by  his  virtues  to  revive  the  age  of  Marcus  Antoninus. 

The  lamentable  end  of  a  cruel  usurper  named  Andronicus,  is  worth 
recording,  as  it  shews  how  much  the  wicked,  in  death,  sometimes 
feel  that  they  need  the  divine  mercy.  The  butcheries  of  Androni- 
cus had  wearied  the  patience  of  the  citizens  of  Constantinople. 
They  rose  en-masse  against  him,  headed  by  Isaac  Angelus.  In  their 
rage*  the  populace  tore  from  him  successively  his  teeth,  his  hair,  an 
eye,  and  a  hand  ;  and  being  suspended  for  three  days,  every  person 
who  could  reach  the  public  enemy,  inflicted  on  him  some  mark  o{ 
ingenious  or  brutal  cruelty,  till  at  length  two  Italians,  out  of  mere} 
or  rage,  plunging  their  swords  into  his  body,  released  him  from  al 


SARACENS.  159 

human  punishment.    During  this  long  and  excruciating  torture, 
•'  Lord  have  mercy  on  me,"  and  "  Why  wilt  tliou  break  a  bruised 
,  :":  vvt're  tue  only  words  that  escaped  his  mouth.     Our  pity  for 
the  man,  seems  almost  to  absorb  our  hatred  of  the  tyrant 

SARACENS. 

,  32.  The  empire  of  the  SARACENS,  before  the  conclusion  of 
this  period,  was  destined  to  be  no  more.  Their  history  is 
partly  involved  in  the  details  of  the  crusades.  The  ener- 
gies of  fanatic  Europe,  were  exerted  against  the  followers  of 
the  prophet,  with  some  intervals,  nearly  two  centuries,  and 
terrible  was  the  destruction  of  life  on  both  sides.  The  king 
dom  of  Jerusalem,  under  Christian  sovereigns,  which  origi- 
nated from  the  crusades,  lasted  not  quite  a  century  and  a 
half.  The  Saracens,  on  recovering  this  domain,  held  it,  how- 
ever, but  a  short  time.  In  a  few  years  after,  the  Tartars  from 
the  east  swept  over  the  regions  which  the  Saracens  had  con- 
quered, and  blotted  out  their  name  from  the  list  of  empires. 

This  event  occurred  1258  years  A.  C.  From  the  close  of 
our  last  period  to  the  termination  of  their  dominion,  ten  ca- 
liphs of  the  house  of  Abbas,  reigned  at  Bagdad.  The  last 
of  the  caliphs  was  Mostasem,  who  was  put  to  death  at  the 
time  the  city  was  captured.  The  Tartars  were  led  by  Ha- 
laku,  their  general,  who  after  a  few  assaults,  took  Bagdad, 
which  contained  immense  riches,  and  gave  it  up  seven  days 
to  be  pillaged  by  his  troops. 

A  few  particulars  may  be  noticed  concerning  some  of  the 
caliphs. 

§  Of  one,  named  Mohammed,  it  is  said,  that  he  quitted  life  with  such 
extreme  regret,  that  when  about  dying-,  he  ordered  his  troops,  his 
court,  and  all  his  treasures,  to  pass  before  him,  as  it  were  in  a  view  ; 
and  after  he  had  considered  all  these  objects,  observed,  "  how  is  it 
possible  that  a  power  so  formidable  as  mine,  is  not  able  to  diminish 
the  weight  of  my  disorder  one  single  grain,  nor  to  prolong  my  life 
only  for  a  moment."  He  then  concluded  his  reflection  with  the  fol- 
lowing remarkable  words.  "  Unhappy  is  the  person  who  spends 
his  time  in  amassing  those  things  which  he  must  leave,  and  does 
not  maKe  the  principal  object  of  regard,  that  Being  in  whom  all 
things  are  to  be  found." 

The  reign  of  Al  Moktafi  must  have  been  remarkable  for  justice. 
This  the  following  anecdote  may  prove.  A  man  convicted  of  ca- 
lumny, was  sent  by  him  to  prison.  One  of  his  noble 5  offered  to  give 
him  two  thousand  pieces  of  gold  coin  for  his  release,  to  which  the 


160  MODERN  HISTORY. PERIOD   VI. 

caliph  replied,  "pnt  another  ir^n.  guilty  of  the  same  crime,  in  rtw 
power.and  1  wil;  .  and  ;  lor  I  am  exiiTiiidy  anxious 

to  ek'ar  my  dominions  of  these  pe*ts  of  society." 

The  later  caliphs,  in  the  decline  of  the  Saracen  empire,  were  not 
the  warlike  sovereigns  that  their  predecessors  had  been.  They 
thought  only  of  securing  their  ease  and  pleasure.  Mostasem,  above 
spoken  of,  exceeded  all  the  caliphs  in  ostentation  and  pride.  When 
he  appeared  in  public,  he  usually  wore  a  veil,  the  more  effectually 
to  attract  the  respect  of  the  people,  whom  he  considered  as  un- 
worthy to  look  at  him.  On  those  occasions,  nothing  could  exceed 
the  eagerness  of  the  multitude  to  see  him,  by  crowding  the  streets, 
and  hiring  the  windows  and  balconies,  at  the  most  exorbitant  prices. 
The  manner  of  his  death  was  degrading  and  distressing  in  the  ex- 
treme, and  Hulaki  designed  it  as  a  punishment  of  his  pride 
Through  the  same  streets,  and  exposed  to  the  view  of  the  same  po 
pulace,  the  cruel  Tartar  caused  the  wretched  caliph  to  be  dragged 
confined  in  a  leather  bag,  till  he  expired. 

CHINA. 

33.  In  the  history  of  CHINA,  the  present  period  includes  a 
part  both  of  the  nineteenth  and  twentieth  of  the  dynasties  of 
her  emperors.  The  whole  of  the  nineteenth  comprised  se- 
venteen emperors.  It  was  during  this  period  that  the  cele- 
brated Genghis  Khan,  and  his  successors,  established  their 
dominion  in  China.  Heading  the  Mogul  Tartars,  who  inha- 
bited a  desert  and  inhospitable  region,  Genghis  Khan,  in 
1209,  entered  China,  poured  over  the  northern  provinces,  and 
compelled  them  to  submit  to  his  authority.  Kublay,  his  son, 
called  by  the  Chinese,  Houpilay,  entered  on  his  father's  con- 
quests in  this  country,  and  reigned  for  a  time  over  the 
northern  provinces. 

Li-tsong,  and  his  three  sons  and  a  nephew,  in  succession, 
were  the  last  sovereigns  of  the  nineteenth  dynasty,  and  reigned 
over  the  southern  part  of  the  empire.  It  is  said  that  Kublay 
(more  probably  a  descendant  of  his)  brought  the  whole  of  the 
country  into  subjection  in  1280,  and  that  with  the  nineteenth 
dynasty,  ended,  in  fact,  the  Chinese  dominion  until  the  year 
1357 

Kublay  had  the  wisdom  and  prudence  to  govern  the 
Chinese  according  to  their  ancient  laws  and  customs.  This 
procedure,  together  with  the  general  excellence  of  his  charac- 
ter, entirely  reconciled  the  people  to  the  Tartar  sway,  so  far 
as  they  were  brought  under  it. 

§  The  Mogul  Tartars,  who  conquered  China,  were  a  wandering 


DISTINGUISHED  CHARACTERS.  161 

race,  and  given  to  arms.  The  extent  and  rapidity  of  their  con- 
quests have  rarely  been  equalled  in  history.  In  the  beginning  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  Genghis  Khan  overran,  besides  China,  already 
mentioned,  India,  Persia,  and  Asiatic  Russia.  Batou/jan,  one  of  his 
sons,  ravaged  the  western  nations  to  the  frontiers  of  Germany.  But 
Genghis  and  his  sons  were  not  the  only  conquerors  who  arose  from 
among  this  people.  From  the  vast  tract  of  country  inhabited  by  the 
Tartars,  have  sprung  the  conquerors  who  produced  all  the  great  re- 
volutions in  Asia.  Besides  the  personages  just  named,  the  Turks, 
who  are  a  race  of  Tartars,  overwhelmed  the  empire  of  the  caliphs. 
Mahmouc),  a  Tartar,  conquered  Persia,  and  a  great  part  of  India,  in 
the  tenth  century.  After  Genghis,  as  we  shall  hereafter  see,  Tamer- 
lane, the  scourge  of  the  Turks,  subdued  a  great  part  of  Asia,  and 
Baber,  a  remote  descendant  of  Tamerlane,  conquered  all  the  region 
between  Samarcand  and  Agra,  in  the  empire  of  the  Mogul.  The 
descendants  of  those  conquerors  now  reign  in  India,  Persia,  and 
China. 

Distinguished  characters  in  Period  VI. 

1.  Abelard,  a  scholastic  divine. 

2.  Walter  de  Mapes,  a  poet,  the  Anacreon  of  the  twelfth 
century. 

3.  Averrces,  an  Arabian  philosopher  and  physician. 

4.  Genghis  Khan,  a  Mogul,  conqueror  of  Asia. 

5.  Matthew  Paris,  an  early  English  historian. 

6.  Th.  Aquinas,  a  celebrated  teacher  of  School  Divinity. 

7.  Roger  Bacon,  an  eminent  English  philosopher. 

§  1.  Abelard,  was  born  in  Brittany,  1079,  and  became  celebrated  for 
his  learning  and  misfortunes.  He  was  one  of  the  most  eminent  di- 
vines of  the  twelfth  century,  though  his  conduct  ill  agreed  with  his 
sacred  profession.  He  was  criminally  vain  of  his  personal  and 
mental  accomplishments,  but  his  most  notorious  failings  relate  to 
his  conduct  towards  Heloise.  With  the  most  consummate  art,  he 
gained  the  favours  of  that  beautiful  and  accomplished  female,  to 
their  mutual  dishonour.  They  were  soon  afterwards  married  in 
private,  to  pacify  her  uncle  and  family,  though  she  never  would 
acknowledge  the  union,  inasmuch  as  she  preferred  the  name  of  a 
mistress,  to  that  of  a  wife.  Their  subsequent  conduct  eventually  ex- 
cited the  indignation  of  her  friends  to  such  a  degree,  that  they 
hired  certain  ruffians  to  maim  his  person  in  the  most  shameful 
manner. 

In  the  oratory  of  the  Paraclete  which  Abelard  built,  the  unfor- 
tunate Heloise  finally  found  a  refuge,  where  she  spent  her  days 
with  her  sister  nuns.  She  retained  her  affection  for  Abelard,  though  - 
tie  returned  it  with  a  coldness  and  indifference,  which  cannot  but 
sxcite  our  indignation.  Whilst  he  languished  during  the  decline  of 
life,  under  the  unmanly  vengeance  of  the  uncle  of  Heloise,  he  forgot 
that  she,  once  virtuous,  had  sacrificed  her  name,  honour,  and  'hap- 

14* 


162  MODERN   HISTORY. — PERIOD  VI. 

piness,  to  his, passion.  The  poem  of  Pope,  in  which  he  celebrates 
the  loves  of  Abelard  and  Heloise,  is  a  brilliant,  but  corrupting  pro- 
duction, and  not  even  the  bard  can  soften  the  features  of  deformity, 
which  mark  the  character  of  Abelard  in  this  particular. 

The  writings  of  Abelard,  are  mostly  on  subjects  of  theology  or 
logic. 

2.  Walter  de  Mapes,  was  chaplain  to  Henry  IT.   Under  king  John 
he  was  made  canon  of  Salisbury,  precentor  of  Lincoln,  and  arch- 
deacon  of  Oxford.     He  wrote  in  Latin,  and  in  a  satirical  style. 
Some  of  his  verses  are  still  read  and  admired  for  their  sprightliness. 
He  imitated  the  gay  humour  of  Anacreon.      He  was  a  facetious 
companion. 

3.  Averroes  was  born  at  Cordnba.  where  his  father  was  judge  un- 
der the  emperor  of  Morocco.     His  knowledge  of  law,  divinity,  math- 
ematics, and  astrology,  was  very  extensive,  and  to  this  was  added 
the  theory,  rather  than  the  practice,  of  medicine.     After  being  pro- 
fessor in  the  university  of  Morocco,  he  was  called  away  to  succeed 
his  father  in  the  office  of  Judge  in  Corduba,  and  soon  after,  he  was 
invested  with  the  same  powers  in  Morocco  and  Mauritania. 

His  authority  and  talents  procured  him  enemies,  who  envied  and 
calumniated  him,  and  through  their  efforts  he  was,  for  a  time,  sus- 
pended and  degraded,  on  a  charge  of  heresy.  He  was,  however, 
restored  at  length  to  all  his  honours.  He  died  at  Morocco,  1206. 

In  his  private  life,  Averroes  was  regular,  and  devoted  much  of  his 
time  to  philosophical  pursuits.  He  was  particularly  fond  of  Aristo- 
tle, on  whose  works  he  wrote  commentaries.  His  modical  works 
are  scarce,  and  above  mediocrity ;  and  of  his  numerous  verses  on 
amorous  and  light  subjects,  very  few  remain. 

4.  Genghis  Khan,  was  son  of  a  khan  of  the  Moguls,  and  born 
1163.     He  began  to  reign  at  the  age  of  13,  but  on  account  of  a  re- 
volt of  his  subjects,  he  fled   for  safety  to  Aventi-Khan,  a  Tartar 
prince,  whom  he  supported  on  his  throne,  and  whose  daughter  he 
married.     But  the  jealousy  of  Aventi  obliged  him  to  escape  a  se- 
cond time,  and  being  pursued  by  Aventi  and  his  son,  he  defeated 
them  both,  and  their  army  revolting  to  him,  he  soon  increased  it. 

From  this  occurrence,  he  became  a  renowned  conqueror.  In  the 
space  of  28  years  he  subdued  the  greater  part  of  Asia,  and  render- 
ed himself  as  famous  for  his  skill  in  government,  as  for  the  valour 
of  his  arms.  He  died  in  1227,  leaving  his  vast  dominions,  which 
extended  1800  leagues  in  length,  and  1000  in  breadth,  properly  divi- 
ded among  his  four  sons. 

5.  Matthew  Paris,  a  Benedictine  monk,  was  a  universal  scholar, 
and  in  that  dark  age,  confessedly  possessed  «reit.  and  astonishing 
erudition.     He  is  chiefly  celebrated  as  a  historian,  though  not  un- 
known as  an  orator  and  poet.     His  abilities  and  well  known  integri- 
ty, fitted  him  for  the  work  in  which  he  so  zealously  engaged,  of  re- 
forming the  monasteries,  and  re-establishing  the  ancient  purity  of 
church  discipline,  even  in  opposition  to  the  papal  power.     His  great 
production  was  "Historia  Major,"  in  two  parts,  from  the  creation  to 
William  the  Conqueror,  and  from  the  Conqueror  to  the  year  1250, 


DISTINGUISHED    CHARACTERS.  163 

With  Henry  III.  he  was  familiarly  acquainted ;  yet  his  account  of 
the  reign  of  that  prince,  seems  not  to  be  at  all  tinged  with  flattery, 
or  sullied  with  any  violation  of  historic  truth. 

6.  Th.  Aquinas,  called  the  angelical  doctor,  was  of  a  noble  family, 
descended  from  the  kings  of  Arragon  and  Sicily.     His  inclination  to 
embrace  an  ecclesiastical  life,  was  strongly  opposed  by  his  mother. 
She  even  confined  him  two  years  in  her  castle.     But  escaping  from 
her  custody,  he  found  the  means  of  improving  himself  by  study,  and 
it  was  not  long  before  he  appeared  at  Paris,  reading  public  lectures 
to  an  applauding  audience.     On  his  return  to  Italy,  he  became  di- 
vinity professor  to  several  universities,  and  at  last  settled  at  Naples, 
where  he  led  a  chaste  and  devout  life. 

Gregory  X.  invited  him  to  the  Council  of  Lyons,  to  read  the  book 
which  he  had  written  against  the  Greeks,  but  he  died  on  the  way  to 
join  the  pontilT,  near  Terraciria,  7th  March,  1274,  in  his  50th  year. 
Aquinas  left  a  vast  number  of  works,  mostly  upon  theological  snb- 
j°cts,  which  prove  him  to  have  been  a  man  of  extensive  erudition. 
There  is,  however,  in  his  writings,  very  little  of  sound,  useful,  or  ex- 
perimental views  of  religious  truth. 

7.  Roger  Bacon  was  born  in  1214,  near  Ilchester,  of  a  respectable 
family,  and  became  a  monk  of  the  Franciscan  order.    A  strong,  in- 
quisitive mind,  soon  raised  him  to  consequence  ;  and  as  he  was  libe- 
rally supported  in  his  pursuits  by  his  friends,  he  made  a  most  rapid 
advancement  in  science  and  philosophy.     His  attainments  becoming 
far  above  the  comprehensions  of  his  age,  he  was  suspected  and  am;- 
sed  of  magic.      The  monks  of  his  order,  actuated  by  jealousy 
envy,  contrive1;!  to  have  his  works  rejected  from  their  library,  and  in 
prevent  him  from  reading  lectures  to  the  students.     He  was  f 
imprisoned,  and  during- 10  years  was  left  to  pursue  his  studk-s  in  s 

•  y  confinement.  Within  this  period,  he  composed  his  "Opus 
Majlis,"  or  his  Great  Work.  After  being  released  from  prison  by 
the  interference  of  his  friends,  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life  in 
academical  repose,  at  Oxford.  lie  died  at  the  age  of  80  years. 

To  the  comprehensive  mind  of  Uoger  Bacon,  many  of  the  disco- 
veries, which  have  been  made  by  the  genius  and  toil  of  later  ages, 
were  known.  His  knowledge  of  mathematics  and  natural  philoso- 
phy, was  profound.  He  discovered  the  error  in  the  calendar,  and 
his  plan  for  correcting  it  was  adopted  by  Gregory  XIII.  He  wa=* 
acquainted  with  the  structure  of  an  air  pump,  with  the  laws  of  op 
tics,  and  with  the  power  of  glasses.  His  acquaintance  with  chemis- 
try was  extensive.  He  gave  such  a  description  of  gunpowder,  that 
it  is  evident  he  was  its  inventor.  In  his  writings,  which  amounted 
to  above  eighty  treatises,  some  of  which  are  published,  and  .some 
preserved  in  manuscript,  in  the  libraries  of  Europe,  he  uses  an  ele- 
gant and  nervous  style,  and  was  always  accurate  in  his  observations 
on  nature 


164  MODERN  HISTORY. — PERIOD  VII. 

PERIOD  VII. 

TJie  period  of  the  Papal  Schism  ;  extending  from  the 
founding'  of  the  Turkish  Empire,  1299  years  A.  C*.,  to 
the  taking  of  Constantinople,  1453  years  A.  C. 

TURKISH  EMPIRE. 

SECT.  1.  The  EMPIRE  of  the  TURKS,  claims  the  notice  of 
history,  from  the  important  consequences  connected  with  its 
eventual  establishment,  on  the  ruin  of  the  Grecian  sovereign- 
ty. The  power  of  this  people  is  felt  on  the  soil  of  classical 
antiquity,  and  until  lately,  it  extended  itself  over  nearly  the 
whole  of  it,  in  the  south  east  of  Europe.  Their  establishment 
as  a  separate  empire,  is  an  event  which  took  place  in  1299 
A.  C..  under  Ottoman  or  Othman,  the  first  Sultan. 

§  The  Turks  derive  their  origin  from  the  Avares,  a  tribe  of  the 
Huns  who  dwelt  in  Great  Tartary,  till  forced  by  the  Huns  of  the 
south,  to  abandon  their  country,  when  they  divided  into  several  bo- 
dies, each  of  which  taking  a  different  direction,  settled,  some  around 
the  Caspian  Sea,  some  in  Pannonia,  and  others  in  Asia  Minor. 

The  last  colony,  known  under  the  name  of  the  Seljukide  Turks, 
founded  an  empire  in  Asia  Minor,  about  the  year  1070,  and  their 
chief  took  the  title  of  Sultan  of  Iconium,  a  town  of  Lycaonia,  \vhcre 
he  fixed  his  residence.  In  1294,  this  empire  was  destroyed  by  the 
Moguls,  and  the  emirs  or  governors  of  most  of  the  provinces  became 
independent.  The  Turks  embraced  Mahometanism  long  before  the 
time  of  Othman,  as  we  gather  from  the  history  of  the  Crusades. 

Othman  was  an  emir  under  the  last  sultan  of  Iconium. 
Forming  the  scheme  of  raising  a  new  empire  from  that  which 
was  just  overthrown,  he  engaged  the  assistance  of  several  other 
emirs,  and  seized  Iconium.  He  soon  fixed  the  seat  of  his 
government  at  Byrsa,  the  chief  town  of  By  thin  ia,  and  as- 
sumed the  title  of  Sultan.  From  tins  time  the  Turks  were 
known  as  the  Ottoman  race  and  sovereignly. 

By  degrees,  they  encroached  on  the  borders  of  the  Greek 
empire,  and  were  prevented  from  subverting  it  at  an  early 
stage,  only  by  the  necessity  of  defending  themselves  against 
the  victorious  Tamerlane.  Their  principal  sovereigns,  during 
this  period,  after  Othman,  were  Orchan,  Amurat  I.,Bajazet  I., 

Mahomet  I.,  and  Amurat  II. 

§  In  the  reign  of  Orchan,  the  Turks  crossed  the  Hellespont  on 
rafts,  took  Gallipoli,  the  key  of  Europe,  penetrated  into  Thrace,  and 


ITALIAN  STATES,  165 

thp  foundation  of  the  Turkish  power  in  Europe.     Orohan  cre- 
the  order  of  Janizaries,  Uiough  as  they  were  more  completely  or- 
unui/ed  by  his  successor,  Amurat,  this  institution  is  generally  attri- 
buted to  the  latter. 

Bajazet  I.,  the  successor  of  Amurat,  purposed  to  besiege  the  capi- 
tal of  the  Greek  empire  in  form,  but  he  was  suddenly  forced  to  de- 
fend himself  against  Tamerlane.  Tamerlane,  or  Timer-bek,  was  a 
prince  of  the  Ushec  Tartars,  and  a  descendant  from  Gengiskan. 
Having  conquered  Persia  and  most  of  the  East,  he  was  invited  by  the 
enemies  of  Bajazet,  to  protect  them  against  the  Ottoman  power.  He 
gladly  accepted  the  invitation,  and  having  met  the  Turk,  he  totally 
defeated  him,  and  made  him  prisoner.  The  battle  of  Angoria,  where 
the  chieftains  fought,  is  a  famous  one  in  history.  Nearly  1,000,000 
-of  men  were  engaged  in  this  battle,  and  300,000  were  slain.  The 
victorious  career  of  the  Turks  was  suspended  by  this  event.  Baja- 
zet was  shut  up  in  an  iron  cage,  in  which  he  destroyed  himself. 

Under  Amurat  II.,  the  Turks  resumed  the  project  of  taking  Con- 
stantinople, but  did  not  succeed.  This  prince  had  devoted  himself 
to  retirement  and  study,  but  some  violation  of  a  treaty,  led  him  into 
a  war  with  the  Poles,  in  which  he  was  signally  victorious.  He  left 
his  dominions  to  his  son  Mahomet  II.,  surnamed  the  G'eat,  known 
in  history  as  the  final  subverter  of  the  Eastern  empire. 

ITALIAN  STATES. 

2.  ITALY,  in   the  separate  STATES  of  which  it  consisted 
during  this  period,  and  subsequently,  appears  again  on  the 
page  of  history.     The  principal  states  were  Venice,  Florence, 
Naples,  Sicily,  the  possessions  of   the  Church,  Genoa,  Par- 
ma; and  a  few  others.     Most  of  these  sovereignties  had  been 
previously  founded,  but  they  existed  in  their  most  flourishing 
condition,  during  the  present  period. 

3.  Venice  had  become  considerable  in  the  ninth  century. 
Afterward,  in  the  year  1084,  the  eastern  emperor,  Alexius, 
confirmed  to  the  Venetians,  Istria,  Dalmatia,  and  Croatia, 
which  had  been  conquered  by  their  arms.      They  subdued 
also  Verano,  Padua,  and  other  Italian  States,  in  1405.     On 
the  death  of  the  king  of  Epirus,  they  acquired  that  Island 
in  addition.      The  Venetians,  for  a  long  time,  were  the  prin- 
cipal merchants  of  the  world,  but  their  trade  was   greatly 
diminished  by  the  discovery  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  in 
1497.     During  the  latter  part  of  this  period,  in  consequence 
of  their  wars  with  the  Turks,  they  lost  many  of  their  pos- 
sessions. 

§  Tiie  following  incident  in  the  Venetian*  history,  deserves  a  par- 
ticular notice.      Ziani,  the  thirty-ninth  doge,  or  chief  magistrate  of 


166  MODERN  HISTORY. — PERIOD  VII. 

the  republic,  was  involved  in  a  w.r  with  FrHeric  Barharossa. 
whose  persecution  the  Pope  had  retired  to  Venice.     The  -a  is 

dispatched  embassadors  to  the  emperor,  who  answers  I  t  ;;>m  m  a 
rage,  that  if  their  doge  did  not  instantly  deliver  up  the  Pope,  lnuuui 
hand  and  foot,  he  would  be  terribly  revenged, — would  bring  his  army 
before  their  city,  and  fix  his  victorious  standard  in  their  market 
place,  which  should  float  in  the  blood  of  its  citizens. 

The  embassadors  returned  with  this  awful  message,  and  it  \vas 
agreed  to  equip  a  fleet  with  all  expedition,  and  prepare  for  repelling 
the  emperor's  meditated  vengeance.  While  the  Venetians  were  thus 
employed,  Otho,  the  Emperor's  son,  entered  the  gulf  with  seventy- 
five  gallies,  and  was  making  sail  to  the  city.  The  doge,  with  haste, 
met  this  fleet,  with  the  few  ships  which  were  fit  to  put  to  sea,  and  in 
a  dreadful  battle  took  and  destroyed  forty-eight  of  the  enemy's  ves- 
sels, and  returned  in  triumph  to  Venice.  From  this  time  was  con- 
tinued the  ceremony  of  marrying  the  sea.  The  Pope  going  out  to 
meet  the  victorious  doge,  presented  him  with  a  ring,  saying,  "Take, 
Ziani,  this  ring,  and  give  it  Jo  the  sea,  as  a  testimony  of  your  do- 
minion. Let  your  successors  annually  perform  the  same  ceremony, 
that  posterity  may  know  your  valour  has  purchased  the  prerogative, 
and  subjected  this  element,  even  as  a  husband  subjecteth  his  wife." 

4.  Florence,  which  was  the  capital  of  Tuscany,  early  rose 
into  notice.      It  became  a  republic  in  the  thirteenth  century. 
and  maintained  its  independence  during1  two  or  three  centu- 
ries.    It  was  distinguished,  by  the   revival  of  Grecian  litera- 
ture, and  the  cultivation  of  the  arts,  in  the  fifteenth  century. 
Before  the  close  of  this  period,  the  family  of   the  Medicib 
arose,  and  shed  a  splendour  on  the  republic  of  letters. 

5.  Naples,  just  before  the  beginning  of  the  present  era,  was 
entered  by  Charles,  duke  of  Anjou,  who  became  its  king,  as 
well  as  of  Sicily.     These  countries  were  frequently  united  in 
one  government,   and  as  often  separated  from  each  other. 
They  were  the  seat  of  long  wars  between  the  French  and 
Germans  on  the  one  part,  and  the  Spaniards  on  the  other. 
But  the  latter  at  length  obtained  possession  of  the  kingdoms. 

6.  The  Estates  of  the  Church,  which  include  the  middle 
portions  of  Italy,  were,  during  the  present  period,  greatly  in- 
volved in  controversies.     The  rival  claims  for  superiority  be- 
tween the  popes  and  emperors,  still  continued.     Henry  VII., 
the  successor  of  Albert,  triumphantly  fought  his  way  to  Rome, 
where,  in  a  solemn  manner,  he  received  the  crown,  and  im- 
posed  a  tribute  on  the  states  of  the  Church.     He  was  sud- 
denly destroyed,  it  was  supposed,  by  papal  vengeance. 

It  was  in  his  time,  that  the  remarkable  event  took  place,  by 
which  the  seat  of  the  popedom  was  changed  from  Rome  to 


FRANCE.  167 

Avignon.  This  was  done  by  pope  Clement  Y.,  1309,  on  ac- 
count of  being  so  much  molested  by  the  imperial  faction.  In 
the  absence  of  this  pope  from  Rome,  Nicholas  Rienzi,  a  man 
of  mean  parentage,  but  of  great  abilities,  aspired  to  the  su- 
preme authority,  in  1347.  He  retained  the  dominion  of  this 
portion  of  Italy,  for  a  year  ;  but  was  afterwards  sacrificed  to 
1.1  ic  fury  of  the  people.  In  the  year  1377,  the  holy  see  was 
removed  back  to  Rome,  by  pope  Gregory  IX.  After  his 
death,  the  citizens  of  Avignon  and  Rome  contended  for  the 
freedom  of  election.  Three  separate  factions  of  the  French 
and  Italian  cardinals,  having  elected  three  separate  popes,  the 
emperor  Sigismund  judged  this  division  of  the  Church  to  be 
a  fit  occasion  for  his  interference,  to  reconcile  all  differences, 
and  establish  his  own  supremacy. 

In  1414,  he  summoned  a  general  council  at  Constance, 
and  ended  the  dispute  by  deposing  all  the  three  pontiffs,  and 
naming  a  fourth,  Martin  Colonna.  Historians  call  this  di- 
vision of  the  papacy,  the  great  schism  of  the  west. 

7.  Genoa,  the  ancient  Liguria,  became  a  republic  in  953. 
The  Genoese  were  afterwards  involved  in  civil  commotions, 
which  so  weakened  them,   that  they  were  obliged  to  shelter 
themselves  under  the  protection  of  the  duke  of  Milan.     They 
continually  revolted  to  the  French,  and  returned  again  to 
subjection  to  the  Milanese,  till,  in  the  next  succeeding  period, 
Andrew  Doria  restored  liberty  to  his  native  country. 

§  The  Genoese,  next  to  the  Venetians,  were,  for  200  years,  the  most 
commercial  people  in  Europe.  The  city  of  Genoa,  was  afterwards 
r  elebrated  as  the  birth  place  of  the  great  Columbus. 

FRANCE. 

Capetian  Race.     Branch  of  Valois. 

8.  The  successor  of  Philip  the  Fair,  on  the  throne  of 
France,  was  Louis  X.   surnamed    Hutin,    (the   wrangler,) 
1314.     He  was  a  prince  of  a  weak  and  irresolute  character, 
and  reigned  but  a  tew  months.     A  son,  born  after  his  death, 
was  acknowledged,  but  lived    only  four  days.     Upon  this 
event,  Philip  V.  the  Long,  brother  of  Louis,  succeeded  to  the 
throne.     His  was  a  short  reign  of  five  years. 

§  Philip  V.  was  notorious  for  his  persecution  of  the  Jews,  and,  in 
general,  of  all  foreigners  who  resided  within  his  dominion,  and  re- 


168  MODERN  HISTORY. — PERIOD  VII.  ' 

fused  to  embrace  Christianity.  The  Jews  were  accused  of  having 
poisoned  the  wells  and  springs  x)f  water. 

0.  Philip  leaving  DO  other  than  female  issue,  was  succeed- 
ed, 1322,  by  his  brother,  Charles  IV.,  the  Fair.  His  reign 
was  unfortunately  short,  for  he  was  a  wise  and  upright 
prince.  He  left  no  son  behind  him. 

§  According  to  the  Salic  law,  no  Yemale  succeeds  to  the  French 
throne. 

10.  The  throne  now  devolved  on  Philip  VI.  of  Valois, 
cousin  to  the  late  km<r,  1328.  Edward  111.  of  England. 

o/  o  / 

•however,  claimed  it  in  right  of  his  mother,  Isabella,  who 
was  a  daughter  of  Philip  the  Fair.  He  enforced  his  claim 
by  arms ;  but  Philip  being  acknowledged  and  supported  by 
the  French  nation,  retained  the  sceptre,  notwithstanding  the 
loss  of  the  famous  battle  of  Cressy,  and  the  capture  of  Ca- 
lais. In  the  celebrated  wars  which  these  rival  pretensions 
created,  the  English  were  at  first  victorious. 

Philip  was  vain,  obstinate,  and  of  a  limited  capacity,  and 
died  after  a  reign  of  twenty-two  years. 

§  In  the  midst  of  his  losses,  Philip  was  gratified  with  the  cession  of 
the  province  of  Dauphine ;  the  condition  of  which  was,  that  the 
eldest  son,  the  presumptive  heir  of  the  crown,  should  be  styled  Dau- 
phin, and  bear  the  arms  of  the  province. 

It  was  in  the  reign  of  this  prince,  that  a  general  plague,  surpass- 
ing in  its  horrors  whatever  besides  the  remotest  history  can  furnish, 
ravaged,  in  the  space  of  eighteen  months,  not  only  France,  but 
every  part  of  the  known  world.  It  broke  out  in  the  northern  pro- 
vinces of  China,  and  swept  over  Asia,  Africa,  and  Europe.  In  the 
places  through  which  it  passed,  it  cut  down  two  thirds  of  the  inhab- 
itants. This  calamity  had  been  preceded  by  terrific  earthquakes, 
which  swallowed  up  whole  cities. 

llJohn  1L,  surnamed  the  Good,  succeeded  his  father,  1350. 
He  was  a  most  unfortunate  prince.  Taking  the  field  with 
60,000  men,  against  the  Black  Prince,  he  was  defeated  by 
the  latter  with  a  far  inferior  number,  in  the  signal  battle  of 
Poictiersj  and  made  prisoner. 

§  lie  was  carried  in  triumph  to  London,  and,  after  having  been  de 
taincd  in  captivity  four  years,  was  permitted  to  return  to  France 
upon  ceding  several  important  places  to  the  English.  He,  however 
visited  London  again,  on  account,  as  is  supposed,  of  a  passion  which 
he  had  conceived  for  the  countess  of  Salisbury,  lie  died  very  sooi 
afterwards. 

12.  The  Dauphin  assumed  the  administration,  during  tht 
captivity  of  the  king ;  and,  on  the  death  of  the  latter,  succeed 
to  the  throne,  under  the  name  of  Charles  Y.  the  Wise 


FRANCE.  169 

Had  it  not  been  for  this  prince,  France  would  most  probably 
have  fallen  under  the  domination  of  England.  During  his 
reign,  the  French  re-conquered  almost  all  the-  places  taken  by 
the  English.  This  prince  possessed  a  vigourous  mind,  but  a 
delicate  constitution  of  body,  and  was  suddenly  carried  off  in 
his  forty-seventh  year.  He  was  one  of  the  best  of  the  French 
sovereigns,  a  patron  of  literature,  and  a  sagacious  statesman. 
He  possessed  a  library  of  several  hundred  volumes ;  which 
was  extremely  large  for  the  age. 

§  It  was  through  Du  Guesclin,  a  celebrated  general,  whom  the 
king  raised  to  be  Constable  of  France,  that  the  French,  after  having 
been  beaten  by  the  English  during  thirty  years,  began  to  beat  the 
latter  in  turn. 

13.  Charles  VI.,  styled  the  Well  Beloved,  succeeded  to  the 
kingdom,  1380.     He  first  made  war  on  the  Flemings,  whom 
he  defeated  in  the  battle  of  Rosebeck.     A  formidable  inva- 
sion, of  which  the  object  was  the  British  shore,  failed,  in  con- 
sequence of  a  tempest  that  dispersed  and  wrecked  his  ships. 
During  this  reign,  a  civil  war  occurred  betAveen  the  houses  of 
Orleans  and  Burgundy,  the  cause  of  which  pertained  to  the 
regency.     Charles  had  fallen  into  a  state  of  insanity,  which, 
of  course,  rendered  a  regency  necessary.     In  the  midst  of  the 
contention,  and  of  the  miseries  which  it  inflicted  on  France, 
Henry  V.  of  England,  invaded  the  country,  and  gained  the 
memorable  battle  of  Agincourt.     The  consequence  of  this 
victory,  and  other  advantages  gained  by  Henry,  was  the  ac- 
knowledgment of  his  right  to  the  French  throne,  on  the  death 
of  Charles.     These  sovereigns  died  soon  after,  and  within 
two  months  of  each  other. 

§  Charles  was  a  weak  prince,  and  his  insanity  reduced  him  almost 
to  idiotism. 

The  fleet  which  was  fitted  out  for  the  invasion  of  England,  con- 
sisted of  1287  sail,  of  which,  sixty  were  ships  of  the  line.  In  the 
centre  was  a  wooden  city,  having  a  diameter  of  3000  paces,  pro- 
vided with  towers  and  bastions,  and  constructed  over  boats  fastened 
together.  It  was  so  contrived  as  to  be  put  together,  or  taken  to 
pieces,  in  a  day ;  and  was  intended  to  furnish  lodgings  for  the  troops, 
when  they  should  be  landed.  The  wreck  only,  of  this  singular  city, 
reached  the  British  shore. 

Cards  were  invented  in  the  reign  of  Charles  VI.,  to  amuse  that 
monarch,  and  to  relieve  him  from  the  melancholy  which  followed 
his  alienation  of  mind. 

14.  Charles  VII..  surnamed  the  Victorious,  was  crowned  at 
Poictiers,  1422,  while,  at  the  same  time,  the  infant  Henry 

15 


170  MODERN  HISTORY. — PERIOD  VII. 

VI.,  was  crowned  at  Paris,  through  the  agency  of  the  duke 
of  Bedford,  the  English  regent  of  France.  This  competi- 
tion issued  in  war.  The  first  great  military  operation  uu 
dertaken  by  the  English,  was  the  siege  of  Orleans,  a  place  of 
the  utmost  importance.  And  here  a  transaction  occurred, 
which  is  one  of  the  most  wonderful  on  record.  This  was  the 
raising  of  the  siege,  and  the  consequent  deliverance  of  France 
from  the  grasp  of  English  power,  by  means  of  Joan  of  Arc, 
otherwise  called  the  Maid  of  Orleans.  The  enthusiasm  which 
she  inspired  at  this  juncture,  by  pretending  to  a  divine  com- 
mission, and  by  her  singular  and  courageous  appearance  at 
the  head  of  the  French  troops,  rendered  them  invincible. 

§  Joan  was  a  young  country  girl,  of  twenty-seven  years,  a  domestic 
of  a  tavernkeeper.  Presenting  herself  to  the  council  of  Charles, 
who  had  fled  in  despair  to  Dauphine,  she  declared  that  God  had,  in 
a  revelation,  apprised  her  that  the  royal  troops  would  force  the  ene- 
my to  retire  from  the  siege.  An  assembly  of  divines  pronounced 
her  mission  to  be  supernatural;  and,  at  her  own  request,  she  was 
clothed  like  a  man,  and,  in  complete  armour,  headed  the  troops. 
A  white  palfrey  bore  her  gaily  to  the  scene  of  combat;  while  on 
her  banner  was  displayed  the  image  of  our  blessed  Saviour.  The 
English,  raising  the  siege  of  Orleans,  fled  befpre  her.  The  hopes  of 
the  nation  were  raised,  as  if  by  a  miracle,  and  other  conquests  suc- 
ceeded. The  impulse  which  her  heroism  excited,  enabled  Charles 
to  extend  his  triumphs  to  the  banks  of  the  Seine. 

As  a  recompense  for  her  important  services,  she  was  ennobled  by 
Criarles,  together  with  the  whole  of  her  family,  and  their  heirs  and 
descendants.  After  she  had  effected  the  object  of  the  mission,  she 
requested  leave  to  retire,  but  she  was  retained  in  the  service,  from 
the  belief  that  it  would  be  benefited  by  her  presence.  At  the  siege 
of  Compeigne,  not  long  after,  she  was  made  prisoner ;  and  being 
tried  by  the  English  for  sorcery,  she  was  condemned  to  be  burned. 
This  sentence,  which  is  an  eternal  disgrace  to  the  judges  who  pre- 
sided at  the  trial,  was  barbarously  put  into  execution.  When  led  to 
the  stake,  the  heroic  maid,  overcome  by  her  emotions,  burst  into 
tears.  To  prolong  her  tortures,  a  scaffolding  of  plaster  had  been 
contrived,  with  so  great  an  elevation,  that  the  flames  required  a  con- 
siderable time  to  penetrate  to  her  body,  which  was  gradually  con- 
sumed. 

The  tide  of  fortune  turning  against  the  English,  they  lost 
many  of  the  French  provinces ;  and,  after  the  battle  of  For- 
migny,  which  was  gained  by  Charles,  they  lost  Paris  itself. 
In  the  southern  dominions,  however,  the  French  arms  were 
pardized,  for  a  time,  by  the  brave  Talbot,  an  illustrious  Eng- 
lish warrior.  His  deatb,  and  the  fatal  disputes  between  the 


ENGLAND.  17] 

houses  of  York  and  Lancaster,  placed  the  whole  of .  the 
French  monarchy,  with  the  exception  of  Calais  and  Greignes, 
under  the  dominion  of  Charles,  1450. 

§  The  death  of  this  prince  was  hastened  by  the  imdutiful  and  un- 
natural conduct  of  his  son,  the  Dauphin.  The  latter  formed  a  plot  to 
cut  off  his  father  by  poison.  This  was  discovered ;  but  the  king  was 
so  haunted  by  the  idea  of  treachery  and  poison,  that  he  could  not  be 
prevailed  on  to  receive  that  degree  of  nourishment,  which  was  ne- 
cessary to  support  life. 

The  Pragmatic  Sanction  originated  in  his  reign,  in  a  general  as- 
sembly of  the  clergy  and  nobility,  representing  the  Gallican  church. 
Its  aim  was,  to  check  the  despotism  of  the  popes.  The  superiority 
of  the  assemblies  of  the  clergy  over  the  See  of  Rome,  formed  the 
basis  of  its  regulations. 

ENGLAND. 

Family  of  Plantagenet. — Branch  of  Lancaster. 

14£  Edward  II.,  surnamed  of  Caernarvon,  from  the 
place  of  his  birth,  ascended  the  throne  in  1307.  He  was  the 
opposite  of  his  father  in  character  and  disposition,  being  weak, 
indolent,  and  destitute  of  penetration  in  selecting  his  advi- 
sers. Yet  his  inoffensive  disposition,  joined  with  his  misfor- 
tunes, entitles  him  to  respect,  as  well  as  commiseration.  He 
made  war  on  the  Scots,  but  was  terribly  defeated  by  Robert 
Bruce,  in  the  battle  of  Bannockburn.  In  consequence  of  this 
battle,  the  latter  was  established  on  the  throne  of  Scotland, 
1314.  Edward  was  unfortunate  in  all  his  connexions.  His 
queen,  Isabella,  sister  of  the  French  king,  was  an  ambitious 
and  worthless  woman,  and  his  favourites  were  equally  de- 
tested by  the  people,  and  injurious  to  their  sovereign.  Edward, 
at  la,st,  fell  a  victim  to  his  Avife's  cruelty  and  lust,  and  misera- 
bly perished. 

§  It  was  in  obedience  to  his  father's  dying  request,  that  Edward  in- 
vaded Scotland.  He  marched  at  the  head  of  one  hundred  thousand 
men.  Bruce  met  this  immense  force  with  only  thirty  thousand. 
The  army  of  the  latter  was  however  advantageously  situated.  A  hill 
covered  his  right  flank,  a  morass  his  left,  and  to  screen  his  front,  he 
had  dug  deep  pits,  planted  them  with  stakes,  and  covered  them  with 
turf.  The  English,  confident  in  their  superior  numbers,  rushed  for- 
ward without  precaution.  Their  cavalry  was  entangled  in  the  pits, 
their  ranks  were  broken,  and  the  Scottish  horse,  pouring  through  the 
openings,  scattered  on  every  side  slaughter  and  dismay.  The  En- 
glish threw  down  their  arms  and  fled,  and  were  pursued  to  the  gates 


MODERN  HISTORY. PERIOD  VII. 

of  Berwick.    The  defeat  of  Edward  sunk  him  in  the  estimation  o; 
his  subjects. 

The  most  famous  of  his  favourites,  were  Gaveston,  and  the  two 
Spencers,  father  and  son.  The  queen,  who  persuaded  the  king  to 
recal  them  after  they  had  been  banished  by  parliament,  at  length 
fixed  her  affections  on  Mortimer,  a  powerful  baron.  A  breach  soon 
followed  between  her  and  the  Spencers,  and  going  over  to  France 
with  her  paramour,  she  found  the  means  to  form  such  a  party  in 
England,  that  on  her  return  with  some  French  troops,  she  made  her 
husband  prisoner,  and  forced  him  to  abdicate  his  crown  in  favour  ol 
his  son,  then  fourteen  years  of  age.  While  he  was  in  prison,  he 
was  put  to  death  by  the  keepers,  who,  with  infinite  barbarity,  thrust 
a  red  hot  iron  into  his  bowels,  until  he  was  internally  consumed. 
These  wretches  were  instigated  by  Mortimer  and  the  queen. 

15.  Edward  III.,  succeeded  his  father,  1327,  under  the 
regency  of  Isabella  and  Mortimer.  But  to  such  a  regency, 
he  would  not  submit.  At  the  age  of  eighteen,  lie  assumed 
the  reins  of  government,  hanged  Mortimer  at  Tyburn,  and 
confined  the  queen,  his  mother,  for  life. 

The  conquest  of  Scotland  soon  became  an  object  of  ambi- 
tion, and  marching  to  the  north  with  a  large  army,  he  van- 
quished the  Scots  at  Halidown  Hill,  with  little  loss  on  the 
side  of  England. 

On  the  death  of  Charles  the  Fair,  in  1328,  Edward,  having 
a  claim  to  the  throne  of  France,  as  being  the  son  of  Isabella, 
the  sister  of  the  deceased  king,  and  first  in  female  succession, 
prepared  to  assert  his  claim  (since  the  French  rejected  it)  by 
the  fortune  of  arms.  For  this  purpose,  he  invaded  France 
in  1339,  and  from  that  time  to  1360,  war  raged  furiously  be- 
tween the  two  countries,  with  only  occasional  suspensions. 

During  this  long  contention,  were  fought  the  famous  battles 
of  Oressy,  in  1346,  and  Poictier;,  in  1356.  The  battle  of 
Cressy  was  fought  between  Philip,  the  French  king,  on  the 
one  side,  and  Edward  and  his  son,  the  Black  Prince,  on  the 
other.  The  army  of  Philip  amounted  to  one  hundred  thousand 
men,  that  of  the  English,  only  to  thirty  thousand.  The  bat- 
tle ol'  Poictiers  was  fought  between  the  Black  Prince,  and 
King  John  of  France.  The  former  commanded  only  six- 
teen thousand  men,  while  the  army  of  the  latter  amounted  to 
sixty  thousand.  Notwithstanding  the  disparity  of  numbers, 
the  English  obtained  a  decided  victory  in  both  engagements. 
The  heroism  of  the  Black  Prince  has  rendered  his  name  ever 
famous  in  the  annals  of  war. 


ENGLAND.  173 

§  In  the  battle  of  Cressy,  there  fell,  by  a  moderate  computation, 
twelve  hundred  French  knights,  fourteen  hundred  gentlemen,  four 
thousand  men-at-arms,  besides  about  thirty  thousand  of  an  inferior 
rank.  The  action  seems  no  less  remarkable  for  the  small  loss  sus- 
tained by  the  English,  than  for  the  prodigious  slaughter  of  the  French. 
Ymong  "the  former,  there  only  fell  one  esquire,  and  three  knights, 
jid  an  inconsiderable  number  of  private  men. 

In  the  battle  of  Poictiers,  the  French  king  was  taken  prisoner, 

nd  afterwards  was  led  by  the  Prince  of  Wales,  in  triumph,  to  Lon- 

ton.     He  was  treated  with  the  greatest  courtesy  by  his  conqueror. 

Edward,  during  his  absence  in  France,  left  his  queen,  Philippa,  with 
'he  care  of  the  realm.  Attacked  by  the  Scots,  who  invaded  England 
soon  after  the  battle  of  Cressy,  she  entirely  defeated  them  near  Dur- 
nam.  David,  their  king,  who  had  expelled  Edward  Baliol  from  the 
throne,  was  unable  to  effect  his  escape  from  the  field,  and  thus  he 
became  a  captive  at  the  same  time  with  king  John  in  London. 

16.  The  decline  of  Edward's  life  did  not  correspond  with 
the  early  part  of  it.     The  tide  of  success  turned  against  him 
in  France,  and  besides  the  loss  of  his  dominions  abroad,  he 
felt  the  decay  of  his  authority  at  home.    His  age  he  unwisely 
devoted  to  pleasure  ;  and  to  complete  his  disappointment,  the 
Prince  of  Wales  died,  after  a  lingering  illness,  in  his  forty- 
sixth  year.     Never    had  king  a  more  illustrious  son,    and 
never  did  a  nation  have  greater  cause  to  felicitate  itself  in  the 
prospect  of  having  such  a  model  of  heroism  and  virtue  for  its 
'sovereign.     The  old  king  did  not  long  survive  this  melancho- 
ly occurrence.     He  died  in  1377,  in  the  sixty- fifth  year  of 
his  age,  and  the  fifty-first  of  his  reign. 

The  English  nation  has  ever  taken  pride  in  its  Edward 
III.,  and  recurred  to  his  reign,  as  one  of  the  most  glorious  in 
its  annals.  The  splendour  of  his  foreign  victories,  arid  the 
tranquillity  and  efficiency  of  his  domestic  government,  stamp 
the  impression  of  greatness  on  his  mind.  But  the  moral  pu- 
rity of  his  character,  and  the  justice  of  his  wars  with  France 
and  Scotland,  are  more  than  questionable. 

17.  Richard  II.,  son  of  the  Black  Prince,  succeeded  to  the 
throne,  1377,  at  the  age  of  eleven  years.     He  was  unworthy 
of  his  great  father.     Indolence,    prodigality,  perfidiousness, 
and  sensuality,  marked  his  character.    His  kingdom  suffered 
from  the  distractions  attending  a  regal  minority.     The  con- 
tests for  power  between  his  three  uncles,  the %ukes  of  Lancas- 
ter, York,  and  Gloucester,  who  secretly  directed  the  affairs  of 
the  realm,  embroiled  all  the  public  measures.     An  insurrec- 

•15* 


174  MODERN   HISTORY. PERIOD  VII. 

tion,  headed  by  Wat  Tyler,  put  the  government,  for  a  time, 
in  great  jeopardy.  While  the  kingdom  was  convinced  with 
domestic  contests,  it  was  also  engaged  in  hostilities  with 
France  and  Scotland.  At  length,  during  the  king's  absence 
in  quelling  an  insurrection  in  Ireland,  Henry  of  Lancaster 
rose  in  open  rebellion,  and  compelled  Richard,  at  his  return, 
to  resign  the  sceptre  into  his  hands.  The  parliament  con- 
firmed the  act,  and  the  king  was  soon  after  privately  assassi- 
nated or  starved  to  death.  Thus  began  the  contention  between 
the  houses  of  York  and  Lancaster. 

§  The  finances  of  the  kingdom  were  exhausted  by  the  wars  which 
were  carried  on  with  its  foreign  enemy.  As  nothing  was  obtained 
by  conquest  to  repair  the  waste,  parliament  found  it  necessary  to 
impose  a  poll  tax  of  three  groats  on  every  person,  male  and  female, 
above  fifteen  years  of  age.  But  the  minds  of  the  people  were  un- 
favourably disposed  for  this  measure,  and  the  principles  of  demo- 
cracy gaining  ground,  this  distich  was  frequently  in  the  mouths  of 
the  multitude : 

"  When  Adam  delv'd  and  Eve  span, 
Whore  was  then  the  gentleman." 


Besides,  the  injustice  of  the  tax,  to  which  the  poor  were  obliged  to 
contribute  as  much  as  the  rich,  was  apparent  to  every  body.  While 
the  character  of  the  measure  was  viewed  in  this  light,  the  rigorous 
manner  in  which  it  was  enforced,  seemed  insupportable. 

An  incident  which  occurred,  respecting  the  wanton  conduct  of  a 
tax-gatherer,  in  the  family  of  a  blacksmith,  aroused  the  public  mind, 
and  became  the  occasion  of  a  wide  spread  insurrection.  The  popu- 
lace flew  to  arms.  The  spirit  immediately  pervaded  Essex  and  the 
neighbouring  counties.  The  leaders  assuming  the  feigned  names  of 
Wat  Tyler,  Jack  Straw,  and  Hob  Carter,  committed  the  most  out- 
rageous violence  on  such  of  the  nobility  and  gentry  as  came  in  their 
way.  At  length,  assembling  their  followers  on  Blackheath,  to  the 
amount  of  one  hundred  thousand,  they  broke  into  London,  demand- 
ing certain  immunities,  which  were  granted,  but  in  parties  still  con- 
tinuing to  insult  and  plunder  the  capital. 

At  this  juncture,  the  king,  slenderly  guarded,  met  Tyler  at  the 
head  of  a  large  body  of  rioters,  and  entered  into  conference  with 
him.  Tyler  ordered  his  companions  to  retire,  till  he  should  give 
the  signal  for  attack,  and  then  ventured  alone  into  the  midst  of  tho 
royal  retinue.  Here  he  demeaned  himself  in  so  insolent  a  manner, 
that  Wai  worth,  the  mayor  of  London,  in  a  fit  of  indignation,  dre~v» 
his  sword  and  brought  him  to  the  ground.  He  was  instantly  dis- 
patched by  the  res},  of  the  king's  attendants.  Richard's  presence  or 
mind  saved  himself  and  them  from  the  meditated  revenge  of  the 
mutineers.  Accosting  the  enraged  multitude  with  an  affable  and 
intrepid  countenance,  he  asked  them,  "What  is  the  meaning  of 


ENGLAND. 

your  disorder?  Are  you  angry,  my  good  people,  that  you  have 
lost  your  leader.  I,  your  king,  will  be  your  leader." 

The  presence  of  majesty  overawed  the  multitude,  and  they  im- 
plicitly followed  the  king.  Leading  them  into  the  fields,  he  peacea- 
bly dismissed  them,  with  the  same  charters  which  had  been  granted 
to  their  fellows.  These  charters,  however,  were  soon  after  annulled 
iu  parliament. 

In  regard  to  the  death  of  Richard,  after  he  was  deposed  and  im- 
prisoned, it  was  long  the  prevailing  opinion,  that  his  guards  fell  upon 
him  in  the  castle  of  Pontefract,  and  dispatched  him  with  their  hal- 
berts.  But  it  is  more  probable,  that  he  was  starved  to  death  in 
prison,  for  after  his  body  was  exposed  "in  public,  no  marks  of  vio- 
lence were  found  upon  it. 

The  particular  ground  of  the  controversy  between  the  houses  of 
York  and  Lancaster,  was,  that  Edmund  Mortimer  was  the  true  heir 
to  the  crown,  being  descended  from  Lionel,  the  second  son  of  Ed- 
ward III.,  whereas  Henry,  duke  of  Lancaster,  who  was  placed  on 
the  throne,  was  the  son  of  John  of  Gaunt,  the  third  son  of  Ed- 
ward III. 

17-k  Henry  IV.,  was  the  title  which  the  duke  of  Lancaster 
assumed,  when  he  came  into  power.  He  was  surnamed 
Bolingbroke,  and  the  date  of  his  reign  is  1400.  He  was 
immediately  oppressed  by  faction  and  discontent ;  and  as  a 
righteous  retribution,  he  felt  the  uneasiness  of  "  the  head  that 
wears  a  crown."  A  rebellion,  raised  by  the  earl  of  Northum- 
berland, for  placing  Mortimer,  of  the  house  of  York,  the  true 
heir,  on  the  throne,  first  required  his  attention.  The  Scotch 
and  the  Welch  took  part  with  the  malcontents,  but  their 
united  forces  were  defeated  at  Shrewsbury,  and  their  leader, 
young  Percy,  (Hotspur,  so  named  on  account  of  his  fiery 
temper,)  was  killed  on  the  field. 

§  The  armies  on  this  occasion  were  nearly  equal  in  numbers,  con- 
sisting of  about  twelve  thousand  men,  each  ;  and  rarely  was  there  a 
battle  in  those  times,  where  the  shock  was  more  terrible  or  more 
constant.  Henry  exposed  his  person  to  all  the  dangers  of  the  field. 
His  gallant  son,  the  prince  of  Wales,  who  afterwards  so  signalized 
himself  by  his  military  exploits,  urged  on  the  fight  with  the  utmost 
intrepidity,  and  even  a  wound  which  he  received  in  the  face  with  an 
arrow,  could  not  oblige  him  lo  retire.  On  the  other  side,  Percy  and 
Douglas,  terrible  narno5,  supported  their  ancient  renown.  But  while 
the  armies  were  contending  in  the  most  furious  manner,  the  death 
of  Percy,  by  an  unknown  hand,  decided  the  victory,  and  the  ad- 
herents of  the  king  won  the  day. 

18.  A  second  rebellion,  headed  by  the  archbishop  of  York, 
was  quelled  by  the  capital  punishment  of  its  author.  In  the 
reign  of  this  prince,  the  secular  arm  was  unrighteously  ex- 


176  MODERN    HISTORY PER  TOD  VII. 

tended  against  the  followers  of  Wickliffe ;  and  history  records 
the  shameful  fact,  that  Henry  IV.  was  the  first  English  mo- 
narch, that  made  the  religion  of  his  subjects,  an  offence  to  be 
expiated  by  the  faggot  and  the  scaffold. 

The  latter  part  of  his  life  was  embittered  by  the  extreme 
profligacy  of  his  son  Henry,  prince  of  Wales,  who  afterwards 
nobly  discarded  the  vices  and  follies  of  his  youth. 

§  The  following  particular  merits  a  recital.  One  of  his  abandoned 
companions  having  been  indicted  before  Sir  Wm.  Gascoigne,  the 
chief  justice,  the  young  prince  was  not  ashamed  to  appear  at  the 
bar  with  the  criminal,  in  order  to  give  him  countenance  and  pro- 
tection. Finding  that  his  presence  did  not  over-awe  the  chief  jus- 
tice, he  proceeded  to  insult  him  on  his  tribunal.  But  Gascoigne, 
mindful  of  his  own  dignity,  and  of  the  majesty  of  the  laws,  ordered 
the  prince  to  be  committed  to  prison.  Henry,  sensible  of  his  error, 
quietly  submitted  to  the  order.  When  the  affair  was  mentioned  to 
his  father,  he  is  said  to  have  exclaimed,  "Happy  is  the  king  who 
has  a  magistrate  sufficiently  courageous  to  execute  the  laws  upon 
such  an  offender ;  but  still  more  happy,  in  having  a  son  willing  to 
submit  to  such  chastisement." 

Henry  died,  1413,  at  the  age  of  forty-six,  in  the  fourteenth 
year  of  his  reign.  Notwithstanding  distinguished  military 
talents  and  political  sagacity,  he  became  a  most  unpopular 
sovereign.  The  illegality  of  his  title,  may  have  disaffected 
his  subjects  towards  his  person  and  his  reign.  He  felt  the 
miseries  of  guilt,  and  became  suspicious  and  jealous.  In  re- 
ligion, he  was  bigotted  and  intolerant. 

19.  His  son,  Henry  V.,  ascended  the  throne  in  1413.  He 
laid  aside  his  dissvlute  habits,  as  already  intimated,  and  in- 
formed the  companions  of  his  pleasures,  that  they  must  enter 
on  a  similar  reformation,  if  they  would  secure  his  favour.  He 
also  received  the  wise  ministers  of  his  father,  who  had  checked 
his  riots,  with  all  the  marks  of  esteem  and  confidence. 

Henry  early  asserted  by  arms,  the  English  claim  to  France. 
Taking  advantage  of  disorders  in  that  kingdom,  he  invaded 
it  with  an  army  of  about  thirty  thousand  men,  and  with 
half  that  number,  defeated  the  French  army,  amounting  to 
sixty  thousand  men,  on  the  plains  of  Agincomt.  His  own 
loss  did  not  exceed  five  hundred  men.  while  that  of  the  French 
an.aunted  to  twenty-two  thousand  in  killed  and  prisoners. 

§  Henry  drew  up  his  army  on  a  narrow  ground,  between  two 
woods,  to  cover  each  flank,  and  patiently  expected  an  attack,  having 
been  surprised  by  the  sudden  appearance  of  the  French,  in  great 


ENGLAND.  177 

force,  when  his  own  army  had  been  greatly  reduced  by  sickness  and 
fatigue.  Had  the  French  general  declined  a  combat,  the  English 
must  have  relinquished  the  advantages  of  their  situation ;  but  the 
impetuous  valour  of  the  nobility,  and  a  vain  confidence  in  superior 
numbers,  brought  on  an  action,  which  proved  to  the  English  so 
glorious  and  successful. 

After  this  battle,  returning  to  England  to  recruit  his  forces, 
he  landed  again  with  an  army  of  twenty-five  thousand  men, 
and  fought  his  way  to  Paris.  The  war  between  Henry  and 
the  French  king,  was  terminated  by  the  treaty  of  Troyes, 
1420.  Henry  then  turned  his  arms  with  success  against  the 
dauphin,  who  assumed  the  style  and  authority  of  regent. 
Triumphing  signally  over  his  enemy,  and  realizing  most  of 
his  wishes,  he  had  nearly  reached  the  summit  of  human 
glory.  But  his  end  was  approaching,  and  one  of  the  most 
heroic  of  the  English  monarchs,  died  at  the  early  age  of  thirty- 
four  years,  and  after  a  reign  of  nine  years. 

§  The  treaty  of  Troyes  was  made  with  the  Queen  mother,  and  the 
duke  of  Burgundy — Charles,  the  French  king,  being  insane.  By 
this  treaty  it  was  agreed  that  he  should  marry  the  daughter  of 
Charles,  and  receive  the  kingdom  of  France  as  her  dowry,  which, 
till  the  death  of  her  father,  he  should  govern  as  regent. 

Henry  was  a  true  hero,  and  like  all  heroes,  his  views  of  conquest 
were  pernicious  in  their  tendency.  Accordingly,  England  derived 
from  his  achievements,  rather  fame  than  solid  advantage.  He  was 
able  in  the  cabinet  as  well  as  in  the  field — was  magnanimous, 
generous,  and  affable,  but  had  more  than  the  bigotry  of  his  father  in 
religion. 

20.  Henry  VI.,  at  the  age  of  ten  months,  succeeded  his 
father,  in  1422,  under  the  regency  of  the  dukes  of  Gloucester 
and  Bedford,  the  former  for  England,  the  latter  for  France. 
Henry  was  crowned  king  of  France,  at  the  age  of  eight 
years.  At  this  era,  in  order  to  complete  the  conquest  of  that 
kingdom,  it  remained  only  to  capture  Orleans.  The  duke  of 
Bedford,  acting  as  regent  of  France,  had  laid  siege  to  the 
place,  but  he  was  obliged  to  raise  it  by  the  valour  and  good 
conduct  of  Joan  of  Arc,  the  maid  of  Orleans.  Thus  was 
France  saved,  and  England  was  afterwards  stripped  of 
almost  every  conquest  it  had  made  in  that  country. 

When  arrived  at  adult  years,  Henry  proved  himself  to  be 
mild  and  inoffensive,  but  deficient  in  the  energy  which  he- 
comes  a  sovereign.  He  had  but  a  slender  capacity.  These 
defects  in  the  king  were  supplied  by  his  queen,  the  famous 
Margaret  of  Anjou,  a  woman  of  great  talents,  ambition,  and 


176  MODERN  HISTORY. — PERIOD  VII. 

heroism.      She   made  a  conspicuous  figure  in  the  wars 
which  distracted  his  reign. 

The  insurrection  of  Jack  Cade,  was  an  event  of  some  im- 
portance, and  was  quelled  only  after  considerable  bloodshed. 

§  Jack  Cade,  a  native  of  Ireland,  whose  crimes  obliged  him  to  retire 
into  France,  had  assumed  the  name  of  Mortimer,  and  at  the  head  ol 
20,000  Kentish  men,  encamped  on  Blackheath,  in  this  way  to  Lon- 
don, in  order  to  obtain  a  redress  of  grievances.  The  city  opened  its 
gates  to  Cade,  who  for  some  time  maintained  great  order  among  hig 
followers;  but  at  length  when  he  could  not  prevent  them  from  com- 
mitting depredations  and  outrages,  the  citizens,  with  the  assistan  ce 
of  some  soldiers,  repulsed  the  rebels  with  great  slaughter.  Upon 
their  submission,  they  received  a  general  pardon,  which  was  after- 
wards  annulled,  and  both  Cade,  and  many  of  his  followers,  were  ca- 
pitally punished  for  their  rebellion. 

The  duke  of  Gloucester,  who  was  heir  to  the  crown  hi 
case  the  king  should  die  without  issue,  was  the  favourite  of 
the  nation  ;  but  he  had  opposed  the  marriage  of  Henry  with 
Margaret,  and  was  therefore  marked  out  by  the  latter  for  de- 
struction. He  was  arrested  and  sent  to  prison,  where  he 
was  founxi  dead  a  few  days  afterwards.  This  event,  in  con- 
nection with  the  imbecility  of  the  king,  encouraged  the 
Duke  of  York  to  assert  his  claim  to  the  throne. 

§  The  duke  of  York,  who  was  Richard,  son  of  Lionel,  second  son  of 
Edward  III.,  was,  however,  averse  to  violent  measures,  and  his  for- 
bearance, when  appointed  lieutenant  of  the  kingdom,  though  amia- 
ble and  unusual,  proved  the  source  of  all  those  furious  wars  and 
commotions  which  ensued ;  for  the  queen  at  length  persuaded 
Henry  to  annul  the  protectorship  of  Richard,  and  place  the  adminis- 
tration in  the  hands  of  the  duke  of  Somerset.  Richard  then  levied 
an  army ;  but  an  account  of  the  wars  between  the  houses  of  York 
and  Lancaster,  properly  belongs  to  the  next  period. 

GERMANY. 

21.  In  the  history  of  the  GERMAN  EMPIRE,  is  to  be  no- 
ticed, the  rise  of  the  House  of  Austria,  which  constitutes  an 
important  portion  of  that  empire.  This  event  took  place  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  former  period,  viz.  1274,  when  Rodol- 
phus  of  Hapsbourg,  a  Swiss  baron,  was  elected  emperor  of 
Germany.  He  owed  his  elevation  to  the  jealousies  of  the 
electoral  princes,  who  could  not  agree  in  the  choice  of  any 
one  of  themselves.  The  king  of  Bohemia,  to  whom  Rodol- 
phus  had  been  steward  of  ihe  household,  could  not  endure- 
the  supremacy  of  his  former  dependent ;  and  refusing  him 


GERMANY.  179 

tne  customary  homage  for  his  Germanic  possessions,  Rodol- 
phus  stripped  him  of  Austria,  which  has  ever  since  remained 
in  the  family  of  its  conqueror. 

When  Rodolphus  ascended  the  throne,  he  found  the 
empire  distracted  and  almost  ruined  by  anarchy  and  faction, 
but  lie  restored  order  by  his  prudence  and  firmness.  He 
was  a  prince  generally  esteemed  for  his  virtues. 

§  He  demolished  the  retreats  of  the  banditti,  that  every  where  in- 
fested the  country,  and  executed  great  numbers  of  the  marauders, 
The  following  anecdote,  among  others,  is  related  of  him. 

A  merchant  complaining  to  him  of  an  innkeeper  at  Nuremberg 
who  refused  to  return  a  sum  of  money  which  he  had  deposited  in 
the  hands  of  the  latter,  Rodolphus,  seeing  the  innkeeper  soon  af- 
terwards, took  an  opportunity  of  praising  his  hat,  and  proposed 
an  exchange.  His  proposal  was  naturally  accepted,  and  he  sent 
the  hat  as  a  token  to  the  innkeeper's  wife,  desiring,  in  her  husband's 
name,  she  would  deliver  to  the  bearer,  the  money  which  a  merchant 
had  left  in  his  hands.  By  this  stratagem,  the  plaintiff  recovered 
his  property,  and  the  innkeeper  was  sentenced  to  pay  a  heavy  fine. 

Rodolphus  had  seven  beautiful  daughters,  by  means  of  whom,  he 
contracted  alliances,  which  proved  highly  advantageous  to  his  pos- 
terity. He  had  also  seven  sons ;  but  none  of  these  survived  him,  ex- 
cept the  duke  of  Austria.  In  Rodolphus  began  the  good  fortune  of 
the  house  of  Austria,  of  which  he  was  the  founder ;  a  fortune  which 
called  forth  the  observation,  "  that  Venus  was  even  more  favourable 
to  them  than  Mars." 

22.  Adolphus  of  Nassau,  was  elected  the  next  emperor  of 
Germany,  1291,  instead  of  the  duke  of  Austria,  the  late  em- 
peror's son  ;  but  proving  unworthy,  he  was  deposed,  and  the 
duke,  named  Albert  I.,  was  duly  raised  to  the  empire,  1298. 
The  pope  claimed  the  empire,  but  finally  acknowledged 
Albert. 

This  prince  treated  the  Swiss  with  great  rigour,  contrary 
to  the  conduct  of  his  father.  Several  of  the  Cantons  were 
his  by  inheritance,  but  he  formed  the  design  of  annexing  the 
whole  of  the  provinces  to  his  dominion,  and  erecting  them 
into  a  principality,  for  one  of  his  sons.  The  Swiss  revolted. 
The  cantons  of  Schewitz,  Uri,  and  Underwald,  which  always 
bad  resisted  the  authority  of  Austria,  combined  to  assert  their 
freedom  ;  and  a  small  army  of  four  hundred  or  five  hundred 
men,  defeated  an  immense  host  of  the  Austrians,  in  the  pass 
of  Morgate,  1315.  The  rest  of  the  Cantons,  by  degrees, 
joined  the  association,  and  with  invincible  perseverance,  after 
sixty  pitched  battles  with  their  enemies,  they  effected  their 


180  MODERN  HISTORY. — PERIOD  VII. 

freedom.  It  was  the  famous  William  Tell,  who  was  instru- 
mental in  producing  this  revolution,  and  in  laying  the  foun- 
dation of  his  country's  liberty. 

§  In  so  brief  an  outline  of  history  as  is  attempted  in  this  work,  it 
will  be  impossible  to  include  a  separate  account  of  every  country. 
Several  of  the  smaller  ones  must  therefore  be  noticed  in  the  account 
of  others,  or  be  grouped  together.  As  this  seems  to  be  a  fit  place  to 
touch  on  the  affairs  of  Switzerland,  a  few  particulars  may  be  added. 
The  story  of  William  Tell,  deserves  a  record.  In  this  story  is  ex- 
emplified an  instance  of  the  lawless  tyranny  of  the  governor  of 
Switzerland. 

Geisler,  governor  of  the  Canton  of  Uri,  had  ordered  his  hat  to  bo 
fixed  upon  a  pole  in  a  certain  place,  and  commanded  every  passen 
ger,  on  pain  of  death,  to  pay  the  same  obeisance  to  it  as  to  himsell 
Tell,  an  inhabitant  of  Uri,  indignant  at  this  insulting  mark  of  wanton 
tyranny,  disdained  to  pay  the  homage  required.  TelPs  death  was 
determined,  and  he  was  condemned  to  be  hanged,  unless  he  should 
be  able  to  strike  with  his  arrow,  an  apple  placed  upon  the  head  of 
his  son.  Being  an  excellent  marksman,  he  accepted  the  alternative, 
and  providentially  cleft  the  apple  without  injuring  the  child.  Geisler 
perceiving  another  arrow  in  his  belt,  asked  him  for  what  purpose 
that  was  intended.  Tell  heroically  replied,  "  It  was  designed  for 
you,  if  I  had  killed  my  son." 

Condemned  to  perpetual  imprisonment  in  a  dungeon  for  this  an- 
swer, he  was  bound  and  thrown,  into  a  boat,  that  Geisler  himself 
might  convey  him  across  the  lake  of  Altorf,  to  his  castle.  In  the 
midst  of  the  passage,  a  furious  squall  arose,  and  the  cowardly  go- 
vernor was  so  intimidated  by  the  danger  he  was  in,  that  he  unbound 
Tell,  who  was  a  most  skilful  boatman,  and  entreated  him  to  row  him 
safely  across  the  lake.  Tell  soon  effected  his  escape  by  swimming 
to  the  shore,  and  had  an  opportunity  by  the  time  Geisler  arrived,  to 
pierce  the  tyrant's  heart  with  an  arrow.  This  event  paved  the  way 
for  the  conspiracy  which  followed. 

23.  Eight  emperors  succeeded  Albert,  during  the  remain- 
der of  this  period ;  but  a  connected  account  of  their  reigns 
need  not  here  be  given.  A  few  scattered  particulars  may  be 
found  below. 

§  In  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.,  Germany  groaned  under  all  the 
miseries  of  plague  and  famine,  by  which  whole  towns  were  depopu 
lated,  and  provinces  brought  to  desolation.  The  rich  sought  an 
asylum  in  other  countries,  while  the  poor  perished  without  pity  or 
assistance  ;  wolves,  and  other  beasts  of  prey,  compelled  by  hunger, 
quitted  their  dens,  and  rushing  into  the  villages,  satiated  themselves 
with  human  blood  ;  cataracts  of  water,  bursting  from  the  mountains, 
swept  trees  and  houses  before  them  with  dreadful  impetuosity  ;  and 
the  earth  was  convulsed  by  frequent  shocks,  which  seemed  to  agitate 
it  to  its  centre. 

While  Louis  V.  held  the  imperial  sceptre,  a  spirit  of  fanaticism 


CHINA.  181 

\ 

broke  out  in  Alsace,  and  the  lower  class  of  people  assembled  under 
me  banners  of  an  innkeeper,  who  erected  himself  into  a  prophet,  and 
pervaded  his  followers,  that  it  was  their  indispensable  duty  to  re- 
venge the  death  of  Christ,  by  an  extirpation  of  the  Jews.  In  obe- 
dience to  this  doctrine,  they  massacred  great  multitudes  of  that  un- 
happy nation.  In  one  place  the  carnage  was  so  great,  that  the  Jews 
themselves  augmented  the  horror  of  the  scene ;  for,  being  driven  to 
despair,  they  butchered  their  own  wives  and  children,  and  then 
murdered  themselves,  to  elude  the  cruelty  of  their  inhuman  enemies. 
After  some  time,  however,  these  frantic  enthusiasts  were  driven  out 
of  the  province  ;  their  sanguinary  leader  perished  by  the  hands  of 
the  executioner,  and  the  surviving  Jews  were  permitted  to  live  in 
peace. 

In  1356,  Charles  IV.,  issued  the  celebrated  Golden  Bull,  containing 
a  declaration  of  the  fundamental  laws  of  the  empire.  The  edict 
was  so  called  from  a  golden  seal  termed  Bulla. 

The  emperor  Sigismund,  became  also  king  of  Bohemia,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  death  of  his  brother  Winceslas.  It  was  this  empe- 
ror who  betrayed  the  celebrated  reformer,  John  Huss,  to  the  Elector 
Palatine,  who  caused  him  to  be  burnt  alive.  The  next  year,  Jerome 
of  Prague  suffered  the  same  fate. 

CHINA. 

24.  A  part  of  the  twentieth  and  twenty-first  dynasties  of 
the  empire  of  China,  is  included  in  the  present  period.  In 
the  reign  of  Shistu  of  the  twentieth  dynasty,  the  famous 
canal  was  dug,  which  is  nine  hundred  miles  in  length.  Un- 
der some  of  the  princes  of  this  dynasty,  the  religion  of  Fo 
was  established  in  the  empire.  Shunti  was  the  last  of  the 
Tartar  race,  who  held  the  sceptre  in  China. 

The  twenty -first  dynasty  was  that  of  Ming,  founded  by 
Chu,  who,  ascending  the  throne,  took  the  name  of  Fay-tsu. 
This  dynasty,  which  commenced  in  1368,  lasted  two  hundred 
\ud  eighty-one  years,  under  seventeen  emperors. 

§  Chu  had  been  a  servant  in  the  monastery  of  the  bonzes.    Head- 
tng  a  numerous  company  of  revolters,  he  reduced  many  considera- 
ble cities  and  provinces,  and  defeated  the  imperial  army  in  a  battle. 
His  successes  were  so  great,  that  he  assumed  the  title  of  emperor 
and  fixed  his  court  at  Nankin.    In  a  few  months,  however,  he  made 
himself  master  of  Pekin,  and  erected  that  country  into  a  sovereign 
ty,  which  he  gave  to  his  fourth  son.    He  proved  to  be  a  prince  of 
great  wisdom  and  penetration. 

It  is  related  of  Ching-tsu,  one  of  the  emperors  of  this  dynasty, 
that  when  specimens  of  precious  stones  were  brought  to  nim  from 
a  mine  which  had  lately  been  discovered,  he  ordered  it  to  be  shut  up, 
alleging,  that  it  only  harrassed  his  people  with  useless  toil,  as  these 
stones  could  neither  feed  nor  clothe  them  in  times  of  scarcity. 

16 


X 

MODERN  HISTORY.  —PERIOD  Vlt. 

Distinguished  Characters  in  Period  VII. 

1.  Dante,  and  >    i      .    T.  r 

2    P    •  •  h       v  c*assic  Ateuan  poets. 

3.  Boccace,  an  Italian,  one  of  the  restorers  of  learning 

4.  Wickliffe,  an  English  theologian  and  reformer. 

5.  Froissart,  an  entertaining  French  chronicler. 

6.  Gower,  and  )  f  .u         f^     r  •. 

'     7    Oh  v  lathers  of  .bngiish  poetry. 

/  } 

§  1.  Dante,  (Alighieri,)  who  died  at  the  age  of  fifty-seven  years, 
early  displayed  poetical  talents ;  but  the  ambition  of  being  elevated 
among  the  ruling  men  of  his  native  city,  engaged  him  in  continual 
discord  and  faction.  He  and  his  party  were  at  length  defeated,  and 
with  them  he  sought  safety  in  banishment.  While  he  was  in  this 
situation,  he  vented  the  bitterest  reproaches  against  his  enemies. 
The  occasion  of  his  death  was,  an  affront  which  he  received  from 
the  Venetians.  The  prince  of  Ravenna,  (in  which  place  he  was  in 
exile,)  sent  him  to  negociate  with  the  Venetians,  in  order  to  avert  a 
threatened  war;  but  the  magistrates  of  Venice  treated  the  embassa- 
dor  with  contempt,  and  refused  to  receive  him  within  their  walls. 
The  irritable  heart  of  Dante  was  so  affected  by  this  affront,  that  he 
could  not  survive  it,  and  he  died  on  his  return  to  Ravenna. 

His  literary  works  owe  their  origin  to  his  misfortunes  and  re- 
vengeful spirit.  His  great  object  seems  to  have  been  to  pierce  his 
enemies  with  the  shafts  of  satire.  The  rancour  of  his  feeling,  min- 
gled itself  with  the  sweetness  and  graces  of  poetry.  His  poems 
are  characterized  by  spirit,  fire,  and  sublimity.  His  triple  poem, 
of  Paradise,  Purgatory,  and  Hell,  displays  wonderful  powers  ol 
genius. 

2.  Petrarch  (Francis)  is  deservedly  celebrated  as  one  of  the  re- 
storers of  classical  learning,  and  more,  perhaps,  than  any  other  per- 
son, as  the  father  of  modern  poetry.  He  displayed  all  the  powers 
of  genius  and  poetical  inspiration,  not  only  in  his  own  native  lan- 
guage, but  in  Latin.  His  sonnets  are  esteemed  the  sweetest,  most 
elegant,  and  most  highly  finished  verses,  ever  written  in  Italian ;  and 
his  songs  possess  uncommon  beauty  and  grace.  Petrarch  had  a 
most  charming  fancy. 

Some  of  the  events  of  his  life  are  rather  singular ;  particularly 
his  inextinguishable  passion  for  his  mistress  Laura.  He  first  saw 
this  beautiful  female  in  1627,  after  he  had  fixed  his  residence  al 
Vaucluse,  near  Avignon,  and  he  was  smitten  with  all  the  pangs  oi 
love.  But  though  the  soft  passion  was  expressed  in  the  softest  lan- 
guage of  poetry,  the  heart  of  the  fair  one  was  by  no  means  moved 
To  divert  the  melancholy  which  ensued,  he  travelled  through  va- 
rious countries,  and  was  at  last  persuaded  to  enter  into  the  service  oJ 
Pope  John  XXII.  But, "  amor  vincit  omnia,"  and  Petrarch,  abandon- 
ing the  pleasures  of  curiosity  and  of  greatness,  fled  to  the  shades  ol 
Vaucluse,  to  converse  with  his  beloved  Laura.  He  again  devo- 
ted his  hours  to  studious  pursuits,  and  to  the  amatory  effusions  of 


DISTINGUISHED  CHARACTERS.  183 

his  muse.  But  though  the  idolized  fair  one  heeded  not  his  poetry, 
the  world  did ;  and  Rome,  Paris,  and  Naples,  at  the  same  moment, 
invited  him  to  come  and  receive  the  poetical  crown.  Rome  pre- 
vailed, and  in  that  famed  seat  of  empire  and  of  genius,  the  poet's 
brow  was  entwined  with  the  resplendent  honour.  He  was  occasion- 
ally drawn  from  his  favourite  residence,  on  public  business ;  and  it 
was  during  an  absence  in  1348,  that  he  was  informed  of  Laura's 
death,  which  affected  him  with  the  deepest  gloom. 

The  poet's  purity  in  this  affair,  has  been  maintained  by  some,  and 
denied  by  others ;  and  some  parts  of  his  character  certainly  afford 
too  much  ground  for  the  opinion  of  the  latter.  Petrarch  was  an 
ecclesiastic,  though  he  never  took  priest's  orders.  He  died  at  the 
age  of  seventy,  1374. 

3.  Boccace,  (John,)  born  at  Certaldo,  in  Tuscany,  1313,  studied 
under  Petrarch,  who  was  his  friend  and  patron.     He  lived  abroad 
for  a  time,  but  afterwards  returned  to  his  native  village,  where  he 
spent  the  remainder  of  his  days,  in  literary  pursuits.    His  constitu- 
tion was  weakened  by  his  great  application,  and  he  died  of  a  sick- 
ness in  the  stomach,  1375. 

His  works  are  both  Latin  and  Italian.  He  possessed  uncommon 
learning,  and  he  shares  with  a  few  others  the  honour  of  contribut- 
ing to  the  revival  of  learning  in  Europe.  "  Decameron,"  a  licen- 
tious, though  witty,  satirical,  and  elegantly  written  romance,  is  his 
most  celebrated  composition.  His  poetry  is  not  equal  to  that  of 
Petrarch,  but  his  prose  is  unrivalled,  for  its  simplicity,  grace,  and 
varied  elegance. 

4.  Wickliffe,  (John  de)  was  professor  of  divinity,  in  the  Universi- 
ty of  Oxford,  and  deservedly  considered  as  the  forerunner  of  Lu- 
ther, in  the  reformation.    His  elevation  to  the  professorship  of  Ox- 
ford, exposed  him  to  the  jealousy  of  the  monks,  and  he  was  soon  dis- 
placed.    He  felt  the  indignity  keenly,  and  it  was  not  long  before  he 
boldly  came  out  against  the  errors  and  encroachments  of  Rome 
The  Romish  clergy,  with  the  pope  at  their  head,  took  the  alarm,  and 
employed  every  effort  to  suppress  the  doctrines  of  Wickliffe.    Most 
of  his  doctrines  were  pronounced  as  heretical,  by  the  several  coun- 
cils that  were  called.     He  was  seized  as  a  heretic,  by  the  emissaries 
of  the  Pope,  and  tried ;  but  the  judges,  although  they  enjoined  him 
silence,  permitted  him  to  depart  in  safety,  as  they  feared  the  nobility 
and  people.     These,  in  general,  favoured  Wickliffe.    Not  at  all  in- 
timidated, the  reformer  continued  to  preach  his  peculiar  sentiments, 
and  they  became  still  more  widely  known.    But  the  penal  statutes 
were  severe,  and  some  who  embraced  the  new  heresy,  were  deliver- 
ed over  to  punishment. 

Wickliffe,  in  the  mysterious  providence  of  God,  died  at  a  time 
when  nothing  was  wanting  to  emancipate  the  English  nation  from 
the  tyranny  of  Rome,  but  the  boldness,  perseverance,  and  eloquence 
of  a  popular  leader.  Wickliffe's  noble  struggle  proved  almost  abor- 
tive, and  little  was  thought  of  it,  till  Luther  arose  to  establish  the 
same  doctrines  on  an  imperishable  basis. 


184 


MODERN  HISTORY. — PEP  TOD  VII. 


Trialogus,  is  almost  the  only  work  of  Wickliffe's  that  was 
printed. 

5.  Froissart,  (John,)  as  an  historian,  excelled  all  the  writers  ot 
his  time.    His  narrative  of  the  events  which  took  place  in  England, 
France,  and  Spain,  from  1326  to  1400,  is  exceedingly  lively  and  en- 
tertaining.   He  personally  witnessed  many  transactions  which  he 
has  described.    He  was  a  chronicler  both  of  political  events  and  of 
chivalric  manners.    He  was  bred  to  the  church,  but  he  was  a  great- 
er reader  of  romances,  than  of  his  breviary.    Of  gayety,  he  was 
fond  to  an  excessive  degree.     "  Well  loved  I,"  as  he  said  of  his 
youth,  in  one  of  his  poems,  (for  he  wrote  poetry  as  well  as  history,) 
"  to  see  dances  and  carolling,  and  to  hear  the  songs  of  minstrels, 
and  tales  of  glee.    It  pleased  me  to  attach  myself  to  those  who  took 
delight  in  hounds  and  hawks."    "  My  ears  quickened  at  the  sound 
of  opening  the  wine  flask ;  for  I  took  great  pleasure  in  drinking, 
and  in  fair  array,  and  in  fresh  and  delicate  viands."    He  began  his 
chronicle  at  the  age  of  twenty,  and  continued  it  many  years,  travel- 
ling through  England,  Scotland,  France,  and  other  places.     He  was 
born  at  Valenciennes,  in  the  year  1337,  and  died  in  1397. 

6.  Gower  (Sir  John)  was  born  in  Yorkshire,  1320.    He  was  emi- 
nent, both  in  law  and  poetry.    He  is,  by  some,  associated  with  Chau- 
cer, as  a  father  of  English  poetry.     He  lived  a  little  longer  than 
Chaucer,  though  born  eight  years  sooner,  and  was  the  successor  of 
the  latter  in  the  laurel.    His  principal  production  in  poetry,  was 
"  Confessio  Amantis  j"  though  he  left  behind,  other  poems  of  con- 
siderable spirit  and  energy.    Though  gentle  in  manner,  he  inveighed 
boldly  against  the  debaucheries  of  the  times,  the  immorality  of  the 
clergy,  the  wickedness  of  corrupt  judges,  and  the  vices  of  an  aban- 
doned court.    He  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-two. 

7.  Chaucer  (Geoffrey)  was  born  in  London,  1328.   Compared  with 
Chaucer,  all  who  preceded  him,  not  excepting  Gower,  were  merely 
pioneers  in  English  poetry :  they  were  scarcely  poets.    He  is,  there- 
fore, more  commonly  considered  the  father  of  English  song.   Though 
in  the  idiom  of  the  fourteenth  century,  his  poetry  is  not  devoid  oi 
great  smoothness  and  delicacy ;  the  sentiments  are  bold,  the  charac- 
ters are  well  supported,  and  the  genius  of  the  poet  is  every  where 
brilliant,  sprightly,  and  sublime.    The  Canterbury  Tales,  are  his 
best  production. 

Chaucer  enjoyed  a  signal  share  in  the  favours  of  royalty,  and  his 
honours  and  emoluments  exceeded  far  the  ordinary  lot  of  poets. 
This  circumstance  may,  perhaps,  be  partly  owing  to  the  fact,  that 
he  had  a  princely  brother-in-law,  John  Gaunt,  duke  of  Lancaster. 
At  one  period  of  his  life,  he  suffered  persecution,  in  consequence  oi 
embracing  the  tenets  of  Wickliffe.  The  latter  part  of  his  days  was 
spent  at  a  distance  from  the  bustle  and  intrigues  cf  public  life,  and 
m  his  retirement  at  Woodstock,  and  afterwards  at  Donnington,  he 
devoted  himself  to  the  cultivation  of  his  muse.  He  died  25th  Oc- 
tober, 1400. 


TURKISH    EMPIRE.  185 


PERIOD  VIII. 

The  period  of  the  Reformation  ;  extending  from  the  Ta- 
king of  Constantinople,  1453  years  A.  5.,  to  the  Edict 
of  Nantes i  1598  years  A.  C. 

TURKISH  EMPIRE. 

SECT.  1.  The  history  of  the  Turkish  Empire,  at  this  era, 
is  signalized  by  the  taking  of  Constantinople,  and  the  con- 
sequent extinction  of  the  Eastern  Empire  of  the  Romans, 
1453,  The  Turks  effected  the  object  under  Mahomet  the 
Great,  the  Turkish  Sultan. 

Constantine  was  the  name  of  the  last  emperor  of  the 
East,  as  it  was  also  the  name  of  the  first.  His  dominions 
had  become  exceedingly  circumscribed.  The  Turks  had 
gradually  encroached  upon  its  borders,  and  Constantinople 
would  soon  have  become  the  seat  of  the  Ottoman  power, 
had  they  not  been  obliged  to  defend  themselves  against  the 
Tartars. 

Mahomet  II.,  after  some  delay,  commenced  the  project 
which  had  long  engaged  the  attention  of  the  Turks.  The 
indolent  inhabitants  of  Constantinople,  made  but  a  feeble 
preparation  for  defence,  and  all  Europe  was  supine  and  in- 
different. The  city  was  assailed  both  by  sea  and  land — the 
walls  were  battered  down  with  cannon,  and  all  who  opposed 
were  massacred.  The  emperor  was  slain,  and  the  city  soon 
surrendered.  The  Turks  forbore  to  destroy  the  imperial 
edifices,  and  the  churches  were  converted  into  mosques.  The 
exercise  of  their  religion,  however,  was  allowed  to  all  the 
Christians,  and  they  have,  till  lately,  chosen  their  own  patri- 
arch. The  Eastern  empire,  from  the  building  of  i*s  capital, 
had  subsisted  1123  years. 

After  the  fall  of  Constantinople,  Greece  and  Epirus  were 
subdued ;  and  Italy  might  probably  have  shared  a  similar 
fate,  but  for  the  fleet  of  the  Venetians,  who  opposed  the  arms 
of  Mahomet  with  considerable  success  :  but  peace  was  soon 
concluded  between  the  hostile  powers.  The  death  of 
hornet  the  Great,  occurred  1481. 

16* 


18G  MODERN    HISTORY  —PERIOD  VIII. 

§  Mahomet  was  a  youth  of  only  about  twenty-one  years,  when  he 
undertook  the  project  of  extinguishing  the  empire  of  the  East. 
The  force  with  which  he  invested  Constantinople,  was  fully  adequate 
to  the  object,  being  nearly  three  hundred  thousand  men ;  while  the 
whole  population  of  that  city,  did  not  amount  to  more  than  one 
hundred  thousand. 

The  Greeks,  notwithstanding  their  degeneracy,  displayed  con- 
siderable bravery.  Their  all  was  at  stake,  and  a  small  but  faithful 
oand  adhered  to  Constantine,  till  they  were  nearly  annihilated. 
Seeing  his  dearest  friends  fall  by  his  side,  and  himself  at  last  re- 
maining, surrounded  only  by  enemies,  he  exclaimed  in  the  bitterness 
of  grief,  "  Has  death  then  made  such  havoc,  that  not  one  Christian 
is  left  to  take  my  life?"  As  he  spoke,  a  Turk  to  whom  his  person 
was  unknown,  for  he  had  prudently  laid  aside  the  purple,  strucV 
him  in  the  face ;  a  second  blow  succeeded  from  another  hand ;  and 
he  fell,  in  the  forty-ninth  year  of  his  age,  a  glorious  example  of 
honourable  resolution,  in  expiring  with  his  defenders,  rather  than 
surviving  them. 

Mahomet  liberally  patronized  the  arts  and  sciences  ;  and 
to  compensate  for  the  migration  of  those  learned  Greeks, 
who,  on  the  fall  of  the  empire,  spread  themselves  over  the 
countries  of  Europe,  invited  both  artists  and  men  of  letters 
to  his  capital  from  other  kingdoms. 

The  successors  of  this  sovereign  during  the  remainder  of 
the  present  period,  were  Bajazet  II.,  Selim  I.,  Solyman  I., 
Selim  II.,  Amurath  III.,  and  Mahomet  III. 

§  Bajazet  II.,  prosecuted  various  wars  against  the  Hungarians, 
Venetians,  Persians,  and  Saracens,  but  having  resigned  the  govern- 
ment to  his  son,  who  had  revolted  and  was  supported  by  the 
Janizaries,  he  was  soon  after  poisoned  by  the  order  of  the  latter. 

His  son  and  successor,  Selim  I.,  was  a  prosperous,  but  tyrannical 
prince ;  who,  in  1517,  conquered  Egypt,  Aleppo,  Antioch,  Tripoli, 
Damascus,  and  Gaza. 

Solyman  I.,  surnamed  the  Magnificent,  succeeded  Selim  in  1520 ; 
and  was  one  of  the  most  accomplished,  enterprising,  successful,  and 
warlike  of  the  Turkish  princes.  He  took  Buda,  and  besieged  Vien- 
na. From  the  latter  place,  however,  he  was  obliged  to  retire  with 
the  loss  of  eighty  thousand  men. 

Selim  II.,  his  son,  besieged  and  took  Cyprus  and  Tunis ;  but  his 
fleet  was  defeated  at  Lepanto,  with  the  capture  or  destruction  of 
almost  all  his  ships. 

Amurath  III.  strangled  his  five  brothers  immediately  upon  his  ac- 
cession. This  prince  extended  his  dominions  by  the  addition  of 
Raab  in  Hungary,  and  of  Tibris  in  Persia.  In  this  reign,  the  Jani- 
zaries having  lost  their  submission,  and  in  great  part,  their  discipline, 
began  to  kill  their  commanders,  whenever  they  were  dissatisfied 
with  them. 

His  son,  Mahomet  III.  was  a  monster  of  barbarity,  having  begun 


ITALIAN    STATES.  187 

his  reign  by  strangling  his  nineteen  brothers,  and  drowning  ten  of 
his  father's  wives.  He  finally  put  to  death  his  eldest  son,  a  prince 
of  estimable  qualities,  on  an  unfounded  suspicion  of  ambitious  views. 

ITALIAN  STATES. 

2.  We  shall  pursue  the  history  of  Italy,  by  giving  an  ac- 
count of  only  two  or  three  of  the  States  of  which  it  was 
composed.  The  events  in  the  Italian  history  are  not  politi- 
cally important  at  this  era.  It  is  chiefly  in  reference  to  the 
influence  of  Florence  on  the  literature  of  the  times,  and  the 
ecclesiastical  influence  of  the  Papal  dominions,  that  these 
portions  of  Italy  will  be  brought  more  particularly  into  view. 

Florence,  under  the  Medici,  enjoyed  a  high  degree  of 
splendour,  during  this  period.  It  was  an  era,  in  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  sciences  and  elegant  arts.  The  family  of  the 
Medici  held  sway  in  this  country  from  the  year  1428  to 
1569,  when  Cosmo  de  Medici  the  Great  was  entitled  Grand 
Duke  of  Tuscany.  Under  the  title  of  the  Republic  of 
Florence,  which  they  governed,  were  included  not  only  Tus- 
cany, of  which  Florence  is  the  capital,  but  Modena,  Mantua, 
and  one  or  two  other  states. 

§  Cosmo  de  Medici  died  in  1464,  who.  though  the  private  subject 
of  a  republic,  had  more  riches  than  any  king  in  Europe,  and  laid  out 
more  money  in  works  of  taste,  learning,  and  charity,  than  all  the 
kings,  princes,  and  states,  of  that  or  the  subsequent  age,  the  indi- 
viduals of  his  own  family  excepted.  His  religious  foundations  were 
unrivalled.  His  private  buildings  were  equally  sumptuous.  No 
palace  in  Europe  at  that  lime  exceeded  his  in  Florence.  He  had  be- 
sides many  others.  With  all  this  public  magnificence  and  expendi- 
ture, he  was  in  his  private  conversation,  humble  and  unassuming  ; 
and  in  his  person  plain  and  modest.  He  was  not  celebrated  for 
learning,  though  he  was  the  greatest  patron  of  learned  men  of  his 
age. 

Cosmo  was  succeeded  in  the  government  by  his  son  Peter,  and  he 
by  his  sons  Lorenzo  a*.i  Giuliano.  The  latter  was  soon  murdered, 
and  Lorenzo  died  aged  no  more  than  fifty-four  years,  illustrious  lik' 
his  predecessors,  in  every  public  and  private  virtue. 

The  tranquillity  of  the  republic  was  much  disturbed  by  wars  with 
the  Venetians  and  Genoese,  for  many  years.  In  the  course  of  these 
commotions,  Florence  assumed  the  popular  government,  but  it  was 
quickly  reversed  by  the  emperor  Charles  V.,  who,  laying  siege  to  the 
city,  forced  it  to  capitulate,  and  restored  the  family  of  the  Medici. 

Cosmo,  the  second  of  that  name,  now  (1537)  succeeded  to  the  ducal 
crown,  which  he  wore  with  honour,  during  thirty-eight  years.  The 
encouragement  he  gave  to  the  practice  and  study  of  all  the  fine  arts, 


188  MODERN   HISTORY. PERIOD  VIII. 

proves  him  to  have  been  one  of  the  greatest  patrons  of  human  geni- 
us, since  the  days  of  Augustus.  The  names  of  his  sons  were  John 
and  Garcia.  The  latter  was  of  a  furious,  vindictive  disposition,  and 
quarrelling  one  day  with  his  brother,  stabbed  him  to  the  heart  with 
a  dagger.  The  father  charged  him  with  the  murder,  but  the  youth 
denying  it,  was  introduced  into  the  room  where  the  body  lay,  which 
is  said  to  have  bled,  (doubtless  by  chance,)  at  his  approach.  He 
then  threw  himself  at  his  father's  feet,  and  confessed  his  guilt.  The 
father,  who  had  resolved  on  the  part  he  was  to  act,  solemnly  desired 
his  son  to  prepare  for  death,  adding,  that  he  ought  to  think  himself 
happy  in  losing  a  life  he  was  unworthy  to  enjoy,  by  the  hands  of 
him  who  gave  it.  He  then  unsheathed  the  dagger  with  which  the 
cardinal  had  been  murdered,  and  plunged  it  into  the  bosom  of  his 
son. 

3.  That  part  of  Italy  which  constitutes  the  dominions  oi 
his  holiness,  became  the  scene  of  much  crime  and  conten- 
tion during  this  period.  Both  the  temporal  and  spiritual  pow- 
er of  the  popes,  was  now  at  its  height.  In  1498,  the  papacy 
was  enjoyed  by  Alexander  VI.,  a  monster  of  wickedness. 
Charles  VIII. ,  of  France,  had  resolved  on  an  expedition  into 
Italy.  The  pope  and  the  duke  of  Milan,  who  encouraged 
him  in  it,  immediately  betrayed  him,  and  joined  the  interest 
of  the  king  of  Naples,  who  was  the  object  of  attack  on  the 
part  of  Charles.  The  latter,  however,  now  first  besieged  the 
pope  in  Rome,  and  forced  him  to  submission,  but  at  length 
devoutly  kissed  his  feet.  He  then  marched  against  Naples, 
while  its  timid  prince,  Alphonso,  fled  to  Sicily,  after  absolving 
his  subjects  from  their  allegiance.  Charles  entered  Naples 
in  triumph,  but  lost  his  new  kingdom  almost  as  soon  as  he 
had  gained  it.  A  league  was  formed  against  Charles,  be- 
tween the  pope,  the  emperor  Maximilian,  Ferdinand  of  Arra- 
gon,  Isabella  of  Castile,  and  the  Venetians  ;  and  on  his  re- 
turn to  France,  the  troops  he  had  left  to  guard  his  conquests, 
were  all  driven  from  Italy. 

§  It  has  been  remarked,  that  from  the  decisive  effect  of  this  con- 
federacy, the  sovereigns  of  Europe  derived  a  useful  lesson  of  policy, 
and  first  adopted  the  idea  of  preserving  a  balance  of  power,  by  that 
tacit  league,  which  is  understood  to  be  always  subsisting,  for  the 
prevention  of  the  co-ordinate  aggrandizement  of  any  particular  state. 

History  relates  with  horror,  the  crimes  of  Alexander  VI.,  and  his 
son  Caesar  Borgia :  their  murders,  robberies,  profanations,  and  in- 
cests. They  compassed  their  ends  in  attaining  every  object  of  their 
ambition,  but  with  the  universal  abhorrence  of  mankind.  Their  death 
eeems  to  have  been  a  sort  of  retribution  for  their  crimes,  so  far  aa 
retribution  is  known  on  earth. 


t 

FRANCE.  189 

If  an  author,  Guicciardim,  who  was  a  mortal  enemy  to  Alexan- 
der, may  lie  believed,  Borgia  had  sent  a  present  of  some  flasks  of 
poisoned  wine  to  the  cardinal  of  Corneto,  in  whose  garden  they  pro- 
posed to  sup,  but  ordered  the  servant  to  give  none  of  it  to  any  per- 
son. Alexander  soon  after  coming  into  the  garden,  and  calling  for 
wine  before  supper,  the  servant  gave  him  some  from  the  poisoned 
flasks,  thinking  the  prohibition  could  not  extend  to  the  Pope,  how- 
ever rare  and  valuable  the  wine  might  be  ;  and  Borgia,  in  the  mean 
time  appearing,  unconsciously  drank  of  the  same  wine  with  his 
father.  They  both  immediately  felt  the  symptoms  of  the  poison, 
and  Alexander  died  the  next  day ;  but  Borgia,  having  drank  his  wine 
much  diluted,  survived  with  the  loss  of  his  skin  and  hair.  He  was 
afterwards  stripped  of  all  his  possessions  by  Pope  Julius  II.,  and  at 
last  perished  in  miserable  obscurity  in  Spain. 

FRANCE. 

Branch  of  Valois. — Branch  of  Orleans. 

4.  Louis  XL,  began  to  reign  in  1461.     He  immediately 
removed  all  his  late  father's  ministers,  proceeded  to  humble  the 
nobles,  and  in  almost  every  respect  acted  the  tyrant  towards 
his  subjects.     Indeed,  his  character  is  that  of  a  most  deceitful, 
profligate  and  cruel  prince  ;  he  followed  too  nearly  the  odious 
Tiberius  in  his  measures.     He  left,  however,  some  good  regu- 
lations for  the  encouragement  of  commerce,  and  for  the  ef- 
fectual administration  of  justice.    Notwithstanding  the  odious- 
ness  of  his  character,  he  was  the  first  of  the  French  kings,  on 
whom  the  title  of  His  most  Christian  Majesty  was  conferred. 

§  His  severity  occasioned  a  revolt  of  several  of  the  first  lords  of 
the  kingdom.  The  war  which  thence  arose,  they  entitled  "  the  war 
of  the  public  good."  His  sanguinary  disposition  is  evidenced  by 
the  following  fact.  When  he  pronounced  sentence  of  death  on  a 
certain  nobleman,  he  ordered  that  his  infant  children  should  be  placed 
beneath  the  scaffold,  to  be  sprinkled  by  the  blood  which  gushed 
from  the  body  of  their  parent.  This  was  an  almost  incredible 
instance  of  refined  cruelty,  and  cold  barbarity.  Louis  died  a  victim 
of  superstitious  terror  and  remorse  of  conscience. 

5.  Charles  VIII.,  surnamed  the  Affable,  at  the  age  of 
thirteen  years,  succeeded  his  father,  under  the    regency  of 
Anne  of  France,  his  sister,  1483.     His  marriage  with  Anne 
of  Brittany,  who  was  promised  to  Maximilian  of  Austria, 
occasioned  a  short  war  with  the  Germans.     His  expedition 
into  Italy,  and  •  his  conquest  and  subsequent  loss  of  Naples 
have  already  been  noticed  in  the  Italian  history.     He  reign- 
ed about  fifteen  years. 


190  MODERN  HISTORY. — PERIOD  VIII 

f 

§  His  surname  is  indicative  of  his  disposition  and  manners  but  he 
led  a  life  of  intemperance,  and  was  early  cut  off  by  this  vice,  in  his 
twenty-eighth  year.  The  direct  line  of  Philip  of  Valois  terminated 
with  this  monarch,  as  he  left  no  issue. 

6.  Louis  XIL,  who  was  duke  of  Orleans,  and  great  grand- 
son of  Charles  V.,  ascended  the  throne  as  the  nearest  heir, 
1498.     He  was  idolized  by  the  French,  and  obtained  and 
deserved  the  title  of  "  The  Father  of  his  People,"  by  his 
frugal  policy,  which  eased  them  from  taxes.     Yet  he  was  am- 
bitious and  imprudent  in  his  military  enterprises. 

He  conquered  the  Milanese  and  Genoa,  but  in  prosecuting 
his  claim  to  Naples,  though  he  obtained  some  advantage  at 
first,  he  was  unsuccessful  in  the  end.  He  was  duped  by  his 
associates,  Ferdinand  of  Spain,  and  pope  Alexander  VI. 
The  whole  of  Naples  finally  fell  into  the  treacherous  hands 
of  Ferdinand  ;  nor  did  the  French  king  long  retain  his 
other  conquests  in  Italy,  since  they  revolted  from  him  on  the 
first  opportunity.  Louis  died  suddenly,  while  preparing  to 
recover,  by  arms,  his  lost  Italian  possessions. 

§  In  justifying  himself  for  the  pardon  of  his  enemies,  Louis 
made  an  observation  worthy  of  royalty.  "  The  king  of  France  does 
not  revenge  the  injuries  done  to  the  duke  of  Orleans."  What  this 
prince  also  said  in  vindication  of  his  economy,  will  always  be  praised 
"  I  had  rather  see  my  courtiers  laugh  at  my  avarice,  than  my  people 
weep  on  account  of  my  expenses."  It  was  an  unhapplness,  how- 
ever, that  he  procured,  in  part,  his  supplies  of  money  by  the  sale  01 
offices,  which  was  a  very  dangerous  example. 

7.  Francis  I.,  count  of  Angouleme,  was  called  to  the  throne, 
1515,  Louis  having  died  without  male  issue.     He  was  a  ne- 
phew of  the  late  king,  and  began  his  reign  at  the  age  of 
twenty-one. 

His  real  power,  and  the  high  opinion  which  he  entertained 
of  his  own  greatness,  led  him,  in  1519,  into  competition  with 
the  celebrated  Charles  V.,  who  had  just  ascended  the  throne 
of  Spain.  Charles,  as  grandson  of  the  emperor  Maximilian, 
upon  the  death  of  the  latter,  preferred  his  claim  to  the  empire, 
but  was  opposed  by  Francis.  Charles  obtained  the  election, 
and  these  princes  now  became  sworn  enemies.  Their  mu- 
tual claims  on  each  other's  dominions,  caused  seas  of  blood  to 
flow,  in  wars  that  lasted  more  than  thirty-eight  years. 

§  Francis  began  hostilities  by  attacking  Navarre.  He  first  won  and 
then  lost  that  kingdom.  The  emperor  attacked  Picardy,  and  his 
troops  at  the  same  time  wrested  Milan  out  of  the  hands  of  the  French 


FRANCE.  191 


Henry  VIII.,  of  England,  whose  friendship  had  be^i  assiduously 
courted  by  both  parties,  was  brought  over  for  a  tin  ^o  the  side  of 
Charles. 

Just  at  this  juncture,  Francis,  unfortunately,  quarrelled  with  his 
oest  general,  the  constable  of  Bourbon,  who  revenged  himself  by 
deserting  to  the  emperor.  The  constable  was  invested  with  com- 
mand in  the  army  of  Charles,  and  thus  greatly  added  to  the  supe- 
riority which  was  already  apparent  in  the  generals  of  the  latter.  The 
consequences  were  such  as  might  have  been  expected.  The  French 
were  defeated  in  the  battle  of  Biagrassa.  In  this  engagement,  Bay- 
ard, the  model  of  knights,  perished.  At  his  death,  he  replied  to  the 
marks  of  pity  shown  by  the  duke  of  Bourbon,  with  these  words  :  "  It 
is  you  who  ought  to  be  pitied,  for  fighting  against  your  king,  your 
country,  and  your  oaths." 

A  temporary  success  attended  the  French  arms  in  the  capture  of 
the  capital  of  the  Milanese  ;  but  a  sad  reverse  soon  followed  in  the 
battle  of  Pavia.  That  battle  was  fought  on  the  24th  of  February, 
1525,  and  resembled  in  its  catastrophe,  those  won  by  the  English  at 
Poictiers  and  Agincourt.  Twenty-five  thousand  French  were  slain, 
and  Francis  himself  made  prisoner.  He  had  the  mortification  to 
find  himself  the  captive  of  that  very  man,  the  constable,  whom  he 
had  treated  with  the  greatest  hauteur. 

Europe  being  alarmed  by  the  aggrandizement  of  Charles,  a  league 
of  several  states  was  formed  against  him,  in  favour  of  the  captive  mo- 
narch. In  this  league,  England  was  included.  The  emperor  was 
thus  in  a  manner  forced  to  liberate  his  prisoner,  and  he  derived  little 
benefit  from  his  good  fortune.  The  severity  of  the  terms  respecting 
his  ransom  was  such,  that  the  states  general  refused  to  fulfil  them. 

On  the  renewal  of  the  war,  Henry  VIII.  took  part  with  France, 
but  the  powerful  Charles  was  not  intimidated.  Resolving  on  an  in- 
vasion of  his  enemy's  country,  he  inundated  Provence  with  fifty 
thousand  men.  But  the  defensive  operations  of  the  French  were 
very  successful,  and  Charles  returned  sorrowfully  into  Italy,  having 
lost  the  one  half  of  his  army,  cut  off  by  diseases  and  famine. 

In  the  interval  of  a  truce,  which  was  concluded  at  Nice,  for  ten 
years,  Charles  passed  through  France  to  the  Netherlands,  and  on  the 
part  of  Francis,  was  treated  with  the  utmost  courtesy  and  hospitality. 
He  had  previously  stipulated  to  grant  the  French  king  the  investi- 
ture of  Milan.  But  though  he  was  every  where  received  with  the 
utmost  pomp,  and  staid  seven  days  in  Paris,  where  he  was  loaded 
with  every  mark  of  friendship  and  confidence,  he  left  no  authentic 
testimony  of  his  promise. 

The  seeds  of  a  renewed  contest  were  thus  sown,  but  though  the 
French  were  victorious  in  the  battle  of  Cerizoles,  they  derived  from 
it  little  or  no  advantage.  The  Imperialists,  on  the  whole,  had  a  de- 
cided superiority,  and  France  must  have  been  ruined  had  not  the 
disorders  of  Germany  forced  the  emperor  to  conclude  the  treaty 
of  Crepi,  with  Francis,  1544.  The  latter  purchased  a  peace  with 
Henry  VIII.,  who  had  once  more  changed  sides,  and  favoured 
Charles. 


192  MODERN    HISTORY. PERIOD    VIII. 

8.  Francis  died  in  1547.     He  has  the  reputation  of  a  great 
prince,  and  would  have  appeared  greater,  but  for  the  manifest 
superiority  of  his  illustrious  rival.     Notwithstanding  the  wais 
in  which  France  was  engaged  during  the  reign  of  this  mo- 
narch, he  left  his  kingdom  in  a  flourishing  and  prosperous 
state.  Literature  and  the  arts  made  great  progress  in  France 
under  his  auspices,  and  the  French  court  acquired  that  polish 
and  refinement  in  taste  and  manners,  for  which  it  has  since 
been  so  conspicuous  throughout  the  world. 

§  "  The  fine  qualities  of  this  prince,"  says  Millot, "  his  open  temper, 
beneficence,  honour,  generosity,  and  courage,  have  not  been  able  to 
cover  his  faults,  rashness  in  his  enterprises,  negligence  in  his  affairs, 
fickleness  in  his  conduct,  prodigality  in  his  expenses,  and  excess  in 
his  pleasures.  Whatever  merit  he  was  possessed  of,  he  would  have 
met  with  fewer  encomiums,  had  he  not -caressed  and  favoured  men 
of  letters,  by  whose  suffrages  the  reputation  of  sovereigns  is  fixed. 
He  founded  the  royal  college  and  printing  house.  At  the  same  time 
that  he  encouraged  the  culture  of  the  learned  languages,  he  had  the 
prudence  to  command  that  the  public  acts  should  be  written  in 
French.  In  the  same  manner,  he  gave  life  to  the  fine  arts,  built 
Fontainbleau,  and  began  the  Louvre.  In  order  to  polish  the  man 
ners  of  the  court,  he  drew  to  it  the  most  respectable  women  and 
.  distinguished  prelates.'5 

9.  Henry  II.  succeeded  his  father  in  1547.     This  prince, 
though  brave  and  polite,  was  the  slave  of  pleasure,  and  the 
dupe  of  favourites.    He  continued  the  war  in  which  his  father 
had  been  engaged  with  Charles  V.,  and  that  emperor's  son 
Philip  II.,  of  Spain.  He  obtained  considerable  advantage  over 
Charles  at  the  siege  of  Metz,  but  was  terribly  defeated  by  Phi- 
lip,  at  St.  Quentin.     The  event  most  glorious  to  his  reign, 
was  the  recovery  of  Calais  from  the  English,  in  1557.     The 
duke  of  Guise  captured  the  place  in  eight  days,  to  the  sur- 
prise of  all  Europe. 

The  origin  of  those  civil  wars  which  distracted  France 
during  the  three  succeeding  reigns,  may  be  dated  from  this 
reign,  or  rather  from  that  of  Francis  I.,  when  the  Huguenots, 
who  were  Calvinists,  or  Protestants,  began  to  be  persecuted. 
The  spirit  of  persecution  greatly  increased  during  the  reign 

of  Henry. 

§  The  death  of  this  monarch  was  owing  to  an  accident  which  befel 
him  at  a  tournament.  Wishing  to  amuse  the  ladies  with  a  tilt  be- 
tween himself  and  the  count  of  Montgomery,  who  was  esteemed 
the  most  dexterous  justier  of  his  time,  he  gaily  entered  the  lists.  In 
their  rencounter  both  their  lances  were  broken,  and  the  count 


FRANCE.  193 

thrown  from  his  horse.  In  his  fall,  the  broken  trunk  of  the  spear, 
stiii.  re  nan  ing  inhis  hand,  struck  the  king's  right  eye,  and  produced 
so  violent  a  contusion  as  to  terminate  his  life. 

10.  His  son,  Francis  II.,  was  raised  to  the  throne  in  1559. 
He  was  the  husband  of  Mary,  queen  of  Scots,  and  died  the 
next  year,  having  reigned   about  seventeen  months.     The 
only  important  event  in  this  reign,  was  the  conspiracy* of  the 
Protestants  against  the  king,  and  the  Guises,  who  were  five 
brothers,  at  the  head  of  the  Catholics.      Two  of  these,  the 
duke  of  Guise  and  the  cardinal  of  Lorraine,  were  conspicu- 
ous in  the  government.     This  conspiracy  was  detected,  and 
1200  of  those  engaged  in  it,  were  put  to  death. 

§  The  Protestants  were  wearied  with  the  persecutions  they  had  so 
long  endured,  and  came  to  a  resolution  to  devote  their  lives  to  the 
drf.Miee  of  their  liberties.  They  were  secretly  abetted  by  the  prince 
of  Conde,  brother  to  the  king  of  Navarre.  The  prince,  however, 
escaped  punishment,  having  pleaded  his  cause  before  the  king,  in 
person. 

11.  Charles  IX.,  a  boy  only  ten  years  old,  succeeded  his 
brother,  1560,  under  the  regency  of   Catharine  de  Medicis, 
who  hud  been  the  wife  of  Henry,  and  was  notorious  for  her 
profligacy  and  ambition.     The  difficulties  between  the  Catho- 
lics and  Protestants  had  arisen  to  a  great  height.     Some  of 
the  first  men  of  the  French  court,  were  included  among  the 
latter,  particularly  the  prince  of  Conde  and  Admiral  Coligny. 
Their  influence  was  too  great  to  be  resisted  ;  and  after  the 
conference  held  at  Poissy,  liberty  was  granted  to  the  Protes- 
tants to  exercise  their  worship  without  the  walls  of  the  towns. 
The  violation,  soon  after,  of  the  edict  granting  this  liberty,  oc- 
casioned the  sanguinary  civil  war,  which  for  a  long  time 
filled  France  with  misery  and  blood. 

§  The  Protestant  religion  had  spread  greatly  at  court,  as  well  as 
in  the  capital  and  the  provinces,  even  under  Francis  I.  The  perse- 
cution of  the  Protestants  under  Henry  II.,  only  increased  their  num- 
ber, and  produced  that  exasperation  of  feeling,  which  ended  in  the 
conspiracy,  already  mentioned,  under  Francis  II. 

The  celebrated  conference  at  Poissy,  was  attended  by  the  young 
king,  the  queen  mother,  and  the  whole  court.  Theodore  Beza,  an  illus- 
trious reformer,  defended  the  Protestants,  while  the  cardinal  of  Lor- 
raine, undertook  the  cause  of  the  Catholics.  Both  parties,  as  is  usual 
on  such  occasions,  claimed  the  victory.  It  was,  however,  difficult 
any  longer  to  refuse  certain  concessions  to  the  Protestants.  Indeed, 
the  queen  mother  found  it  politic  to  grant  them  -liberty  of  worship, 
and  to  favour  the  prince  of  Conde,  in  order  to  counterbalance  the 
power  of  the  Guises. 

17 


194  MODERN  HISTORY. PERIOD  VIII. 

The  Protestants,  in  the  war  which  ensued,  were  headed  by  Admi- 
ral Coligny,  who  was  assisted  by  10,000  Germans  from  the  Palati- 
nate. The  command  of  the  Catholics  was  assumed  by  Guise  and 
Montmorency,  who  were  aided  by  Philip  of  Spain.  The  latter  were 
always  victorious,  though  the  Protestants  were  too  powerful  to  be 
despised  ;  and  in  the  conditions  of  peace  which  they  obtained,  was 
included  the  toleration  of  their  religion.  Murders  and  assassina- 
tions aggravated  the  horrors  of  civil  war.  The  duke  of  Guise  fell 
by  the  hand  of  a  religious  enthusiast.  And  even  the  peace  which 
was  secured,  was  only  a  prelude  to  more  awful  scenes  of  atrocity 
and  blood. 

It  became  now  the  policy  of  the  government  to  caress  the  Protes- 
tants, in  order  to  destroy  them.  They  received  extraordinary  marks 
of  favour ;  even  the  prudence  of  Coligny  was  lulled  asleep  ;  and  on 
the  occasion  of  the  marriage  of  the  king  of  Navarre  with  the  sister 
of  Charles,  these  persecuted  people  were  allured  to  court.  By  the 
order  of  the  government,  a  dreadful  massacre  of  the  Protestants 
then  took  place,  the  horrid  plan  having  been  all  previously  arranged. 
On  the  night  of  the  twenty-third  of  August,  it  being  St.  Bartholo- 
mew's, there  perished  in  Paris  and  France,  60,000,  some  reckon 
100,000  Protestants.  The  duke  of  Guise  (Henry,  son  of  Francis) 
went  in  person  to  Coligny's  gate,  and  caused  that  great  man  to  be 
murdered.  The  streets  and  houses  in  Paris  floated  in  blood.  The 
king  barbarously  fired  upon  his  unhappy  subjects,  and  afterwards 
beheld  with  pleasure  Coligny's  body  insulted  by  the  populace. 

To  crown  this  horrid  act,  the  king  declared  that  every  thing  was 
done  by  his  command  ;  the  parliament  ordered  an  annual  procession 
to  celebrate  the  deliverance  of  the  kingdom ;  a  medal  was  struck 
with  this  legend,  piety  put  the  sword  into  the  hands  of  justice  , 
and  at  Rome  and  in  Spain,  the  massacre  was  made  a  subject  of 
public  rejoicings. 

Calvinism  was  not  at  all  crushed  by  this  infernal  plot,  infernally 
executed.  It  only  became  more  formidable  through  despair,  and 
now  both  of  the  Bourbons, — the  king  of  Navarre  as  well  as  the  prince 
of  Conde,  were  enlisted  in  the  Protestant  cause.  It  was  found  ne- 
cessary again  to  grant  them  liberty  of  conscience.  Charles  died 
soon  after  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew3  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
four  years. 

12.  The  successor  of  Charles  IX.,  was  Henry  III.,  duke 
f  Anjou,  who  had  just  been  elected  king  of  Poland,  1574. 
He  was  a  weak  and  worthless  prince,  joining  to  the  utmost 
depravity  of  manners,  the  external  observances  of  the  lowest 
superstition.  He  became  the  scorn  of  his  subjects,  and  the 
dupe  of  the  contending  factions.  It  was  in  his  reign,  that 
the  Catholics,  incensed  on  account  of  the  privileges  conferred 
on  the  Huguenots,  formed  the  famous  league  for  the  purpose 
of  extirpating  them,  having  the  duke  of  Guise  at  its  head. 

§  This  league  was  nominally  for  the  defence  of  the  state  and  .^ 


ENGLAND.  195 

* 

religion,  but  in  reality,  besides  the  extirpation  of  the  Protestant  faith, 
it  had  in  view  the  usurpation  of  all  the  powers  of  government.  The . 
kiii£,  with  the  weakest  policy,  united  himself  to  this  league,  and 
thus  became  the  avowed  enemy  of  a  large  portion  of  his  subjects. 
But  in  carrying  on  his  military  operations  against  the  Protestants, 
%  he  found  himself  thwarted  at  every  step,  by  the  duke  of  Guise  and 
the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine.  To  dispel  the  fears  which  he  entertained 
from  these  men,  he  put  them  to  death,  by  the  hands  of  assassins.  Af- 
ter a  reign  of  fifteen  years,  the  king  himself  was  assassinated,  1589, 
by  a  fanatic  monk. 

13.  On  the  death  of  Henry  IIL,  who  died  without  children, 
the  sceptre  of  France  passed  to  the  house  of  Bourbon,  repre- 
ss 'iifecl  at  this  time  by  Henry  IIL,  of  Navarre.  As  king  of 
France,  he  is  known  by  the  name  of  Henry  IV.,  afterwards 
surnamed  the  Great. 

As  his  reign  extends  into  the  next  period,  the  following 
particulars  only,  will  be  mentioned  at  present.  He  had  been 
educated  in  the  reformed  religion  by  his  mother,  who  avowed 
herself  its  protector.  At  the  age  of  sixteen,  he  had  been  de- 
clared head  of  the  party  of  the  Huguenots.  When  invited 
to  Paris  at  the  peace  of  1572,  to  many  the  sister  of  Charles 
IX.,  he  narrowly  escaped  from  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartho- 
lomew, but  remained  three  years  a  prisoner.  Although  his 
first  military  enterprises  were  unsuccessful,  yet,  when  on  the 
death  of  Charles,  lie  again  took  the  field  against  the  army  of 
the  league,  he  defeated  it  in  the  battle  of  Coutras,  1587,  and 
still  more  signally  in  that  of  Argues,  1589.  After  the  death 
of  Henry  III.,  he  won  the  celebrated  battle  of  Ivry,  against 
the  army  of  the  League,  then  commanded  by  the  duke  of 
Mayenne,  who  had  proclaimed  the  cardinal  of  Bourbon,  king, 
under  the  title  of  Charles  X.  As  a  protestant,  however,  he  was 
environed  with  difficulties ;  a  large  portion  of  the  people  refused 
to  submit  to  him ;  and  influenced  by  the  earnest  entreaties 
of  the  duke  of  Sully,  as  well  as  by  views  of  polic)^,  he  re- 
nounced protestantism,  and  became  a  catholic,  1594.  In 
1596,  the  duke  of  Mayenne  submitted  to  Henry,  and  the 
whole  kingdom  acknowledged  him  as  its  sovereign. 

ENGLAND. 

Branch  of  'York.     House  of  Tudor. 

14.  Henry  VI.;  had  been  on  the  throne  of  England  since 
the  year  1 422 ;  but  the  wars  which  now  commenced  between 


196  MODERN    HISTORY. PERIOD  VIII. 

his  house  and  that  of  York,  rendered  his  situation  most  in- 
secure, and.  at  length,  hurled  him  from  his  throne.  Justice 
was  on  the  side  of  Richard,  duke  of  York,  as  he  was  a  de- 
scendant from  the  second  son  of  Ed  ward  III.,  while  Henry  was 
a  descendant  from  Edward's  third  son.  The  whole  nation 
took  the  side  of  one  or  the  other,  and  each  party  was  distin- 
guished hy  a  particular  symbol.  That  of  the  Lancastrians 
was  the  red  rose,  and  that  of  the  Yorkites  the  white  rose 
Hence,  this  contention  was  known  hy  the  name  of  the 
"  quarrel  of  the  two  roses."  Hostilities  commenced  in  1455. 

§  The  principal  battles  which  were  fought,  previous  to  the  acces- 
sion of  Edward  IV-.,  were,  that  of  St.  Albans,  in  which  Henry  was 
defeated  and  taken  prisoner,  and  Richard  assumed  the  title  of  Pro- 
tector—that which  was  fought  on  Bloreheath,  in  Staffordshire,  and 
which  terminated  in  favour  of  Richard — that  of  Northampton,  in 
which  Henry  was  defeated  a'ld  again  taken  prisoner,  by  the  Earl  of 
Warwick — and  that  of  Wakefleld,  in  which  Henry's  queen,  Marga- 
ret of  Anjou,  gained  a  complete  victory  over  Richard,  who,  together 
with  his  second  son,  was  slain. 

Upon  the  death  of  the  duke  of  York,  the  earl  of  Warwick, 
known  by  the  name  of  King  Maker,  from  the  conspicuous  part  he 
bore  in  the  contentions  of  the  times,  took  command  of  the  forced 
belonging  to  that  party. 

15.  Upon  the  death  of  Richard,  the  young  duke  of  York, 
his  son  and  successor,  entered  London  at  the  head  of  a  nu- 
merous army,  amidst  the  greetings  of  the  citizens,  and  as- 
sumed the  powers  of  government.  He  did  not,  however, 
fully  consider  himself  as  king,  until  he  had  obtained,  (14(51.) 
at  Towton,  a  signal  victory  over  the  adherents  of  Henry,  of 
whom  36,000  were  killed.  His  title  was  that  of  Edward  IV". 
After  various  turns  of  fortune,  in  which  he  was  once  deposed, 
and  Henry  re-instated  on  the  throne,  he  finally  triumphed 
over  the  Lancastrians,  in  the  desperate  battle  of  Tewkes 
bury,  in  which  Margaret,  and  her  son,  the  Prince  of  Wales, 
were  taken  prisoners.  The  latter  was  assassinated,  and 
king  Henry,  who  had  been  confined  in  the  tower,  was  found 
dead  a  few  days  afterwards.  Margaret,  whose  amhiti-.m  had 
kindled  the  desolating  war.  was  punished  only  with  imprison- 
ment. She  was  afterwards  ransomed  by  the  king  of  France, 
and  died  in  that  country. 

§  It  is  snid  that  the  young  prince,  when  brought  before  the  king, 
and  asked  man  insulting  tone,  by  the  latter,  how  he  dared  to  invade 
ftis  dominion,  replied,  with  a  spirit,  congenial  to  his  high  birth,  thai 
he  came  thither  to  claim  his  just  inheritance.  The  ungenerous  Ed- 


ENGLAND.  197 

ward,  indignant  at  his  answer,  and  insensible  to  pity,  struck  him  on 
the  face  with  his  gauntlet ;  and  the  dukes  of  Clarence  and  Glouces- 
ter, with  others,  taking  the  blow  as  a  signal  for  further  violence, 
hurried  the  prince  into  the  next  apartment,  and  there  dispatched 
him  with  their  daggers. 

It  is  said  also,  and  generally  believed,  that  Richard,  duke  of 
Gloucester,  killed  king  Henry  with  his  own  hands. 

When  Edward  was  secured  on  the  throne,  his  spirit  sunk 
in  indolence  and  pleasure.  The  energies  of  his  reign  seem 
to  have  terminated  with  the  civil  wars,  unless  we  except  his 
acts  of  detestable  tyranny.  He  put  to  death,  on  the  most 
frivolous  pretence,  his  brother  Clarence ;  and  preparing  to 
gratify  his  subjects,  by  a  war  with  France,  he  died  sud- 
,denly,  in  the  forty-second  year  of  his  age,  poisoned,  as  was 
suspected,  by  his  brother  Richard,  duke  of  Gloucester. 

§  The  only  favour  which  the  king  granted  his  brother,  Clarence, 
after  his  condemnation,  was,  to  leave  him  the  choice  of  his  death. 
The  duke  chose  to  be  drowned  in  a  butt  of  Malmsey — a  whimsical 
choice,  which  implies  that  he  had  an  extraordinary  predilection  for 
tiit.it  liquor. 

16.  Edward  V.,  a  minor,  succeeded  his  father.  1483,  under 
the  protection  of  Iris  uncle,  the  duke  of  Gloucester.  A  few 
days  afterwards,  the  duke  of  Gloucester  caused  himself  to  be 
proclaimed,  under  the  title  of  Richard  III.  The  young  king 
and  his  brother  having  been  removed  to  the  tower  by  Rich- 
ard's order,  under  pretence  of  guarding  them,  disappeared 
about  that  time.  The  diabolical  Richard,  had  inhumanly 
deprived  them  of  life. 

§  Richard  possessed  a  fierce  and  savage  nature,  and  in  making  his 
way  to  the  throne,  had  recourse  to  the  most  perfidious  and  cruel 
acts.  Endeavouring  to  gain  the  assistance  of  lord  Hastings,  and 
finding  that  nobleman  inflexibly  favourable  to  the  children  of  Ed- 
ward, he  accused  him  of  treason,  and  ordered  him  to  be  decapita- 
ted, without  even  the  appearance  of  legal  forms. 

The  murder  of  the  two  young  princes,  was  as  deep  a  tragedy  as 
any  recorded  in  English  history.  Richard  gave  orders  to  Sir  Ro- 
bert Brakenbury,  constable  of  the  tower,  to  put  his  nephews  to 
death  j  bat  this  gentleman,  who  had  sentiments  of  honour,  refused 
to  stain  his  hands  with  the  infamous  deed.  The  tyrant  then  en- 
gaged Sir  James  Tyrrel,  who,  choosing  three  associates,  like  him- 
self, came  in  the  night  time  to  the  door  of  the  chamber,  where  the 
princes  were  lodged,  and  sending  in  the  assassins,  he  bade  them  ex- 
ecute their  commission,  while  he  himself  staid  without.  They 
found  the  unoffending  young  princes  in  bed,  and  fallen  into  a  sweet 
and  profound  sleep.  After  suffocating  them  with  the  bolster  and 
pillows,  they  showed  their  naked  bodies  to  Tyrrel,  who  ordered 

17* 


198  MODERN  HISTORY. PERIOD  Vllt. 

them  to  be  buried  at  the  foot  of  the  stairs,  deep  in  the  ground,  undei 
a  heap  of  stones.  These  circumstances  were  all  confessed  by  the 
bloody  actors,  in  the  following  reign.  In  the  reign  of  Charles  II., 
the  bones  of  two  persons  were  found  in  the  place  indicated,  wMch 
exactly  corresponded,  by  their  sizes,  to  Edward  V.,  and  his  brother; 
and  being  judged  the  undoubted  remains  of  these  unhappy  princes, 
were  deposited  in  Westminster  Abbey. 

17.  The  earl  of  Richmond,  the  only  surviving  heir  of  the 
house  of  Lancaster,  became  the  instrument,  under  divine 
Providence,  of  avenging  the  awful  crimes  of  Richard.     As- 
sisted by  the  French  king,  he  landed  in  England,  and  revived 
the  spirits  of  a  party  almost  extinguished  in  the  kingdom. 
He  gave  battle  to  Richard,  1.485,  in  the  field  of  Bosworlh, 
arid  entirely  defeated  the  army  of  the  usurper,  who  was  slain 
while  fighting  with  the  most  desperate  courage.     This  hattle 
terminated  the  terrible  contest  between  the  houses  of  York 
and    Lancaster — a  contest  which   lasted   thirty  years,  and 
in  which  twelve  sanguinary  pitched  battles  were  fought,  and 
100,000  brave  men,  including  eighty  princes  of  the  blood, 
perished  on  the  field,  or  by  the  hand  of  the  executioner. 

§  The  person  of  Richard  was  as  deformed  as  his  character  was  de- 
testable. He  was  small  of  stature,  hump-backed,  ugly  in  his  fea- 
tures, and  had  his  left  arm  withered.  This  infirmity,  which  had 
attended  him  from  his  birth,  he  pretended,  on  a  certain  occasion 
when  he  wished  to  confound  lord  Hastings,  was  the  effect  of  Jane 
Shore's  incantations,  knowing  that  this  nobleman  had  engaged  in 
an  intrigue  with  that  lady.  , 

18.  The  crown  which  Richard  wore  in  the  enslavement 

^  vH)          <„) 

that  proved  fatal  to  his  life,  was  immediately  placed  on  the 
head  of  the  conqueror.  The  earl  of  Richmond  assumed  the 
title  of  Henry  VII.,  Aug.  22,  1485.  By  marrying  a  daugh 
ter  of  Edward  IV.,  he  united  the  rights  of  the  two  houses  ol 
York  and  Lancaster.  He  was  a  descendant  from  Edmund 
Tudor,  and  first  king  of  the  house  of  Tudor. 

Henry  was  a  prudent  and  politic  prince,  but  unhappily 
prejudiced  against  the  adherents  of  the  house  of  York.  A 
degree  of  discontent  was  thus  engendered,  which  tended  tc 

o  o  * 

jeopardise  his  government.  The  general  tranquillity  of  his 
reign  was,  on  this  account,  occasionally  disturbed  by  plots 
and  conspiracies — two  of  which  were  rather  singular,  con- 
sisting in  attempts  to  counterfeit  the  persons  of  the  heirs  ot 
York,  and  to  enforce  their  claims  to  the  crown. 
§  The  name  of  one  of  these  impostors  was  Lambert  Simnel.  the 


ENGLAND.  199 

son  of  a  baker,  who  counterfeited  the  person  of  the  earl  of  War- 
wick, son  of  the  late  duke  of  Clarence.  The  name  of  the  other 
wan  Perkin  Warbeck,  the  son  of  a  Flemish  Jew,  who  personated 
the  duke  of  York,  who  had  been  smothered  in  the  tower.  They 
were  supported  by  men  of  distinction  in  the  nation,  and  gave  Henry 
great  trouble,  but  were  finally  subdued  and  taken.  Simnel  was 
spared  and  made  a  scullion  in  the  king's  kitchen.  Warbeck  expia- 
ted liis  crime  on  the  scaffold. 

The  aversion  of  Henry  to  the  house  of  York,  shewed  itself  even 
in  his  treatment  of  his  wife.  Though  in  the  highest  degree  virtu- 
ous, amiable,  and  obsequious,  she  never  met  with  a  proper  return  of 
affection,  or  even  of  complaisance,  from  her  husband ;  and  the 
malignant  ideas  of  faction,  in  his  sullen  mind,  prevailed  over  all  the 
sentiments  of  conjugal  endearment. 

Henry  was  by  nature  a  despot ;  anc!  indeed  the  principles 
of  despotism  were  congenial  to  all  the  sovereigns '  of  the 
Tudor  race.  Yret  his  sagacity  led  him  generally  to  pacific 
counsels.  Though  he  was  by  no  means  a  popular  prince, 
he  was  useful  to  the  nation,  having  enacted  many  wise  laws, 
promoted  industry,,  encouraged  commerce,  patronized  the  aits 
of  civilized  life,  and  curbed  and  softened  the  spirit  of  a  proud 
and  rude  aristocracy.  His  policy  gave  a  death  blow  to  the 
Feudal  system.  The  greatest  stain  in  this  prince's  character 

*/  o  1 

\vus  his  avarice,  which,  in  the  latter  part  of  his  reign,  prompt 
ed  to  the  most  oppressive  exactions. 

§  He  is  said  to  have  left  at  his  death,  in  ready  money,  a  sum  equal 
to  £10,000.000  at  present. 

19.  Henry  VIII.  succeeded  his  father  in  the  eighteenth 

year  of  his  age,  1509.  He  came  to  the  throne  with  flatter- 
ing  prospects,  considered  whether  in  respect  to  the  improved 
and  tranquil  state  of  tbe  kingdom,  the  affection  and  high 
expectation  of  his  people,  or  his  own  supposed  good  qualities. 

§  The  succession  was  well  established,  the  contending  titles  of 
York  and  Lancaster  were  fully  united  in  him,  the  treasury  was  well 
filled,  and  peace  and  prosperity  were  universally  enjoyed.  The 
young  prince's  person  was  beautiful,  his  manners  elegant,  his  dis- 
position frank,  his  mind  highly  cultivated  for  the  times,  and  his 
native  talents  commanding. 

The  nation,  however,  was  greatly  disappointed  in  its  young 
prince.  He  soon  shewed  himself  an  unprincipled  tyrant : 
and  both  friends  and  foes  felt,  at  times,  the  effects  of  his 
caprice  and  cruelty.  His  ministers  were  talented  men,  but 
he  took  pleasure  in  abusing  them.  Only  archbishop  Cran- 
mer  continued  to  be  an  object  of  favour  to  the  last.  Cardinal 


200  MODERN    HISTORY — PERIOD    VI II. 

Wolsey,  in  whom  he  placed  unbounded  confidence  for  a  time, 
was  finally  discarded.  Wolsey,  more  than  any  one  else,  by 
ministering  to  the  pleasures  and  ambition  of  the  king,  shaped 
his  destiny  and  the  fortunes  of  the  people. 

§  This  celebrated  man  was  the  son  of  a  butcher  at  Ipswich ;  but 
having  received  a  learned  education,  and  being  endowed  with  an  ex- 
cellent capacity,  he  was  taken  into  the  service  of  the  king,  and  by 
degrees  rose  into  distinction,  till  he  became  the  prime  minister  of 
his  sovereign.  Clergyman  as  he  was,  he  countenanced  the  king  in 
all  his  light  sports,  gaiety,  and  sensual  indulgences,  a  quality  in  the 
companion,  which  contributed  to  the  influence  and  elevation  of  the 
courtier. 

20.  In  the  early  part  of  his  reign,  the  counsels  of  Wolsey 
agreeing  with  the  natural  temper  of  Henry,  prompted  him  to 
make  war  against  Louis  XII.  of  France.  He  invaded  the 
country,  and  met  with  success  so  far  as  he  went,  having 
gained  the  Battle  of  the  Spurs  ;  (because  the  French  on  the 
occasion  made  more  use  of  their  spurs  than  their  swords ;) 
but  he  failed  to  improve  his  good  fortune,  and  after  taking 
Tournay,  returned  to  England. 

About  the  same  time  the  Scots,  who  had  made  an  inclu- 
sion into  England,  were  defeated  by  Henry's  general,  the 
earl  of  Surrey,  at  Flodden  Field,  where  James  IV.,  and  a 
great  part  of  his  nobility,  were  slain.  Henry,  however,  did 
not.  follow  up  his  advantage,  but  generously  granted  a  peace 
to  Scotland. 

Henry  also  took  a  part  in  the  long  and  obstinate  wars 
which  were  waged  between  Francis  I.  and  Charles  Y.,  a? 
before  detailed.  His  foreign  alliances  cost  him  the  expendi- 
ture of  immense  treasures  to  no  purpose,  as  he  was,  by  turns, 
the  dupe  of  both  parties. 

The  most  important  events  in  Henry's  reign,  are  connected 
with  his  matrimonial  alliances.  Out  of  these,  as  a  conse- 
quence, arose  the  ever-memorable  Reformation  in  England. 
Henry  was  opposed  by  the  pope  in  an  affair  so  interesting  to 
his  passions,  and  therefore  the  pope  was  opposed  by  him, 
and  at  length  lost  his  influence  in  the  kingdom.  In  this 
great  religious  change,  it  is  evident  Henry  had  no  good  in- 
tentions, but  sought  the  gratification  of  his  own  unhallowed 
appetites.  He  had  previously  declared  himself  the  champion 
of  the  Romish  church,  and  even  written  a  book  against 


ENGLAND.  201 

Luther.     Hence  was  conferred  on  him,  by  the  pope,  the  title 
of  "  Defender  of  the  Faith." 

§  Henry  was  married  to  Catharine  of  Arragon,  his  brother's 
willow,  but  having  fallen  in  love  with  the  beautiful  Anne  Boieyn,  he 
applied  to  the  pope  for  a  divorce.  This,  however,  was  denied  him. 
But  Henry  was  not  to  be  frustrated  in  his  intentions.  The  opinion 
of  the  universities  was  favourable  to  him,  and  Anne  was  soon  crown- 
ed queen. 

The  pope  now  was  forced  to  pay  the  price  of  his  conscientious- 
ness or  obstinacy.  His  authority,  from  that  time,  was  abolished  in 
England  ;  the  annual  tribute  was  no  longer  paid  to  him ;  the  dissolu- 
tion of  the  monasteries  was  ordered  ;  and  the  clergy,  as  well  as  all 
others,  were  obliged  to  acknowledge  the  king  as  head  of  the  church ; 
and  the  want  of  obedience,  was  punishable  with  banishment  or 
death.  On  this  account,  Sir  Thomas  More,  and  the  bishop  of  Ro- 
chester, among  others,  perished  by  the  hand  of  the  executioner. 
Cardinal  Wolsey  also,  was  conceived  to  be  in  the  way  of  the  king's 
wishes  on  the  subject  of  his  marriage,  and  after  being  deprived  of 
his  immense  power  and  possessions,  was  arrested  for  high  treason. 
lie,  however,  died  of  a  broken,  heart  soon  afterwards,  uttering  in  the 
anguish  of  his  soul,  the  never  to  be  forgotten  words,  "Had  I  but 
served  God  as  diligently  as  I  have  served  the  king,  he  would  not 
have  forsaken  me  in  my  gray  hairs." 

Anne  Boieyn,  in  less  than  three  years,  was  condemned  and  be- 
headed. After  her,  he  married  four  wives  in  succession;  the  first 
dying  in  child-birth ;  the  next  having  been  divorced,  because  he 
found  her  not  so  beautiful  as  had  been  represented ;  and  the  third 
having  been  executed  for  adultery.  The  fourth  survived  him. 

The  tyrant  died  in  the  fifty-sixth  year  of  his  age.  bequeathing  his 
crown,  first  to  Edward,  then  to  Mary,  and  lastly  to  Elizabeth. 

20£  Edward  VI.,  Henry's  son,  by  Jane  Seymour,  ascended 
the  throne  in  1547,  in  his  tenth  year.  At  first,  the  earl  of 
Hertford  was  regent ;  afterwards,  the  duke  of  Somerset,  who 
was  decidedly  friendly  to  the  reformation.  Edward  was  a 
prince  of  great  promise  and  many  virtues;  but,  to  the  deep 
regret  of  the  English  nation,  he  died  in  the  sixteenth  year 
of  his  age. 

During  his  reign,  the  reformation  made  great  progress, 
through  the  zeal  of  Cranmer  ;  yet  a  large  body  of  the  people 
adhered  to  popery.  The  triumphs  of  the  new  religion  were 
not,  however,  effected  without  public  disturbances,  and  some 
sanguinary  executions  took  place  on  account  of  religion. 

A  project  was  undertaken  of  uniting  England  and  Scot- 
land, by  a  marriage  between  Edward  and  Mary  Stuart,  the 

I  mj  »/ 

young  queen  of  the  Scots.     It,  however,  failed,  and  a  battl? 


202  MODERN  HISTORY. PERIOD  VII f. 

ensued,  near  Musselburgh,  in  which  10,000  of  the  Scots  were, 
slain. 

§  So  different  in  disposition  was  Edward  from  his  father,  that  it  is 
said  he  always  wept,  when  he  signed  an  order  for  an  execution 
against  any  of  his  subjects.  Edward's  benevolent  turn  of  mind  is 
evidenced  by  his  charitable  endowments,  as  Bridewell,  St.  Thomas's 
Hospital,  and  several  schools,  which  still  exist  and  flourish. 

21.  Mary,  Edward's  sister,  next  ascended  the  throne,  in 
1553.  History  has  assigned  to  her  the  unenviable  title  of 
1  bloody,"  from  the  persecutions  and  martyrdoms  suffered  by 
the  protestants,  in  her  reign.  Her  disposition  was  morose, 
tyrannical,  and  cruel,  in  the  highest  degree.  Bent  upon  the 
restoration  of  the  catholic  religion,  she  hesitated  at  no  mea- 
sures, however  unjust,  which  were  calculated  to  effect  the 
object. 

§  To  force  and  violence,  she  naturally  resorted.  Some  of  the  most 
enynent  reformers,  as  Cranmer,  Latimer,  Ridley,  Hooper,  Ferrer, 
and  Rogers,  she  consigned  to  the  flames.  In  consequence,  however, 
of  these  cruelties,  a  powerful  prejudice  was  excited  against  the 
catholics.  Their  cause  sunk,  and  that  of  the  protestants  rose ;  and 
the  reformation  was,  in  reality,  extended,  by  the  means  employed 
for  its  extinction. 

The  beginning  of  Mary's  reign,  was  stained  with  the 
blood  of  the  celebrated  Lady  Jane  Grey,  grand  daughter  to  a 
sister  of  Henry  VIII.  She  more  happily  suppressed,  soon 
after,  an  insurrection  under  Wyat. 

Her  husband  was  Philip  II.,  of  Spain;  but,  by  the  articles 
of  marriage,  she,  or  rather  her  parliament,  has  the  merit  of 
making  provision  for  the  independence  and  glory  of  the  Eng- 
lish crown.  It  was  agreed  that  the  administration  should  be 
solely  in  the  queen,  and,  on  certain  conditions,  her  issue 
should  inherit  the  dominions  of  Philip. 

The  loss  of  Calais,  which  the  English  possessed  210 
years,  together  with  the  knowledge  that  she  was  hated,  botli 
by  her  husband  and  her  subjects,  caused  her  to  die  of  grief 
and  vexation  of  heart,  in  the  forty-third  year  of  her  age. 

§  Jane  Grey,  whose  fate  was  so  tragical,  was  designed  by  Ed- 
ward to  be  his  successor.  Her  title,  however,  was  quite  defective  : 
and  the  lav/,  assigning  the  crown  to  her,  which  Edward  caused  to 
be  passed,  was  unconstitutional.  Lord  Guilford  Dudley,  son  of  the 
duke  of  Northumberland,  had  lately  married  her;  and  both  the  fa- 
ther and  son  strongly  solicited  1  or  to  accept  of  the  perilous  bequest 
of  Edward.  She  reluctantly  C'  isented,  and,  by  their  intrigues,  was 
proclaimed  queen.  Her  youth  and  innocence  might  have  excused 


ENGLAND.  203 

her ;  but  she  was  soon  arrested,  and,  together  with  her  husband,  was 
condemned  and  executed. 

On  the  day  of  her  execution,  her  husband  desired  permission  to 
see  her ;  but  she  refused  her  consent,  informing  him  by  message, 
that  the  tenderness  of  their  parting  would  overcome  the  fortitude  of 
both,  and  too  much  unbend  their  minds  from  a  greater  concern. 
She  adverted  also  to  other  topics  of  a  consolatory  kind.  Her  hus- 
band was  first  brought  to  the  block,  before  her  eyes ;  but,  undaun- 
ted at  such  a  sight,  she  addressed  the  spectators,  in  a  most  affecting 
speech,  and,  with  a  serene  countenance,  immediately  submitted  her 
own  neck  to  the  fatal  axe. 

Lady  Jane  Grey  was  an  accomplished  scholar,  a  devout  Christian, 
and  the  fairest  ornament  of  her  sex.  Aschem  tells  us,  that  she  wrote 
in  Latin,  with  great  strength  of  sentiment ;  and  we  are  informed 
by  her  contemporary,  Sir  Thomas  Chaloner,  that  she  was  well  versed 
in  Hebrew,  Chaldee,  Arabic,  French,  and  Italian.  Fuller  adds,  that 
she  had  "the  innocency  of  childhood,  the  beanty  of  youth,  the  so- 
lidity of  middle,  the  gravity  of  old  age,  and  all  at  eighteen ;  the  birth 
of  a  princess,  the  learning  of  a  clerk,  the  life  of  a  saint,  yet  the 
death  of  a  malefactor,  for  her  parent's  offences." 

22.  Elizabeth  succeeded  to  the  throne,  on  the  death  of 
her  sister  Mary,  1558.  This  was  a  joyful  event  to  the  Eng- 
lish people.  The  prudence  which,  as  a  subject,  she  had  dis- 
played during  the  sanguinary  reign  of  her  sister,  gave  pro- 
mise of  excellence  in  the  sovereign. 

§  It  required  all  the  sagacity  and  caution  of  Elizabeth,  to  elude  the 
effects  of  the  violent  jealousy  which  the  queen,  her  sister,  enter- 
tained against  her.  When  questioned  respecting  the  real  presence, 
the  net  for  catching  protestants,  she  replied : 

"  Christ  was  the  word  that  spake  it, 
He  took  the  bread  and  brake  it, 
And  what  the  word  did  make  it, 
That  I  believe  and  take  it." 

That  which  was  thus  promised,  was,  in  a  great  measure, 
fulfilled.  By  her  wise  counsels,  the  protestant  religion  was 
fostered;  the  church  of  England  received  its  present  form; 
and  agriculture,  commerce,  arts,  and  literature,  attained  to  an 
elevation  unknown  in  England  before.  Her  intrepid  mind, 
arid  the  measures  of  the  government,  so  sagaciously  and 
fumly  pursued,  rendered  her  the  most  respected  and  power- 
ful sovereign  in  Europe.  She  colonized  a  large  portion  of 
North  America,  supported  the  infant  republic  of  Holland 
against  its  tyrannical  enemy,  humbled  tlie  pride  of  Spain,  in 
the  defeat  of  its  boasted  armada,  and  assisted  Henry  IV.  in 
the  recovery  of  his  kingdom.  She  sought  the  true  interests 


204  MODERN  HISTORY. — PERIOD  VIII. 

and  glory  of  her  subjects,  so  far  as  concerned  their  temporal 
prosperity,  or  their  external  religious  observances. 

Yet  it  must  be  acknowledged,  that  she  compassed  her  objects, 

often,  by  very  questionable  means.  She  was  stern,  unyield- 
ing, unrelenting,  despotic,  in  her  maxims  of  government, 
and  was  guilty,  at  times,  of  the  basest  acts  of  cruelty  and 
hypocrisy.  Her  treatment,  of  her  cousin,  Mary,  queen  o( 
Scots,  whom  she  caused  to  be  beheaded,  on  the  bare  suspi- 
cion of  a  conspiracy,  has  loaded  her  memory  with  a  degree 
of  reproach,  which  the  splendour  of  her  reign,  in  other  re- 
spects, can  never  obliterate.  And  her  conduct  towards  hei 
favourites,  particularly  the  earl  of  Essex,  is  marked  with  sin- 
gular caprice,  if  not  injustice. 

§  The  invincible  Armada,  so  called,  was  a  fleet  which  Spain  fitted 
out  for  the  invasion  of  England,  on  account  of  the  interference  of  the 
latter  power  in  the  affairs  of  the  Netherlands.  It  consisted  of  150 
ships  of  war,  carrying  27,000  men,  and  3000  cannon — the  largest 
naval  armament  which  Europe  had  ever  seen.  The  English  fleet  of 
108  ships,  commanded  by  Howard,  Drake,  and  others,  met  the  ar- 
mada as  it  entered  the  English  channel,  attacked  it  in  the  night,  and 
burnt  and  destroyed  a  great  part  of  the  squadron.  A  storm  which 
drove  the  remainder  of  the  Spanish  ships  on  the  coast  of  Zealand, 
completed  their  discomfiture,  and  only  fifty  shattered  vessels,  witk 
6000  men,  returned  to  Spain. 

The  story  of  the  beautiful  and  unfortunate  Mary,  will  be  briefly 
told  in  what  follows.  She  was  a  daughter  of  James  V.,  king  of  Scot- 
land, and  great-grand-daughter  of  Henry  VII.  of  England,  and  next 
heir  to  the  English  crown.  She  succeeded  her  father,  eight  days  af- 
ter her  birth.  She  was  educated  in  France,  as  a  catholic,  and,  in 
early  life,  married  the  Dauphin,  afterwards  Francis  II.  Influenced 
by  her  maternal  uncles,  the  Guises,  she  consented  to  take  the  title  ol 
queen  of  England — an  injudicious  measure,  equally  calculated  to 
wound  her  own  peace,  and  excite  Elizabeth's  resentment. 

After  her  return  to  Scotland,  on  the  death  of  Francis,  she  gave 
her  hand  to  her  cousin  Henry  Stuart,  (lord  Darnley.)  But  the  king, 
her  husband,  being  excluded  from  any  share  in  the  government,  by 
the  advice  (as  he  suspected)  of  Rizzio,  an  Italian  musician,  her 
secretary  and  favourite,  he,  by  the  assistance  of  some  of  the  princi- 
pal nobility,  suddenly  surprised  them  when  at  supper  together,  and 
effected  the  death  of  Rizzio,  in  the  queen's  presence. 

The  next  year,  the  king  was  blown  up  with  gunpowder,  in  a  pti- 
vate  house,  to  which  he  had  retired  with  a  few  friends.  The  earl  of 
Bothwell,  the  new  favourite  of  Mary,  is,  not  without  reason,  sup- 
posed to  have  been  the*ccntriver  of  this  murder.  He  was,  however, 
acquitted  by  the  nobles  of  his  and  Mary's  party  ;  and,  in  about  two 
months  after,  the  imprudent  princess  condescended  to  marry  him. 

This  shameful  conduct,  occasioned  the  revolt  of  the  chief  nobility 


ENGLAND.  205 

and  her  best  subjects,  by  whom  she  was  taken  prisoner,  compelled 
ner  to  resign  the  crown,  and  her  son,  James  VI.,  was  called  to  the 
sovereignty.  The  queen,  soon  after,  escaped  from  prison,  and  raised 
an  army  to  oppose  the  regent,  Murray,  who  was  determined  on  her 
destruction,  and  whom  she  had  frequently  condemned,  and  as  fre- 
quently pardoned.  She  was,  however,  defeated,  and  fled  to  Eng- 
land, in  1568,  where  she  expected,  from  the  repeated  declarations  of 
Elizabeth,  protection  and  security. 

Eiizabeth,  secretly  delighted  to  find  a  hated  rival  in  her  power 
proved  unfaithful  to  her  professions,  and  detained  the  unhappy 
fugitive  a  prisoner,  for  eighteen  years.  She  first,  however,  under 
pretence  of  doing  justice  to  Mary,  had  the  cause  of  the  latter  en- 
quired into,  at  a  conference  at  York.  But  though  nothing  was 
proved  against  her,  Elizabeth  saw  fit  to  detain  her  in  close  con- 
finement, 

The  Scottish  queen,  during  her  tedious  and  merciless  confinement, 
naturally  desired,  and  her  friends  for  her,  a  release.  For  a  plot  to 
effect  this  object,  devised  by  her  friends,  and  detected,  she  was  held 
responsible ;  and  though  an  independent  sovereign,  was  tried  by  a 
foreign  power.  Presumed,  only,  to  be  guilty,  she  was  condemned, 
and  soon  after  barbarously  beheaded,  in  Fotheringay  castle,  in  the 
forty-fifth  year  of  her  age,  and  in  the  nineteenth  of  her  captivity. 

Historians  tell  us,  that  when  Mar)'  was  informed  of  the  order  for 
her  executioiij  she  was  surprised,  but  betrayed  no  symptoms  of  fear. 
The  night  before  her  execution,  she  called  in  all  her  servants,  and 
bade  them  a  solemn  farewell.  Next  morning  she  dressed  herself  in 
a  rich  habit  of  silk  and  velvet,  and  declared  her  resolution  to  die  in 
the  faith  in  which  she  had  been  educated.  It  was  on  the  8th  ot 
Feb.  1587,  when  she  was  brought  to  the  block,  and  in  that  awful 
conjuncture,  displayed  a  fortitude  and  decency,  which  would  have 
honoured  a  matron  of  Rome;  and  to  the  moment  of  her  death, 
anited  the  majesty  of  a  queen  with  the  meekness  of  a  martyr. 

The  bishop  of  Lincoln,  in  a  prayer  on  the  occasion  of  her  burial, 
«sed  the  following  words — "  It  is  a  charitable  saying  of  father 
Luther,  '  Many  one  liveth  a  Papist  and  dieth  a  Protestant:'  only  this 
I  have  been  informed,  that  she  took  her  death  patiently,  and  recom- 
mended herself  wholly  to  Jesus  Christ." 

Mary,  besides  her  eminent  beauty,  which  was  celebrated  through- 
out Europe,  possessed  the  highest  mental  accomplishments.  She 
read  and  understood  several  languages,  wrote  poetry,  and  cultivated 
a  knowledge  of  music.  Her  misfortunes  were  great ;  and  though 
many  of  them  were  brought  upon  her  by  her  indiscretions,  if  not 
crimes,  the  severity  of  her  lot  has  called  forth  general  commisera- 
tion. 

In  the  early  part  of  Elizabeth's  reign,  the  earl  of  Leicester  was 
her  principal  favourite;  but  after  his  death,  she  became  attached  to 
the  earl  of  Essex,  as  her  minister;  and  indeed  there  was,  on  the  part 
of  the  queen,  though  quite  advanced  in  life,  much  of  the  appearance 
of  a  more  tender  passion.  She  seems,  however,  unalterably  to  have 
kept  her  resolution  "to  live  and  die  a  maiden  queen."  She  was 

18 


206  MODERN    HISTORY. PERIOD    VIII. 

pleased  with  courtship,  but  kept  aloof  from  matrimony.  Essex  was 
a  young  nobleman  of  singular  accomplishments,  talents,  and  spirit. 

The  queen  and  Essex  had  many  quarrels  and  reconciliations.  In 
one  instance,  in  consequence  of  some  affront  which  he  offered  her, 
she  angrily  gave  him  a  box  on  the  ear ;  upon  which  Essex  clapped 
his  hand  on  his  sword,  swearing  he  would  not  bear  such  usage,  were 
it  from  Henry  VIII. ;  and  immediately  withdrew  from  court.  His 
indiscretion,  however,  was  soon  pardoned.  He  was  at  length  teased 
by  her  capricious  humour  into  a  crime,  which  she  could  not  pardon. 
He  had  severely  reflected  on  her  person,  (for  though  nearly  in  her 
seventieth  year,  she  wished  to  be  thought  a  beauty,)  and  connected 
this  with  some  suspicious  movements  of  a  treasonable  nature.  He 
was  soon  arraigned,  convicted,  and  brought  to  the  block. 

From  this  period  her  mind  began  to  be  depressed.  The  cause 
doubtless  was,  the  revival  of  her  tenderness  for  Essex.  While  under 
sentence  of  death,  he  sent  by  the  countess  of  Nottingham,  to  Eliza- 
beth, a  ring  which  she  had  given  him  as  a  pledge  of  her  affection, 
and  of  the  confidence  he  might  feel,  in  whatever  disgrace  he  might 
be,  that  the  sight  of  it  would  secure  her  favourable  interposition. 
The  countess,  at  the  instigation  of  her  husband,  the  mortal  enemy 
of  Essex,  neglected  to  deliver  it ;  and  when  on  her  beath-bed,  sent 
for  the  queen,  to  inform  her  of  the  fact.  Elizabeth,  bursting  into  a 
frantic  passion,  shook  the  dying  countess  in  her  bed,  and  exclaimed, 
"  God  may  pardon  you,  but  I  never  can." 

From  that  moment  the  queen  fell  into  the  profoundest  melancholy , 
refused  both  food  and  medicine,  and  throwing  herself  on  the  floor, 
remained  in  that  state  several  days  and  nights,  till  life  became 
extinct. 

Essex,  it  appears,  was  much  thought  of  in  his  day.  We  find  in 
an  ancient  account  of  him,  the  following  quaint  and  hyperbolic 
epitaph : 

"  Here  sleeps  great  Essex,  dearling  of  mankincle, 
Faire  honour's  lampe,  foule  envie's  prey,  Arte'sfame 

Nature's  pride,  Virtue's  bulwarks,  lure  of  minde, 
Wisdome's  flower,  Valour's  tower,  Fortune's  shame, 

England's  sunne,  Belgia's  light,  France's  star,  Spaine's  thunder, 

Lysboiic's  lightning,  Ireland's  clowde,  the  whole  world's  wonder." 

\ 

23.  Little  needs  be  added  respecting  the  character  of 
Elizabeth.  In  her  private  life,  she  was  less  commendable 
than  in  her  public  conduct.  She  possessed  few  qualities  of 
the  heart  which  we  love  to  see  in  all,  especially  in  woman. 
The  rivalship  of  beauty,  the  desire  of  admiration,  the  jea- 
lousy of  love,  the  meanness  of  insincerity,  and  the  sallies  of 
anger,  sullied  her  character,  and  showed  that  she  was  still  a 
woman,  but  without  the  amiability  of  her  sex.  The  attri- 
butes of  her  intellect,  however,  merit  the  highest  encomium, 
and  her  public  conduct  was  that  of  a  queen.  We  give  her 


GERMANY.  207 

full  credit  for  vigour,  firmness,  penetration,  and  address — for 
heroism  without  rashness,  for  frugality  without  avarice,  foi 
activity  without  the  turbulence  of  ambition.  Her  proficiency 
in  learning  was  great,  and  she  possessed  extraordinary  talents 
for  government.  The  security  and  defence  of  the  English 
people,  were  never  placed  in  abler  hands. 

GERMANY. 

24.  At  the  commencement  of  the  present  period,  Germany 
was  under  the  sway  of  Frederick  IV.     He  erected  Austria 
into  an  Archduchy,  and  rendered  his  family  the  most  power- 
ful in  Germany,  by  marrying  his  son  Maximilian,  to  Mary, 
heiress   of  Burgundy   and  the    Netherlands.     He   reigned 
fifty-three  years. 

25.  Maximilian  I.,  his  son,  succeeded  him,   1493.     He 
possessed  most  of  the  qualities  that  signalize  a  great  prince. 
lie  freed  Germany  from  the  disorders  of  the  feudal  system, 
and  established  peace  among  its  separate  sovereignties. 

§  He  was  wanting  in  decision  of  mind,  which  seemed  to  be  his 
only  failing  as  a  prince  ;  in  consequence  of  which,  some  of  his  im- 
portant projects  miscarried.  His  memory  was  so  tenacious,  that  lie 
never  forgot  the  names  of  persons  he  had  once  seen,  or  heard  men- 
tioned. 

26.  His  grandson,  Charles  V.,  succeeded  him  in  the  empire, 
1519,  having  carried  the  election  in  preference  to  Francis  I., 
of  France.     Some  particulars  respecting  this  distinguished 
prince,  were  given  in  the  history  of  that  country.     A  few 
others  will  be  added. 

§  Charles  was  the  eldest  son  of  Philip,  son  of  Maximilian,  and  of 
Jane,  the  daughter  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella.  He  succeeded  to  tlie 
throne  of  Spain,  in  1516. 

The  first  act  of  his  administration,  was  to  appoint  an  im- 
perial diet,  with  a  view  to  check  the  progress  of  Luther's 
opinions,  which  were  represented  as  inimical  to  the  peace  of 
Germany.  About  this  time,  also,  Germany  was  divided  into 
ten  circles.  In  1521,  commenced  the  celebrated  war  between 
Charles  and  Francis,  in  which  Charles  obtained  manifest  ad- 
vantage. In  1527,  he  took  Rome,  which  was  plundered  by 
the  Germans  during  nine  months.  A  few  years  afterwards, 
Charles  captured  Tunis,  and  liberated  twenty-two  thousand 
Christian  slaves. 


208  MODERN  HISTORY. — PERIOD  VIII. 

But  the  most  extraordinary  event  pertaining1  to  this  sove- 
reign, was  the  voluntary  relinquishrnent  of  his  kingly  and 
imperial  authority.  He  resigned,  first  the  Netherlands  and 
the  kingdom  of  Spain,  to  his  son  Philip,  in  1556,  and  after- 
wards the  empire,  in  favour  of  his  brother  Ferdinand.  The 
remainder  of  his  life  he  spent  in  a  monastery.  An  occur- 
ence  of  this  kind,  is  rare  in  the  history  of  princes,  who  are 
generally  more  fond  of  authority,  the  longer  they  hove  en- 
joyed it. 

§  Charles  was  the  most  powerful  sovereign  of  Europe,  his  sway 
extending  over  Spain,  Germany,  the  Netherlands,  and  a  part  of  Italy. 
He  was  generally  successful  in  war,  though  (if  such  was  his  aim) 
universal  empire  was  beyond  his  reach.  He  never  could  bring  his 
dominions  into  a  well  connected  body.  His  enemies  were  nume- 
rous and  powerful,  and  gave  him  perpetual  annoyance.  His  cares 
and  difficulties  increased  as  he  advanced  in  life,  and  finding  his  health 
also  decline,  he  determined  to  relinquish  the  burdens  of  government. 

Accordingly,  he  recalled  his  son  Philip,  on  whom,  at  his  recent 
marriage  with  Mary,  queen  of  England,  he  had  bestowed  the  king- 
doms of  Naples  and  Sicily,  and  also  the  duchy  of  Milan.  Having 
assembled  the  states  of  the  Low-Countries,  at  Brussels,  he  explained 
the  reasons  of  his  resignation,  recapitulated  the  most  important  ac- 
tions of  his  life,  and  transferred  the  sovereign  authority  to  Philip, 
with  such  unaffected  magnanimity  and  paternal  affection,  that  the 
whole  audience  melted  into  tears.  A  few  weeks  after  this  solemni- 
ty, Charles  conferred  all  his  royalties  and  signiories,  both  in  Europe 
and  America,  upon  his  son ;  reserving  nothing  to  himself,  but  a  pen- 
sion of  100,000  crowns,  to  be  deducted  from  the  revenue  of  Spain. 

After  making  some  ineffectual  attempts  to  secure  the  German 
princes  in  the  interests  of  Philip,  Charles  made  a  formal  resignation 
of  the  empire  to  his  brother  Ferdinand,  and  immediately  set  out  for 
Spain,  with  a  chosen  retinue.  Previously  to  his  arrival  in  that  coun- 
try, a  small  building  had  been  annexed  to  the  monastery  of  St.  Just, 
consisting  of  six  rooms,  four  of  them  in  the  form  of  friar's  cells,  with 
naked  walls,  and  the  other  two  hung  with  brown  cloth,  and  furnish- 
ed in  the  most  simple  manner.  Thither  Charles  retired,  with  only 
twelve  domestics  ;  and  there,  after  a  peaceful  solitude  of  about  two 
years,  he  resigned  his  breath,  in  the  fifty-ninth  year  of  his  age. 

27.  The  successors  of  Charles  in  the  empire,  during  the 
remainder  of  this  period,  were,  after  Ferdinand  I.,  his  son 
Maximilian  II.,  and  Rhodolph  II.  These  princes  geneially 
made  use  of  pacific  expedients,  in  the  disputes  carried  on  be- 
tween the  Protestants  and  the  Catholics. 

§  Ferdinand  and  Maximilian,  are  said  to  have  been  most  excellent 
princes.  From  the  latter,  no  one  ever  heard  a  harsh  expression. 
So  economical  were  his  arrangements,  that  to  every  act  of  his  life 
its  appropriate  hour  was  allotted.  The  empire  flourished  in  a  pern 


GERMANY.  200 

iar  manner  under  his  administration.  Rhodolpli,  though  at  war 
with  the  Turks,  almost  the  whole  of  his  reign,  was  more  occupied 
with  tournaments,  and  the  study  of  mechanics,  chemistry,  and  as- 
tronomy, than  with  the  affairs  of  state.  He  frequently  spent  whole 
days  at  the  shops  of  clockmakers,  turners,  &c.,  so  eager  was  his  de- 
sire for  that  species  of  knowledge. 

28.  The  reformation  in  religion,  by  which  the  present  pe- 
riod is  so  peculiarly  distinguished,  is  the  most  important  event 
in  the  history  of  Germany.  It  commenced  in  that  country, 
whence  k  spread  rapidly  through  several  other  European  na- 
tions. It  was  connected  with  a  new  era  in  the  religious  his- 
tory of  the  world.  By  it,  Papacy  received  a  wound,  from 
which  it  can  never  recover.  The  date  of  this  event,  is  1517. 

Martin  Luther,  an  Augustine  friar,  was  the  first  instrument 
employed  by  an  overruling  Providence,  in  accomplishing  this 
great  moral  revolution.  His  attention  was  excited  to  the 
corruption  and  abuses  of  the  Catholic  religion,  by  the  sale  oi 
indulgencies,  at  that  time  instituted  throughout  all  the  Chris- 
tian kingdoms  of  Europe.  Leo  X.,  in  order  to  raise  money 
for  the  completion  of  his  magnificent  buildings  at  Rome,  had 
published  general  indulgences ;  that  is,  remittances  from  the 
pains  of  purgatory  :  and  the  elector  of  Mentz,  authorised  the 
Dominicans  to  receive  the  money,  and  preach  up  the  merits 
of  such  a  contribution. 

But  the  scandalous  manner  in  which  these  pardons  for  all 
sins,  past,  present,  and  to  come,  Avere  disposed  of,  gave  great 
offence  to  many  religious  persons,  and  induced  Luther,  who 
was  then  a  professor  of  divinity  at  Wittemberg,  to  expose  the 
absurdity  of  such  oclious  traffic.  His  indignation  was  aroused ; 
and  indeed,  the  enormity  of  these  doings,  opened  his  eyes  to 
the  iniquity  of  the  whole  system. 

His  anathemas  found  many  willing  hearers,  particularly  in 
the  electorate  of  Ssxony,  though  Tetzel,  the  papal  agent, 
vigorously  combatted  him.  Luther,  however,  by  degrees  ac- 
quired great  popularity,  and  his  influence  brought  other  di- 
vines into  the  controversy.  Persecution  was  now  resorted  to 
by  the  pope  and  his  emissaries,  but  this  only  increased  his 
zeal  and  indignation  as  a  preacher.  Luther  was  soon  cited 
by  the  pope,  to  appear  at  Rome,  within  sixty  days.  Prince 
Frederick,  elector  of  Saxony,  however,  requested  that  the  re- 
former might  plead  his  cause  in  Germany ;  and  Luther  re- 
paired, under  the  protection  of  a  safe  conduct,  to  the  imperial 

18* 


210  MODERN  HISTORY. — PERIOD  VIII. 

diet,  convoked  by  Charles  at  Augsburg,  before  cardinal  Caje 
tan  ;  but  instead  of  making  any  recantation,  he  boldly  avow- 
ed his  resolution  of  defending  his  doctrines,  though  all  the 
terrors  of  the  church  should  be  denounced  against  him.  As 
the  pope's  legate,  however,  proceeded  to  menaces,  Luther  re- 
tired  privately  from  Augsburg,  having  first  complained,  by 
etter,  to  the  pope,  of  the  harsh  treatment  he  had  received  from 
Cajetan. 

Having  arrived  safely  into  Saxony,  he  found  the  mass  there 
universally  abolished,  the  images  destroyed,  and  the  convents 
shut  up.  The  spirit  which  had  been  thus  kindled,  spread 
next  into  Switzerland,  where  it  produced  the  most  important 
changes.  Sweden,  Norway,  and  Denmark,  soon  embraced 
the  Lutheran  tenets  ;  and  the  protestants,  as  they  were  all 
called  who  embraced  the  reformed  religion,  multiplied  in  the 
Netherlands,  France,  and  England,  as  well  as  in  Germany 
The  quarrel  which  Henry  VIII.,  who  was  no  protestant  him 
self,  had  with  the  pope,  was  the  means  of  advancing  the  re- 
formation in  England,  and  of  subverting  the  ancient  faith 
The  cruel  persecutions  of  which  the  papists  were  guilty, 
greatly  aided  the  good  cause,  in  the  end. 

SPAIN. 

29.  SPAIN  had,  for  several  ages,  been  held  by  the  Moors, 
or  Mahometans.  This  people,  however,  had  lost  one  province 
after  another,  till  towards  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century,  only 
Granada  remained  subject  to  their  authority.  Upon  the  acces- 
sion of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  in  1479,  the  crowns  of  Cas- 
tile and  Arragon  were  happily  united,  and  thus  all  the  Chris- 
tian principalities  in  Spain,  found  themselves  under  one 
sceptre  ;  and,  with  the  conquest  of  Granada,  which  the  king 
and  queen  effected  in  1492,  Spain  became  one  entire  monar- 
chy. Ferdinand  and  Isabella  were,  in  effect,  two  sovereign 
princes,  though  professedly  united  in  marriage. 

The  Moors  suffered  terribly  in  the  siege  of  Granada,  and 
with  the  loss  of  their  dominions,  were,  for  the  most  part, 

obliged  to  retire  into  Africa. 

§  To  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  the  establishment  of  the  terrible  In- 
quisition, in  Spain,  is  owing.  Two  thousand  persons  are  said  to  have 
suffered  death  under  Torqucmada,  the  first,  inquisitor  general.  This 
instance  of  intemperate  and  ferocious  zeal,  in  the  king  and  queen, 


SPAIN.  211 

may  well  be  set  off  against  the  several  good  qualities,  which  it  is  al- 
lowed, they  possessed.  Their  reign  was  signalized  by  the  discove- 
ries made  by  the  great  Columbus. 

30.  Jane,  who  became  deranged,  succeeded  her  mothe* 
Isabella,  in  Castile,  with   her  husband,  Philip   of  Austria- 
On  the  death  of  her  father,  Jane   being  unfit  to  reign,  her 
son   Charles  L,  afterwards  Charles  V.,  was  acknowledged 
sovereign  of  all  Spain,  1516.     His  history  has  already  been 
related. 

§  During  Charles's  reign,  Mexico  was  conquered  by  Fernando 
Cortez,  in  1519,  and  Peru  by  Pizarro  in  1525.  The  Spanish  do- 
minions were  thus  greatly  extended. 

31.  Philip  II.,  succeeded  his  father  upon  the  abdication  of 
the  latter,  in  1556.     In  his  time,  the  balance  of  power  in 
Europe,  was  sustained  by  Spain,  France,  England  and  Ger- 
many, all,  at  this  time,  highly  flourishing  and  respectable,  either 
from  the  talents  of  their  sovereigns,  or  their  internal  strength. 
Philip  was  an  acute  and  able  politician,  though  his  policy 
partook  somewhat  of  selfish  cunning.     He  wTas  sovereign  of 
Spain,  the  two   Sicilies,  Milan,  and  the  Netherlands.      He 
had  likewise,  for  a  few  years,  the  resources  of    England  at 
command,  by  his  marriage  with  Mary,  the  English  queen. 
His  power  was  great,  but  his  ambition  was  greater  ;  and 
though  he  met  with  occasional  success,  at  the  close  of  a  long 
and  busy  reign,  he  had  accomplished  but  few  of  his  nume- 
rous projects. 

§  Pope  Paul  IV.,  jealous  of  the  power  of  Philip,  formed  an  alli- 
ance with  the  king  of  France,  to  deprive  the  Spaniards  of  Milan  and 
the  Sicilies.  Philip,  with  the  aid  of  the  English,  defeated  the  French 
at  St.  Quintin,  and  hoped,  from  this  signal  victory,  to  force  the 
allies  into  a  peace.  Another  signal  victory,  however,  was  necessary, 
which  Philip  gained  near  Gravelines,  the  result  of  which  was,  that 
the  French  surrendered  to  Spain,  no  less  than  eighty-nine  fortified 
towns,  in  the  low  countries,  and  in  Italy. 

Philip  was  an  intolerant  bigot  in  religion,  and  it  was  owing  to  his 
cruel  attempts  to  enforce  a  uniformity  of  religious  opinion  in  the 
Netherlands,  that  the  latter  broke  away  from  his  authority,  as  will 
be  detailed  below. 

HOLLAND. 

32.  HOLLAND  became  a  republic  by  the  union  of  Utrecht, 
in   1579.      The  states  combined  to  defend  their  common 
liberties,  on  account  of  the  tyranny  of  their  sovereign,  Philip 
II.     Seven  of  the  seventeen  provinces,  constituting  the  Neth- 


212  MODERN  HISTORY. PERIOD  VIII. 

erlands,  came  into  the  measure.      The  remaining  ten  pro- 
vinces had  their  charter  renewed  by  Philip,  and  did  not  be 
come  independent  until  in  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth 
century. 

§  Holland,  is  another  appellation  for  the  Seven  United  Provinces, 
so  called,  from  its  chief  province  being  of  that  name.  The  remain- 
ing ten  are  known  by  the  name  of  Flanders.  The  duchy  of  Bur- 
gundy, composed  of  some  of  these  provinces,  was  originally  equal 
to  any  power  in  Europe.  The  whole  of  the  Netherlands,  except 
three  states,  were  annexed  to  the  German  empire,  by  marriage,  1477 
They  were  afterwards  resigned  to  the  king  of  Spain. 

In  the  early  periods  of  their  history,  the  Hollanders  became  sub- 
ject to  the  Franks,  under  whom,  they  were  divided  into  small  gov- 
ernments, the  heads  of  which  were  despotic,  in  their  own  dominions. 
Holland  and  the  Netherlands,  were  united  to  Germany,  under  one 
of  the  grandsons  of  Charlemagne,  but  became  independent  in  the 
tenth  century.  At  length,  in  1443,  they  were  subject  to  the  dukes 
of  Burgundy.  The  next  transfer  of  these  states,  was  to  Germany, 
Charles  V.  being  heir  to  the  house  of  Burgundy. 

They  endured  the  rule  of  Charles,  but  the  tyranny  of  his  son 
Philip  II.,  was  not  to  be  borne.  The  Reformation  had  made  a  con- 
siderable progress  in  the  Netherlands.  Philip,  with  a  view  to  repress 
it,  established  the  Inquisition,  projected  certain  innovations,  which 
created  alarm  and  tumult,  and  sent  an  army  under,  the  duke  of  Alva, 
to  enforce  implicit  submission.  The  consequence  of  these  measures 
was,  that  many  thousands  of  persons,  and  some  of  the  highest  dis- 
tinction, perished  by  the  hands  of  the  executioner.  It  is  computed 
that  18,000  were  the  victims  of  the  five  years'  administration  01 
Alva. 

William,  the  prince  of  Orange,  on  whom  the  government  of  seve- 
ral of  the  provinces  had  been  conferred,  and  who  was  now,  himself, 
under  the  sentence  of  the  Inquisition,  raised  an  army  on  this  occa- 
sion, and  undertook  the  deliverance  of  the  states.  Having  reduced 
some  of  the  most  important  garrisons,  he  was  proclaimed  Stadtholder 
of  Holland  and  Zealand,  in  1570. 

The  whole  seventeen  provinces  had  equally  suffered  from  the 
tyranny  of  Philip ;  but  only  seven  of  them  could  agree  to  form  a 
confederated  republic.  The  influence  of  jealousy  and  competition, 
prevented  the  union  of  the  whole.  By  the  treaty  which  was  formed, 
it  was  agreed  that  they  should  defend  their  liberties,  as  one  united 
republic ;  that  they  should  jointly  decide  in  the  concerns  of  peace 
and  war,  establish  a  general  legislative  authority,  and  maintain  re- 
ligious freedom.  William  was  elected  Stadtholder  of  the  whole 
seven,  a  title  which  included  the  duties  of  a  general,  admiral,  and 
magistrate. 

The  effusion  of  blood,  which  had  been  great  prior  to  this  union, 
was  not  hereby  much  diminished.  The  crown  of  Spain,  strained 
every  nerve  to  recover  those  provinces.  Philip,  venting  his  indig- 
nation, by  a  proscription  of  the  prince  of  Orange,  and  offering  25.000 


AMERICA.  213 

crowns  for  his  head,  compassed  his  revenge ;  for  this  illustrious  man 
was  cut  off  by  an  assassin,  1584.  By  persevering  courage,  however, 
and  assisted  by  queen  Elizabeth  of  England,  and  Henry  IV.  of 
France,  the  Hollanders,  at  length,  completely  established  their  hide 
pendence,  and  brought  the  Spanish  monarch  to  acknowledge  them 
as  a  free  people. 

Maurice,  the  son  of  William,  was  elected  Stadtholder,  in  the  room 
of  his  father,  and  displayed  the  most  consummate  talents,  as  a  states- 
man and  warrior,  having  conducted  the  struggle  to  the  issue  already 
related. 

AMERICA. 

33.  The  immense  portion  of  the  earth  called  AMERICA, 
was  unknown  to  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa,  till  the  year  1492, 
when  it  was  discovered  by  Christopher  Columbus,  a  native 
of  Genoa,  in  a  voyage  which  he  made  from  Spain,  sailing 
west,  for  the  purpose  of  finding  a  new  continent,  or  at  least 
of  arriving  at  India,  in  this  direction.  He  first  met,  not  with 
the  continent,  but  the  islands  in  its  vicinity. 

§  The  discovery  of  the  new  world,  was  one  of  the  greatest  and  hap- 
piest results  of  genius,  that  mankind  have  ever  witnessed.  The  im- 
portance of  the  discovery  cam%t  be  easily  overrated.  An  event  so 
unlocked  for,  so  unthought  of.  expanded  the  views,  and  waked  up 
the  energy  of  the  human  mind.  It  excited  a  spirit  of  enterprise,  un- 
felt  before.  Its  influence  on  commerce,  and  consequently  wealth, 
was,  from  the  beginning,  great  and  decisive,  by  immensely  increas- 
ing the  articles  of  traffic.  The  mines  of  America  furnished,  also,  a 
great  abundance  of  the  precious  metals ;  thus  multiplying  the  amount 
of  the  circulating  medium  throughout  the  world.  Colonization,  and 
the  arts  of  civilized  life,  have  been  advanced  and  extended,  by  means 
of  this  discovery ;  the  sphere  of  human  enjoyment  enlarged,  'and 
especially  the  blessings  of  the  true  religion,  communicated  to  greater 
numbers  of  mankind.  America  has  also  given  to  the  world  a  new 
and  bright  example,  both  of  civil  and  religious  freedom ;  the  effects  of 
which,  are  destined  to  be  felt  through  all  time,  and,  perhaps,  among 
all  nations.  Some  evils  have,  indeed,  been  incident  to  the  discovery, 
but  they  are  exceedingly  outweighed  by  its  propitious  results,  and 
will  continue  to  be  so,  judging  from  the  known  principles  of  human 
nature,  and  from  the  dealings  of  divine  providence. 

It  has  been  believed  by  some,  that  America  was  not  unknown  to 
the  ancients.  The  theory  has  gained  advocates,  from  a  few  pas- 
sages in  the  works  of  some  of  the  writers  of  antiquity,  and  also  from 
coincidences  in  the  languages  and  customs  of  some  of  the  nations  of 
the  old  and  new  continent.  But  the  theory  has  little  ground  for  its 
support.  Certainly,  at  the  revival  of  letters  in  Europe,  no  traces  of  the 
knowledge  of  another  continent  existed;  and  it  was  generally  suppo- 
sed, that  the  Canaries  formed  the  western  boundaries  of  the  world. 

To  Columbusj  an  account  of  whom  will  appear  in  a  biographical 


214  MODERN    HISTORY. PERIOD    VIII. 

sketch,  about  to  follow,  mankind  are  indebted  for  the  correction  of 
this  error,  and  the  discovery  of  a  new  continent.  From  a  long  and 
close  application  to  the  study  of  geography,  this  great  man  had  ob- 
tained a  knowledge  of  the  true  figure  of  the  earth,  far  beyond  what 
was  common  to  the  age  in  which  he  lived.  Another  continent,  he 
conceived  necessarily  existed,  to  complete  the  balance  of  this  terra- 
queous globe ;  but  he  erroneously  supposed  it  to  be  connected  with 
hat  of  India.  The  truth  of  his  speculations,  he  now  ardently  de- 
sired to  prove,  by  experiment.  In  this,  however,  he  met  with  great 
difficulty,  and  it  was  not  until  the  expiration  of  several  years,  that  hia 
project  was  patronized  by  any  prince  or  court  in  Europe.  Queen 
Isabella,  of  Spain,  has  immortalized  her  name,  by  rendering  the 
first  effectual  assistance  to  Columbus. 

One  great  motive  which  influenced  Columbus  and  his  patroness, 
aside  from  the  hope  of  ascertaining  the  existence  of  anew  continent, 
was  to  find  a  passage  to  China  and  the  East  Indies,  by  sea :  or  rather 
the  latter,  may  have  been  the  sole  motive,  connecting  the  supposed 
new  regions  with  the  east  of  Asia.  It  had  been  long  an  object  of 
study,  to  find  such  a  passage,  and  thus  avoid  the  inconvenience  and 
expense  of  transporting  the  merchandise  of  India,  across  the  land, 
from  the  Red  Sea,  to  Alexandria,  in  Egypt.  The  passage  round  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  was  not  then  known,  and  the  shortest  route 
was  supposed,  by  Columbus,  to  bejjy  the  west.  It  is  to  be  remem- 
bered, that  the  maps  of  that  period,  represented  the  oriental  countries 
of  Asia,  as  stretching  vastly  farther  to  the  east,  than  has  since  been 
proved  to  be  the  fact.  Columbus  was  fitted,  in  every  point  of  view, 
for  his  mighty  and  perilous  undertaking. 

Never  was  success  more  complete,  or  a  great  idea  more  happily 
realized.  With  inconsiderable  means,  and  an  ill-appointed  flotilla 
of  three  small  vessels,  victualled  for  twelve  months,  and  having  on 
board  ninety  men,  he  commenced  his  unpromising  adventure.  Leav- 
ing Palos,  in  Spain,  on  the  3d  of  August,  he  sailed  directly  for  the 
Canaries,  whence,  having  refitted  his  crazy  ships,  he  kept  a  due 
western  course,  over  an  unknown  ocean,  not  without  a  compass,  but 
without  a  chart.  His  compass,  however,  occasioned  perplexity. 
The  variation  of  the  magnetic  needle  from  due  north,  was  first  ob- 
served, when  he  had  sailed  about  200  leagues  from  the  Canaries, 
and  so  terrified  his  men,  that  they  were  scarcely  restrained  from 
mutiny.  All  his  address  and  talents  were  now  put  in  requisition. 
The  phenomenon  of  the  needle  seemed  portentous  to  himself,  but 
his  ingenuity  devised  a  solution  of  it,  which  silenced  the  complaints 
of  his  crew. 

After  this,  he  pursued  his  voyage,  yet  not  without  the  frequent 
manifestation  of  anxiety  and  impatience,  on  the  part  of  his  crew. 
Thirty  days  had  transpired  since  they  had  left  the  Canaries,  and  no 
land  appearing,  both  officers  and  men  joined  in  a  revolt.  Columbus 
was  forced  partially  to  give  way  to  their  remonstrances,  and  pro- 
posed to  return,  after  the  expiration  of  three  days,  if  they  should 
find  no  land.  Some  indications  of  it  had  already  begun  to  appear, 


AMERICA.  215 

oiicl,  on  the  llth  of  October,  the  joyful  sight  was  descried,  first  by 
Columbus  himself.  God  was  immediately  praised,  and  the  sailors 
were  now  as  ardent  in  their  expressions  of  repentance  and  admira- 
tion, as  they  had  been,  before,  insolent  and  ungovernable. 

34.  St.  Salvador,  one  of  the  Bahamas,  was  the  island  first 
discovered.  Columbus  afterwards  touched  at  Cuba,  and 
Hispaniola,  (St.  Domingo,)  now  Hayti.  On  the  latter  he  left 
some  of  his  men,  to  form  a  colony.  His  theory  led  him  to 
call  the  regions  he  had  discovered,  by  the  name  of  West  In- 
dies ;  since  he  had  reached  India,  or  a  portion  of  the  globe 
which  he  supposed  to  be  near  it,  by  a  western  passage. 

Columbus  returned  to  Spain  in  the  following  May,  and  soon 
set  out,  with  a  much  larger  expedition,  on  a  second  voyage. 
In  this  he  was  so  happy  as  to  add  many  other  islands  to 
those  already  found.  In  a  third  voyage,  he  discovered  Trini- 
dad, and  the  continent  at  the  mouth  of  the  Oronoke,  1498. 

The  fame  of  his  discoveries,  drew  adventurers  from  all 
parts  of  Europe ;  and,  among  others,  Arnericus  Yesputius,  a 
Florentine,  a  man  of  science  and  genius,  who,  a  few  years 
afterwards,  following  the  footsteps  of  Columbus,  acquired  the 
undeserved  honour  of  giving  his  name  to  the  new  world. 

In  1497,  one  year  before  the  main  land  of  South 
America  had  been  discovered  by  Columbus,  John  Cabot,  a 
Venetian  by  birth,  but  at  that  time  an  inhabitant  of  England, 
proceeded  on  a  voyage  of  discovery,  under  a  commission  from 
the  British  king,  and  found  the  continent  of  North  America. 
Touching  at  various  parts  of  the  coast,  he  took  possession  of 
the  country,  in  behalf  of  the  crown  of  England. 

The  Spaniards,  after  an  interval  of  a  few  years,  made 
settlements  in  the  new  world,  and,  impelled  by  a  thirst  of 
gold,  committed  horrible  butcheries  in  several  of  the  islands, 
and  especially  in  Mexico  and  Peru,  under  Cortez,  Pizarro, 
and  Almagro.  These  brave  adventurers,  though  base  men, 
established  the  authority  of  Spain  over  countries  which  they 
depopulated  by  their  avarice  and  cruelty.  In  the  year  1500, 
the  coast  of  Brazil  was  accidentally  discovered  by  Alvarez  de 
Cabral,  the  Portuguese  admiral,  in  consequence  of  having 
been  driven  too  far  to  the  west,  on  a  voyage  round  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope.  Hence,  the  settlement  and  possession  of  that 
part  of  America,  by  the  people  of  Portugal. 

§  Columbus,  as  we  have  seen,  entertained  the  idea  that  the  re- 
gion he  had  discovered,  was  India,  or  a  part  of  the  continent  o. 


216  MODERN  HISTORY. PERIOD  VIII. 

Asia.  This  notion  was  generally  received,  until  1513,  when  the  Pa- 
cific Ocean  being  descried  from  the  mountains  of  the  isthmus  of 
Darien,  the  illusion  began  to  be  dispelled. 

Fernando  Cortez,  was  a  successful,  but  execrable  adventurer.  It 
was  on  the  occasion  of  being  sent,  in  1519,  by  the  governor  of 
puba,  upon  an  expedition  to  the  main,  that  he  first  heard  of  the  ex- 
istence of  the  rich  and  flourishing  empire  of  Mexico.  Stimulated 
by  the  love  of  power  and  gain,  he  resolved  to  make  the  conquest  of 
that  country.  He  had  at  his  command  only  617  men,  and  a  very 
few  fire-arms,  (thirteen  muskets  and  ten  small  field  pieces,)  these 
having  not  yet  come  into  general  use.  His  other  instruments  of 
death,  were  cross-bows,  swords,  and  spears.  But  it  was  the  former 
description  of  weapons,  few  as  they  were,  that  gained  for  this 
handful  of  Spaniards,  a  conquest  over  a  numerous  people.  They 
looked  upon  fire-arms  as  the  weapons  of  the  gods. 

Landing  at  Vera  Cruz,  Cortez  advanced,  though  with  a  brave  op- 
position  from  the  natives,  into  the  heart  of  the  country.  On  the  ap 
proach  of  the  Spaniards  to  the  capital,  the  terror  of  their  name  had 
paved  the  way  for  an  easy  conquest.  The  Mexican  sovereign,  Mon- 
tezuma,  received  the  invaders  with  great  hospitality  and  kindness. 
Indeed,  he  regarded  them  with  the  reverence  due  to  superior  beings. 
An  occasion,  however,  was  not  long  wanting,  on  the  part  of  CorteZj 
for  putting  his  bold  and  hazardous  project  into  execution. 

Some  difficulty  between  his  soldiers  and  the  natives,  became  the 
pretext  for  his  seizure  of  Montezuma.  Marching  to  the  palace,  with 
fifty  men,  he  put  the  emperor  in  irons,  and  carried  him  off  prisoner 
to  his  camp.  This  flagrant  abuse  of  their  hospitality,  aroused  the 
Mexicans,  who  fleeing  to  arms,  expelled  the  Spaniards  from  the 
capital.  Montezuma  having,  during  the  affray,  offered  to  mediate 
between  the  Mexicans  and  their  enemies,  was  indignantly  put  tr, 
death  by  one  of  his  own  subjects.  Gautimozin,  son  of  Montezuma, 
immediately  succeeded  him,  and  armed  *he  whole  empire  against 
the  perfidious  Spaniards. 

Qortez,  by  a  fortunate  concurrence  of  events,  having  induced  a 
nation  of  the  Indians  to  revolt,  and  having  obtained  a  reinforcement 
of  Spaniards,  commenced  the  siege  of  the  city,  and  soon  took  it,  to- 
gether with  Gautimozin,  and  became  master  of  the  empire,  in  1521. 
The  emperor  was  treated  by  the  Spaniards  in  a  manner  shocking  to 
humanity.  Refusing  to  discover  the  place  where  his  treasures  were 
hid,  the  miserable  man  was  stretched  naked,  for  some  time,  on 
burning  coals.  Soon  after,  on  the  discovery  of  a  conspiracy  against 
the  Spaniards,  he  was  executed  on  a  gibbet,  with  all  the  princes  of  his 
blood.  This  was  the  last  blow  to  the  power  of  the  Mexicans.  The 
nefarious  Cortez,  and  his  few  associates,  enjoy  the  honour  or  the  in- 
famy, in  the  way  now  narrated,  of  having  brought  this  simple  ana 
unsuspecting  people,  under  the  yoke  of  Spain. 

While  Cortez  was  employed  in  the  reduction  of  Mexico,  the  Span 
iards  were  informed  of  a  still  more  rich  and  extensive  empire,  in  the 
south.  This  was  Peru,  at  that  time  governed  by  the  inca,  or  king,  Ata 
balipa.    Francis  Pizarro,  in  1525,  had  sailed  to  and  visited  the  coun 


AMERICA.  217 

ry.  He  afterwards  undertook  the  conquest  of  it,  in  connection 
with  Diego  Almagro,  and  Ferdinand  Lucques,  two  unprincipled  ad- 
venturers like  himself;  and  for  this  purpose,  sailed  in  1531,  from 
Panama,  with  three  small  vessels  and  300  men. 

With  this  inconsiderable  force,  he  invaded  the  country,  and 
marching  to  the  residence  of  the  inca,  he  seized  his  person  by  stra- 
tagem, having  employed  friendship  and  religion  as  the  cover  of  his 
villany.  In  this  defenceless  condition,  the  king  was  obliged  to  sub- 
mit to  the  slaughter  of  his  attendants,  and  to  the  exaction  of  an 
enormous  quantity  of  gold  and  silver,  as  the  price  of  his  ransom. 
When,  however,  the  treasure  was  committed  into  the  hands  of  the 
Spaniard,  with  perfidious  cruelty,  he  still  retained  the  wretched 
monarch  a  prisoner,  and  finally,  by  a  mock  trial,  condemned  and 
executed  him,  as  a  usurper  and  idolater. 

The  vast  booty  which  fell  into  the  possession  of  the  victors,  be- 
came soon  an  occasion  of  dispute  among  themselves.  War  only 
could  settle  it ;  in  the  course  of  which,  both  Pizarjap  and  Almagro 
perished.  This  contention  lasted  seventeen  years,  and  Peru  became 
the  theatre  of  the  most  licentious  rapine  and  cruelty. 

In  the  year  1548,  the  celebrated  Las  Casas,  was  sent  from  Spain? 
as  viceroy.  Under  his  administration,  the  country  obtained  repose, 
as  a  province  of  Spain ;  and,  notwithstanding  the  temporary  success 
of  their  new  inca,  HuancaCapac,  who  rose  against  the  Spaniards,  the 
whole  Peruvian  people  were  effectually  broken  down  and  subdued. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  American  continent  and  its  islands,  were 
a  race  of  men  quite  new  to  the  Europeans.  They  were  of  a  cop- 
per colour,  and  had  no  beard.  In  some  parts  of  the  continent,  as 
Mexico  and  Peru,  they  had  made  considerable"  progress  towards 
civilization.  They  were  not  wanting,  in  a  degree,  as  to  polish,  and 
even  luxury.  Architecture,  sculpture,  mining,  and  working  the 
precious  metals,  were  understood.  Their  persons  were  clothed, 
their  lands  cultivated,  and  their  state  governed  by  fixed  laws  and 
regulations.  In  Peru  there  were  some  magnificent  palaces  and  tem- 
ples. In  other  parts  of  the  new  world,  man  was  a  naked  savage, 
the  member  of  a  wandering  tribe,  whose  sole  occupation  was  hunt- 
ing or  war.  The  savages  of  the  continent  were  characterized  alike 
by  their  cruelty  to  their  enemies,  their  contempt  of  death,  and  their 
generosity  towards  their  friends.  The  islanders  were  a  milder  race, 
of  gentle  manners,  and  less  robust  constitutions. 

The  inhumanity  with  which  the  Spaniards  treated  these  simple 
and  unoffending  people,  is  shocking  to  every  reader  of  sensibility. 
To  convert  them  to  the  holy  and  benevolent  religion  of  the  Saviour, 
the  most  violent  means  were  employed,  by  men  who  were  strangers 
to  the  spirit  of  that  religion.  The  rack,  the  scourge,  and  the  faggot, 
were  the  principal  engines  used  for  their  conversion.  They  were 
hunted  down  like  wild  beasts,  or  burnt  alive  in  their  thickets  and 
fastnesses.  Some  of  the  islands  were  nearly  depopulated. 

The  conversion  of  the  Indians,  however,  was  less  an  object,  than  the 
desire  of  obtaining  the  precious  metals  which  they  possessed.  So 

19 


215  MODERN   HISTORY.— PERIOD    VIII. 

powerful  was  the  passion  for  gold,  that  the  first  adventurers  endu- 
red every  fatigue,  and  encountered  every  danger,  in  search  of  it ; 
and,  by  compelling  the  natives  to  dig  in  the  mines,  prematurely  de- 
stroyed the  lives  of  vast  multitudes  of  this  hapless  race.  It  being 
the  practice  of  the  Europeans  to  take  possession  of  the  regions  in 
America  which  they  visited,  by  the  pretended  right  of  discovery, 
they  seem  to  have  made  no  account  of  the  aboriginals,  depriving 
them  of  liberty,  or  life,  whenever  occasion  or  passion  demanded. 

The  Spanish  acquisitions  in  America,  before  the  late  revolution 
among  them,  belonged  to  the  crown,  and  not  to  the  state :  they  were 
the  absolute  property  of  the  sovereign,  and  regulated  solely  by  his 
will.  The  pope,  agreeably  to  principles  which  governed  men  in  a 
dark  and  superstitious  age,  granted  to  the  monarchs  of  Spain,  the 
countries  discovered  by  their  subjects,  in  America.  They  were  go- 
verned by  viceroys,  who  exercised  supreme  civil  and  military  au- 
thority over  their  provinces. 

Distinguished  Characters  in  Period  VIII. 

1.  Columbus,  an  eminent  navigator,  and  discoverer  of 
America. 

o'  Ti/r    Aiae  Ji      t  masters  of  painting  among  the  moderns. 

3.  M.  Angelo,   $ 

4.  Erasmus,  a  Dutchman,  eminent  in  philology  and  gene- 
ral literature. 

5.  Copernicus,  a  Prussian  astronomer,  and  discoverer  of 
the  true  system  of  the  universe. 

'   ~u,  .er'    {  eminent  theologians  and  reformers. 

7.  Calvin,     $ 

8.  Camoens,  a  distinguished  Portuguese  poet. 

9.  Buchanan,  a  Scotch  historian  and  poet. 

10.  Montaigne,  a  celebrated  French  essayist. 

11.  Tasso,  prince  of  Italian  poets. 

12.  Spenser,  one  of  the  greatest  of  the  English  poets. 

§  Columbus  (Christopher)  was  born  1442,  at  Genoa,  son  of  a 
woolcomber.  He  was  early  inured  to  the  labours  of  the  sea,  and 
acquired  great  experience  in  navigation.  With  the  sciences  imme- 
diately connected  with  his  profession,  he  was  acquainted,  beyond 
most  men  of  his  age.  Indeed,  this  great  man  was  far  in  advance  of 
the  rest  of  the  world,  and  anticipated  the  illumination  of  a  distant 
futurity.  For  the  splendid  discovery  which  he  was  destined  to 
make,  his  temperament  and  his  previous  course  of  life,  eminently 
fitted  him.  There  was  an  enthusiasm  in  his  character,  a  lofty  ex- 
pectation, and  a  religious  fervour  of  soul,  which  spurned  ordinary 
difficulties,  and  raised  him  immensely  above  ordinary  men.  By  his 
Knowledge  of  maritime  affairs,  as  well  as  by  reasoning,  he  became 


DISTINGUISHED    CHARACTERS.  219 

persuaded  that  a  continent  must  exist  in  the  western  ocean.  To 
ascertain  the  truth  of  his  theory,  was  an  object  which  soon  engross- 
ed all  his  time  and  faculties.  And,  after  much  effort  and  many  trials 
and  disappointments,  in  regard  to  assistance,  he  was  permitted  to 
realize  the  grand  idea  he  had  so  happily  conceived. 

He  made  application  to  several  courts,  before  he  could  obtain  the 
requisite  means  and  patronage,  and  it  was  only  after  much  delay, 
that  he  was  finally  enabled  to  prosecute  his  discoveries  under  the 
auspices  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  of  Spain.  He  sailed  on  the  third 
of  August,  1492,  in  three  small  ships,  and  returned  to  Spain  in  May 
the  following  year.  In  the  mean  time  he  had  discovered  a  new 
world,  and  had  taken  possession  of  a  portion  of  it,  in  the  name  of 
his  sovereign.  This  event  filled  Spain,  and  all  Europe,  with  amaze- 
ment, and  the  greatest  honours  were  accorded  to  him  in  the  coun- 
try, whose  annals  he  has  so  signally  adorned.  He  made  three  sub- 
sequent voyages  to  the  new  world,  in  the  second  of  which  he  reach- 
ed the  continent ;  but  powerful  enemies  had  now  risen  up,  jealous  of 
his  ascendency,  who  impugned  his  motives  or  decried  his  services, 
and  so  much  influence  had  they  with  the  Spanish  court,  that 
Columbus,  in  his  third  voyage  was  sent  back  to  Spain  in  irons. 
Though  he  suffered  much  in  the  latter  part  of  life,  he  finally  trium- 
phed over  his  enemies,  and  peacefully  left  the  world,  on  the  twentieth 
of  May,  1506. 

The  memory  of  Columbus  will  be  cherished  while  the  world 
stands ;  though  in  consequence  of  one  of  those  untoward  events 
that  sometimes  occur,  he  has  been  deprived  of  the  honour  of  giving 
his  name  to  the  hemisphere  which  his  genius  brought  to  light. 
Signal  must  have  been  the  satisfaction  of  his  mind,  notwithstand- 
ing the  disasters  through  which  he  passed,  in  view  of  the  transcen- 
dent benefits  which  Providence  had  made  him  the  instrument  of 
conferring  on  mankind. 

2.  Raphael  (Sanzio)  was  born  at  Urbino,  1483.    By  studying  the 
best  masters  in  painting,  he  soon  rose  to  eminence,  and  merited  the 
appellation  of  the  divine  Raphael.    He  also  excelled  as  an  architect, 
and  was  employed  in  the  building  of  St.  Peter's,  at  Rome.    He  came 
to  an  untimely  grave,  in  consequence  of  his  addiction  to  licentious 
pleasures,  dying  at  the  age  of  thirty-seven  years.    By  the  general 
consent  of  mankind,  he  is  acknowledged  to  have  been  the  prince  of 
painters.    He  excelled  in  beauty  and  grace. 

3.  Angelo  Buonaroti  (Michael)  was  not  only  a  great  painter,  but 
sculptor,  and  architect.    He  was  even  an  elegant  poet.    In  architec- 
ture he  surpassed  all  the  moderns,  and  he  was  the  greatest  designer 
that  ever  lived.    He  is  said  to  have  sucked  sculpture  with  his  very 
milk,  inasmuch  as  he  was  nursed  by  a  woman  whose  husband  was 
eminent  in  that  art.    The  early  displays  of  his  genius,  raised  so 
great  a  jealousy  among  his  youthful  rivals;  that  one  of  them  struck 
him  with  such  violence  on  the  nose,  that  he  carried  the  mark  to  his 
grave.    The  most  celebrated  of  his  paintings,  is  the  Last  Judgment. 
His  architectural  abilities  are  best  displayed  on  the  church  of  St. 


220  MODERN  HISTORY. PERIOD   VIII. 

Peter's,  at  Rome,  the  building  of  which  he  completed.  His  style  is 
that  of  grandeur  and  sublimity,  united  with  the  utmost  simplicity  and 
beauty.  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  declared,  that  the  last  word  which 
he  wished  to  utter  from  the  academic  chair,  was  the  name  of  Michael 
Angelo.  Description  can  convey  but  a  very  imperfect  image  of 

"Buonaroti's  car 
Midst  epic  glories  flaming  from  afar." 

Only  the  sight  can  give  one  an  idea  of  his  peculiar  excellence.  He 
lived  ninety  years. 

4.  Erasmus  (Desiderius)  was  the  most  learned  man  of  the  age  in 
which  he  lived,  and  contributed  by  his  example  and  writings,  to  the 
restoration  of  learning  in  Europe.    He  was  somewhat  of  a  wander- 
er, having  occasionally  resided  in  Italy,  Switzerland,  Holland,  France, 
and  England.    With  the  last  of  these  countries  he  was  best  pleased, 
and  there  he  met  with  the  greatest  encouragement  from  Henry  VII., 
Sir  Thomas  More,  and  all  the  learned  Englishmen  of  those  days. 
He  was  the  most  correct  and  elegant  Latin  writer  among  the  mo- 
derns.    Rotterdam,  is  to  this  day  proud  of  having  given  birth  to 
Erasmus.    The  house  in  which  he  was  born  is  still  marked  out  to 
the  admiration  of  the  traveller  by  a  suitable  inscription,  and  a  beau- 
tiful copper  statue  was  long  since  erected  to  his  memory  in  an  open 
part  of  the  city. 

In  the  great  question  of  Protestantism  and  Popery,  he  was  claim- 
ed on  both  sides,  though  neither  party  was  pleased  with  him.  Here 
is  a  dark  spot  on  his  character.  He  was  evidently  temporising, 
timid,  and  undecided.  He  lashed  the  vices  and  follies  of  the  Pa- 
pists, while  he  seemed  to  be  indifferent  to  the  success,  or  jealous  of 
the  labours  of  the  reformers.  He  died  at  Basil,  July  12, 1536,  aged 
sixty-nine. 

5.  Copernicus  (Nicholas)  was  a  native  of  Thome  in  Prussia.    In 
nis  twenty-third  year  he  went  to  Italy  in  search  of  knowledge. 
After  some  years'  absence,  and  having  in  the  mean  time  acted  as 
professor  of  mathematics  at  Rome,  he  returned  home.    Here  he 
began  to  apply  his  vast  knowledge,  to  an  examination  of  the  different 
theories  respecting  the  universe.    The  simplicity  of  the  Pythagorea 
system  pleased  him  best ;  and  after  twenty  years  of  profound  inves- 
tigation, he  removed  from  the  machine  of  the  universe,  the  cycles 
and  epicycles  of  former  astronomers,  and  placed  the  sun  in  the  cen- 
tre to  illuminate  and  control  the  whole.    This  great  discovery  h 
kept  concealed  for  more  than  thirty  years,  for  fear  of  exciting  again 
himself  the  persecuting  spirit  of  bigotry.    When  at  last  he  consen 
ed,  through  the  importunities  of  his  friends,  to  have  his  work  pu" 
lished,  and  a  copy  of  it  was  brought  to  him,  he  was  a  few  hours 
afterwards  seized  with  a  violent  effusion  of  blood,  which  terminated 
his  life,  24th  May,  1543,  in  his  seventieth  year. 

6.  Luther  (Martin)  was  born  at  Isleben,  in  Saxony,  1483.    His 
parents  designed  him  for  a  civilian,  but  by  the  following  awful  inci- 
dent, his  views  were  directed  to  the  church.    As  he  was  walking  i 
the  fields  with  a  fellow-student,  they  were  struck  by  lightnin 


DISTINGUISHED    CHARACTERS.  221 

Luther  to  the  ground,  and  his  companion  dead  by  his  side.  His 
mind  was  so  much  affected  by  the  event,  that  without  consulting 
nis  friends,  he  formed  and  executed  the  resolution  of  retiring  from 
the  world.  He  entered  into  the  order  of  Augustine  hermits,  at 
Erfurth.  From  this  place  he  removed  to  Wittemberg,  being  ap- 
pointed by  the  elector  of  Saxony,  professor  of  theology  and  philo- 
sophy in  the  university  just  founded  there  by  that  prince.  It  was 
m  his  retirement  at  Erfurth,  that  he  providentially  found  a  Latin 
Bible,  the  first  he  ever  saw,  and  in  perusing  it  he  was  astonished  a 
the  little  knowledge  of  Scripture  and  Christianity,  which  the  clergy 
then  imparted  to  the  people. 

After  he  had  been  at  Wittemberg  three  years,  he  was  sent  to  Rome 
to  plead  the  cause  of  some  converts  of  his  order,  who  had  quarrel- 
led with  their  vicar-general.  While  he  was  at  the  seat  of  the  papal 
power,  he  became  more  than  ever  convinced  of  the  ignorance  and 
debauched  lives  of  the  dignitaries  of  the  church.  This  probably 
gave  him  the  first  decided  disgust  to  the  Romish  ecclesiastical  go- 
vernment, especially  as  he  had  engaged  in  the  monastic  life,  from 
motives  of  genuine  piety.  Upon  his  return  to  Wittemberg,  he  was 
created  D.  D.  at  the  request  of  the  elector  of  Saxony,  and  continued 
to  act  as  professer  of  divinity  in  the  university.  Here  he  explained, 
with  clearness  and  ease,  the  Psalms  and  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans, 
and  supported  his  reputation  by  the  most  rigid  morality,  and  the 
most  exemplary  conduct. 

The  minds  of  his  auditors  being  thus  prepared,  a  favotiraoie  occa- 
sion soon  offered  for  carrying  into  execution  his  glorious  plan  of  re- 
formation. The  completion  of  St.  Peter's  church,  at  Rome,  at  this 
time,  required  extraordinary  sums,  and  pope  Leo  X.  published,  in 
1517,  general  indulgences  for  the  forgiveness  of  sin,  to  such  as 
would  contribute  to  the  pious  work.  The  Dominicans  were  intrust- 
ed with  the  selling  of  these  indulgences  in  Germany ;  and  in  paying 
their  money,  the  friar  Tetzel  informed  the  superstitious  people,  that 
they  might  release  themselves,  not  only  from  past,  but  also  future 
sins.  Luther's  holy  indignation  was  roused  by  these  vile  practices, 
and  he  preached  against  them,  with  wonderful  success.  Persecution 
soon  followed,  and  the  reformer  became  the  object  of  the  papal  ven- 
geance. Luther,  however,  was  undismayed,  and,  in  an  astonishing 
series  of  efforts,  in  which  he  was  opposed  by  all  the  power  and 
policy  of  the  papal  world,  he  achieved  the  object  of  his  long  che- 
rished wishes. 

In  1524,  Luther  threw  aside  the  monastic  habit,  and  the  next  year 
married  a  nun,  who  had  escaped  from  a  convent,  and,  though  he 
was  ridiculed  and  censured  by  his  enemies,  he  confounded  them  all 
by  his  appeal  to  the  Scriptures.  By  her,  he  had  three  sons,  whose 
descendants  are  still  respected  in  Germany.  Luther  died  in  the 
place  of  his  nativity,  18th  February,  1546. 

Luther  was  singularly  qualified  for  the  service  he  performed.  He 
was  a  man  of  high  endowments  of  mind,  and  great  uprightness — t 
friend  of  true  religion,  liberty,  and  human  happiness.  His  under- 

19* 


222  MODERN  HISTORY.  —PERIOD  VIII. 

standing  was  vast,  and  his  knowledge  unequalled,  almost,  in  the  age 
in  which  lie  lived.  Especially  had  he  an  admirable  acquaintance 
with  the  Scriptures,  which  he  expounded  with  equal  eloquence  and 
clearness.  In  courage,  resolution,  and  decision,  he  was  an  example 
to  all  reformers. 

7.  Calvin,  (John,)  a  coadjutor  of  Luther  in  the  reformation,  was 
born  at  Noyon,  in  Picardy,  10th  July,  1509.    His  early  piety  mark- 
ed him  out  for  the  church;  but  though  he  assumed  the  functions  of 
the  ministry,  he  was  too  much  disgusted  with  the  superstitions  of 
the  Romish  church,  to  remain  in  her  communion.    His  knowledge 
of  the  Bible  had  opened  his  eyes  to  the  abominations  of  the  "  man 
of  sin,"    He  now  applied  himself  to  the  study  of  the  laws,  in  which 
he  made  great  progress ;  at  the  same  time,  he  extended  his  ac- 
quaintance with  divinity.    He  soon  entered  most  cordially  into  the 
reformation ;  and  his  zeal  and  labour  as  a  writer  and  disputant, 
very  essentially  aided  the  work.    With  difficulty,  however,   he 
escaped  from  the  vengeance  of  the  catholics;  but  his  confidence  in 
God  was  not  to  be  shaken,  and  having  taken  his  position,  he  felt 
that  it  was  to  be  maintained.    He  spent  most  of  his  active  life  at 
Geneva,  where  he  undertook  the  ministry,  and  filled  the  chair  of  the 
professor  of  divinity.    He  was,  however,  once  expelled  the  place 
on  account  of  refusing  to  administer  the  sacrament  indiscriminately, 
and  again  experienced  trouble  in  the  affair  of  Servetus. 

Calvin,  by  his  vast  abilities,  and  by  his  clear  views  of  religion,  at- 
tracted the  attention,  of  the  world,  and  it  might  almost  be  said,  that 
"  the  care  of  all  the  churches"  rested  on  him.  Many  of  the  reformed 
churches  of  Germany,  France,  England,  and  Poland,  looked  to  him 
as  their  head,  and  he  was  in  the  habit  of  directing  them  by  his  let- 
ters. He  died,  1564. 

Calvin  was  a  man  of  pre-eminent  piety  and  talents,  and,  though 
not  faultless,  he  has  rendered  such  a  service  to  the  cause  of  evangeli- 
cal truth,  and  of  the  reformation,  as  to  deserve  the  gratitude  oi 
posterity.  Scaliger  says,  that  no  commentator  has  better  hit  the 
sense  of  the  prophets  than  he. 

8.  Camoens  (Lewis)  is  known  principally  as  the  author  of  the 
Lusiad,  an  epic  poem,  which  has  been  translated  into  the  most  im- 
portant languages  of  Europe.     Camoens  is  deservedly  called  the 
Virgil  of  his  country,  and  in  his  work  has  displayed  great  powers 
of  description,  extensive  learning,  and  a  sublime  imagination. 

Misfortune  marked  his  course  in  life.  In  the  service  of  his  coun- 
try, he  lost  an  eye.  On  his  return  from  the  Indies,  whither  he  had 
gone  to  better  his  fortune,  he  was  shipwrecked,  and  saved  his  life 
with  difficulty,  by  swimming  with  his  right  arm,  and  holding  up 
his  poem,  with  his  left. 

After  he  had  published  his  poem,  and  dedicated  it  to  the  king,  he 
was  cruelly  disappointed,  as  to  patronage ;  and  feeling  all  the  mise- 
ries of  indigence  and  neglect,  he  expired  in  the  midst  of  his  ungrate- 
ful countrymen.  He  lived  fifty-two  years. 

J).  Buchanan  (George)  was  born  in  the  shire  of  Lenox,  in  Scot- 


DISTINGUISHED  CHARACTERS.  223 

land,  in  1506.  He  early  embraced,  from  conviction,  the  tenets  of  Lu- 
ther, and,  as  the  consequence,  suffered  persecution  from  the  catho- 
lics. He  became  tutor  to  James  I.  of  England,  and  employed  the 
last  twelve  or  thirteen  years  of  his  life,  in  writing  the  history  of  his 
country.  He  occasionally  resided  in  England  and  France,  but  died 
in  his  native  country,  at  Edinburgh,  1582.  His  history  is  written 
in  a  nervous,  elegant,  and  perspicuous  style,  but  is  occasionally  de- 
ficient in  fidelity  and  accuracy.  He  has  the  reputation  of  an  able 
scholar,  whose  mind  was  stored  with  all  the  fire,  the  elegance,  and 
the  graces  of  ancient  literature,  and  who,  in  a  barbarous  age,  revi- 
ved in  his  poetry,  the  beauty  and  grandeur  of  the  Roman  muses. 

10.  Montaigne  was  born  of  an  ancient  family  at  Perigord,  in 
France,  1533.     He  was  instructed  to  speak  Latin  first^  as  his  mother 
tongue.    Disdaining  the  drudgeries  of  law,  for  which  he  was  intend- 
ed, he  travelled,  with  a  view  to  make  observations  on  men  and  man- 
ners.    In  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  he  enjoyed  learned  ease  and  phi- 
losophical society.      His  essays  have   been   repeatedly   published. 
They  are  able  and  amusing  productions,  though  unsafe  to  be  put  in- 
to the  hands  of  youth,  on  account  of  their  scepticism.     Some  per- 
sons have  extravagantly  praised  them. 

11.  Tasso  (Torquato)  was  born  at  Sorrento,  in  the  kingdom  of 
Naples,  in  1544,   and  derives  his  celebrity  from  his  "  Jerusalem  De- 
livered," an  epic  poem  of  great  merit.    Like  the  works  of  Homer 
and  Virgil,  it  has  gained  the  palm  of  immortality.     Tasso  passed  a 
life  of  varied  and  great  suffering.     Among  other  calamities,  he  was 
confined  by  the  duke  of  Ferrara,  who  had  been  his  patron,  in  an 
hospital,  for  a  long  time,  under  the  pretence  that  he  was  insane.     Tas- 
so had  been  guilty  only  of  an  imprudence.     Unfortunately,  he  had 
fallen  in  love  with  the  princess  Eleonora,   the  duke's  sister,  and,  on 
a  certain  occasion,  he  made  bold  to  embrace  her,  in  the  midst  of  a 
crowded  assembly.     For  this  offence,  the  unfortunate  lover   was 
obliged  to  mourn  his  disappointment  in  a  tedious  solitude,  rendered 
more  tedious  by  a  lingering  disease,  and  occasional  lunacy.     He  was 
at  last  released,  and  his  merits  as  a  poet  began  to  be  more  known ; 
but  just  as  he  was  on  the  point  of  receiving  the  laurel  crown  from 
the  pope,  he  suddenly  expired,  and  that  which  was  to  have  been,  on 
the  next  day,  his  coronation,  proved  to  be  the  melancholy  proces- 
sion of  his  funeral.     He  wras  fifty-one  years  of  age. 

12.  Spenser  (Edmund)  is  deservedly  regarded  as  little  inferior, 
either  in  invention  or  in  judgment,  and  true  fire  of  the  muse,  to 
any  author,  ancient  or  modern.     But  with  all  his  beauties,  he  was 
fanciful  and  chimerical,  and  without  uniformity,  so  that  his  poem  is 
truly  fairy  land.     His  sublimity,  variety,  and  fertile  imagination,  are 
unfortunately  to  be  set  off  against  his  obsolete  language,  and  heavy 
stanza.     His  Fairy  Queen,  is  his  most  celebrated  poem. 

He  was  poet  laureat  to  queen  Elizabeth,  and  was  employed  some- 
what in  public  life.  At  one  period,  he  was  possessed  of  wealth  ;  but 
Desmond's  revolt  in  Ireland,  where  his  property  lay,  proved  his  ruin. 
He  was  plundered  and  robbed  of  his  estate,  one  of  his  children  was 


224  MODERN  HISTORY. PERIOD  IX. 

burned  in  the  conflagration  of  his  house,  and  broken  in  heart  and 
fortune,  he  came  to  London,  where  he  died,  in  1598. 


PERIOD  IX. 

The  period  of  the  English  Commonwealth  ;  extending 
from  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  1598  years  A.  C.,  to  the  death 
of  Charles  XII.  of  Sweden^  1718  years  A.  C. 

FRANCE. 

House  of  Bourbon. 

SECT.  1.  Henry  IV.,  had  now  occupied  the  throne  of  FRANCE 
several  years.  He  had  changed  his  religion  from  political 
considerations,  but  did  an  act  of  justice  to  the  Calvinists,  by 
whose  aid  he  had  secured  the  sceptre,  in  granting  the  famous 
Edict  of  Nantes,  by  which  he  tolerated  them,  as  well  as  all 
his  subjects,  in  the  unfettered  exercise  of  their  religion. 

Henry's  own  great  abilities  and  love  of  his  subjects,  aided 
by  the  talents  and  industry  of  his  minister,  the  duke  of  Sully, 
enabled  him  to  repair  the  desolations  of  a  thirty  years'  civil 
war,  and  to  place  his  kingdom  in  a  state  of  financial  pros- 
perity and  general  happiness. 

France  never  had  a  more  popular  sovereign.  His  talents, 
as  a  general  and  statesman,  commanded  respect,  his  person 
was  prepossessing,  his  manners  a  model  of  good  breeding, 
and  his  love  of  his  subjects  inspired  a  most  enthusiastic  at- 
tachment to  him  in  return.  His  private  and  domestic  life, 
was  however  very  exceptionable,  and  infected,  by  the  force 
of  example,  the  manners  of  the  court  with  no  little  disso- 
luteness. 

§  A  mistress  of  Henry,  an  artful,  intriguing,  ambitious  woman, 
had,  by  consummate  management,  obtained  from  him  a  promise  of 
marriage.  This  promise,  the  king  showed  to  Sully,  ready  signed, 
and  the  minister,  transported  with  indignation,  tore  it  in  pieces.  "  I 
believe  you  are  mad,"  cried  Henry  in  a  rage.  "  It  is  true  I  am  mad," 
replied  Sully,  "  and  I  wish  I  was  the  only  mad  man  in  France." 
When,  after  -so  keen  an  altercation,  Sully  thought  himself  irreco- 
verably disgraced,  he  received  the  brevet  of  grand  master  of  the 
ordnance. 

Henry,  who  had- lived  through  fifty  conspiracies,  fell  by  the 


PRANCE.  225 

hand  of  an  assassin,  named  Ravillac,  after  a  short  reign  of 
twenty  years,  too  short  for  the  glory  of  France,  just  as  he 
was  entering  upon  a  splendid,  but  visionary  project,  of  form- 
ing Europe  into  a  Christian  republic. 

§  Ravillac  was  a  desperate  Catholic  bigot,  who  had  long  formed  a 
design  to  murder  his  sovereign.  Henry  was  ready  to  join  his  army 
in  prosecuting  his  singular  scheme,  but  was  detained  against  his 
will,  on  account  of  the  coronation  of  the  queen.  In  the  midst  of 
his  impatience  to  depart,  his  mind  was  harrassed  with  sinister  fore- 
bodings, and  they  were  too  truly  realized  by  the  event.  Passing 
along  a  street  in  Paris,  his  coach  became  entangled,  and  his  footmen 
quitting  it  for  a  moment,  Ravillac,  who  had  followed  him  secretly  for  a 
long  time,  took  advantage  of  the  opportunity,  and  stabbed  him  in  the 
midst  of  seven  courtiers.  The  crime  of  Ravillac  was  expiated  by  the 
most  horrid  tortures. 

Henry's  project  was  to  divide  Europe  into  fifteen  settled  powers, 
none  of  which  should  be  suffered  to  make  any  new  acquisitions,  and 
should  altogether  form  an  association  for  the  maintenance  of  a 
mutual  balance,  and  the  preservation  of  peace.  There  is  little  evi- 
dence, however,  that  he  thought  it  practicable.  He  meant  to  effect 
it,  if  at  all,  by  force,  and  it  is  certain  that  he  strongly  wished  to  set 
bounds  to  the  house  of  Austria,  both  in  Germany  and  Italy.  The 
latter,  therefore,  may  have  been  his  only  real  design. 

2.  Louis  XIII.,  in  his  ninth  yeat,  succeeded  his  father,  1610, 
under  the  regency  of  Mary  of  Medicis,  his  mother.  During 
the  early  part  of  I  his  prince's  reign,  France,  which  had  arisen 
to  splendour  and  prosperity,  under  Henry,  evidently  retro- 
graded. Mary's  partiality  for  her  Italian  courtiers,  disgusted 
the  nobility,  and  weakness,  faction,  and  disorder,  began  to  he 
experienced.  But  when  cardinal  Richelieu  succeeded  to  the 
ministry,  after  the  duke  of  Luynes,  affairs  wore  a  much 
more  favourable  aspect.  He  had  vast  abilities,  and  propor- 
tionable influence,  which  he  successfully  exerted  in  subduing 
the  turbulence  of  the  nobility,  diminishing  the  power  of  the 
Protestants,  and  restraining  the  encroachments  of  Austria. 

The  principal  events  of  the  reign  of  Louis,  were,  the  ar- 
rest of  the  prince  of  Conde,  on  account  of  his  intrigues 
against  the  regent,  and  the  subsequent  temporary  exile  of  the 
regent  herself ;  the  revolt  of  the  Protestants  at  Rochelle, 
and  the  siege  of  that  place,  which  lasted  a  year,  and  was  at- 
tended with  the  loss  of  15,000  lives  ;  the  junction  of  Louis 
with  the  Protestant  princes  of  Germany,  against  the  empe- 
ror Ferdinand  II.,  and  the  revolt  of  the  duke  of  Orleans, 
supported  by  the  duke  of  Montmorency. 


226  MODERN   HISTORY. — PERIOD  IX. 

§  The  Protestants  were  accused  of  a  design  to  form  France  into 
an  independent  republic,  to  be  divided  into  eight  circles,  on  the 
model  of  those  in  Germany.  Certain  it  is,  that  alienated  by  per 
secution,  they  attempted  to  throw  o.T  their  allegiance,  and  Rochelle 
vvas  the  bulwark  and  head  quarters  of  their  party.  Richelieu, 
having  become  master  of  the  court,  the  armies,  and  the  fleets,  car- 
ried into  execution,  the  plan  he  had  long  meditated,  that  of  waging 
war  against  the  Protestants,  whom  he  was  resolved  to  exterminate. 
He  accordingly  laid  siege  to  Rochelle.  On  this  occasion  he  acted 
as  commander  in  chief ;  but  chose  to  be  accompanied  by  the  king 
for  fear  his  enemies  should  take  advantage  of  his  absence. 

The  Protestants  implored  the  aid  of  England,  but  were  disappoint- 
ed by  the  tardy  measures  of  the  duke  of  Buckingham.  The  garri- 
son alid  inhabitants  of  Rochelle  were  resolved,  however,  to  hold  out 
until  the  last  extremity.  For  twelve  months  they  endured  the 
miseries  of  a  siege,  but  were  at  length  obliged  to  yield  to  the  active 
genius  of  the  cardinal.  He  triumphed  over  the  Calvinists,  and  de- 
prived them  of  their  most  significant  privileges.  They  never  re- 
covered from  this  blow. 

The  union  of  Louis  with  the  Protestant  princes  of  Germany,  1626, 
owed  its  origin  to  the  influence  of  Richelieu,  in  his  anxiety  to  hum- 
ble the  Austrian  greatness.  He  forgot  his  hatred  of  Protestantism, 
for  a  time,  and  embarked  most  eagerly  in  the  cause  of  the  Protes- 
tant princes,  who  were  alarmed  at  Ferdinand's  avowed  design 
of  suppressing  their  religion,  together  with  the  liberties  of  the  Ger- 
man empire. 

Richelieu's  plans  were  attended  with  complete  success.  The 
Protestants  and  Catholics,  laying  aside  their  theological  disputes, 
conspired  for  the  diminution  of  Ferdinand's  power;  the  court  of 
England  embarked  in  the  same  cause  ;  the  Danes  also  took  up  arms, 
and  Gustavus,  king  of  Sweden,  rushed  like  a  torrent  upon  Germa- 
ny. In  the  course  of  events,  the  emperor  was  effectually  humbled, 
and  a  solid  foundation  was  laid  for  the  prosperity  of  the  empire. 

The  haughty  minister  of  Louis,  amidst  all  the  political  intrigues 
and  wars  in  which  he  was  engaged,  found  leisure  to  patronize  lite- 
rature and  science,  and  thus  to  extend  the  glory  of  the  French  na- 
tion, beyond  the  honour  acquired  by  feats  of  arms.  The  French 
Academy  owes  its  institution  to  the  genius  of  Richelieu. 

Louis  died  at  the  age  of  forty-three  years.  After  he  had  been 
married  twenty- three  years,  he  had  two  sons,  Louis  XIV.,  and  Philip, 
duke  of  Orleans.  During  his  reign,  the  king  was  a  less  prominent 
object  of  attention,  than  his  minister,  and  is  not  known  to  have  been 
characterised  by  any  particular  talents  or  virtues. 

3.  Louis  XIV.,  in  the  fifth  year'of  his  age,  ascended  the 
throne,  in  1643,  under  the  regency  of  Anne  of  Austria,  his 
mother.  The  talents  of  this  monarch,  the  vigour  of  his  ad- 
ministration, the  splendid  events  of  his  reign,  his  conquests  and 
reverses,  and  the  flourishing  state  of  literature  and  the  ar*a 


FRANCE.  227 

under  his  patronage,  have  been  themes  of  deep  interest  with 
historians.     He  is  often  styled  the  Great. 

The  most  conspicuous  events  of  his  reign,  were  his  war 
with  the  Spaniards,  which  commenced  a  few  days  after  his 
accession,  under  the  duke  of  Enghein  ;  the  civil  commotions 
called  la-Fronde,  which  grew  out  of  Mazarine's  ministry ; 
the  contention  with  Holland,  in  1672,  in  which  he  was  op- 
posed by  the  German  emperor  and  Spain,  and  in  which 
Tranche  Comte  was  conquered  and  united  to  France  ;  the 
revocation  of  the  edict  of  Nantes ;  the  league  of  Augsburg 
against  France,  by  which  war  was  waged  against  that  coun- 
try, by  Germany,  Spain,  England,  and  Holland,  and,  in  con- 
sequence of  which,  Louis  acquired  peculiar  glory ;  and  the 
war  of  the  succession,  in  which  he  met  with  woful  reverses, 
from  the  allied  powers,  under  the  duke  of  Maiiborough,  and 
prince  Eugene. 

§  In  the  early  war  with  the  Spaniards,  the  duke  of  Enghein  gained 
the  battle  of  Rocroi ;  that  of  Fribourg  in  1644 ;  that  of  Nordlingen 
in  1645  ;  and  that  of  Dunkirk  in  1646.  The  Spaniards  were  the 
aggressors,  having  taken  an  advantage  of  the  king's  minority,  and 
the  popular  discontents. 

These  discontents  arose  from  the  ministry  of  Cardinal  Mazarine, 
the  favourite  of  the  regent,  who  was  an  Italian,  and  whose  avarice 
was  excessive.  The  burdens  which  he  imposed  on  the  people,  and 
the  consequent  detestation  in  which  he  was  held,  terminated  in  the 
commotions  of  the  fronde.  Cardinal  de  Retz,  had  a  principal  agency 
in  exciting  this  civil  war.  The  parliament  of  Paris,  and  the  chief 
nobility, took  part  with  the  rebels.  The  celebrated  general,  Turenne, 
also  aided  the  rebels.  A  short  pacification  ensued,  but  the  impru- 
dent violence  of  Mazarine,  soon  renewed  the  disorders.  At  length, 
the  parliament  of  Paris  assumed  the  right  of  banishing  this  unpopu- 
lar minister.  When,  however,  the  king  became  of  age,  Mazarine  re- 
sumed his  station  as  minister,  while  de  Retz  and  Orleans,  the  chief 
promoters  of  the  rebellion  were  banished  in  their  turn. 

On  the  death  of  Mazarine,  in  1661,  when  Louis  was  twenty-two 
years  of  age,  he  took  upon  himself  the  entire  control  of  affairs,  and 
by  the  splendour  of  his  projects,  and  the  success  with  which  many 
of  them  were  crowned,  established  throughout  the  world,  his  reputa- 
tion as  an  able  monarch.  His  war  with  Holland  soon  commenced, 
m  which  Turenne,  and  Conde,  another  great  general .  gave  signal 
proofs  of  the  sagacity  of  Louis,  in  the  leaders  whom  he  had  chosen 
to  conduct  his  military  operations.  Although  Spain  and  the  empe- 
ror joined  the  Hollanders,  yet  Turenne  defeated  the  Imperialists  m 
the  pitched  battles  of  Ensheim,  Mulhausen,  and  Turkht  im.  Some- 
time before,  Conde  had  signalized  his  arms  against  Franche  Comte 
which  he  subjugated  in  the  space  of  seventeen  days. 


228  MODERN  HISTORY. — PERIOD  IX. 

Several  powers  now  became  jealous  of  the  ascendency  of  France, 
and  the  prince  of  Orange,  whose  dominions  had  been  so  wanton 
ly  attacked  by  the  French  king,  had  sufficient  influence  with  England, 
to  obtain  its  alliance  in  aid  of  the  republic.  The  arms  of  Louis, 
however,  still  continued  to  be  successful,  and  the  peace  concluded  at 
Nimeguen,  in  1678,  was  much  to  the  honour  of  France.  Franche 
Comte  was  assured,  as  a  part  of  the  dominions  of  Louis,  and  Spain 
allowed  his  right  by  conquest  to  a  great  proportion  of  the  Netherlands. 

In  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  1685,  the  French  king 
manifested  a  complete  dereliction  both  of  wisdom  and  justice.  The 
toleration  which  was  granted  to  the  Protestants  by  Henry  IV.,  was 
taken  away,  their  worship  suppressed,  their  churches  demolished, 
their  ministers  exiled,  and  an  absolute  renunciation  of  their  religion, 
was  made  the  condition  with  all  who  chose  to  continue  in  their  na- 
tive country.  If  they  failed  to  comply  with  this  requirement,  death 
was  the  consequence,  whenever  they  could  be  found.  By  this 
measure,  the  kingdom  lost,  according  to  some,  800,000  of  her  most  in- 
dustrious and  useful  citizens,  who  either  perished,  or  driven  into  exile, 
carried  the  arts  and  manufactures  of  France,  into  various  countries. 

The  League  of  Augsburg,  in  1686,  was  brought  about  by  William, 
prince  of  Orange,  the  sworn  enemy  of  Louis.  His  attack  on  Hol- 
land had  betrayed  his  ambition,  and  the  splendour  of  his  designs 
could  not  but  excite  the  envy  or  jealousy  of  his  neighbours.  Victory 
however,  attended  his  standard  against  all  the  forces  of  the  leaguers. 
Though  the  valiant  Turenne  had  perished  in  battle,  the  able  Conde 
had  retired,  and  Colbert,  one  of  the  greatest  statesmen  of  any  age, 
was  no  more,  and  their  places  could  not  be  well  supplied,  yet  the 
name  of  Louis  was  a  host,  and  the  successors  of  those  renowned 
men,  were  by  no  means  contemptible.  Luxemburg  defeated  the 
prince  of  Orange,  in  the  battles  of  Steenkirk  and  Norwinden  , 
Noailles  was  victorious  in  Spain ;  and  an  army  of  one  hundred 
thousand  French,  ravaged  the  Palatinate,  and  took  m'any  of  the  most 
important  towns  on  the  Rhine.  This  was  the  brightest  period  of 
his  reign.  Disasters  were  soon  to  follow  him. 

The  extensive  military  enterprises  of  Louis,  had  been  attended 
with  enormous  expenses.  The  pride  of  the  monarch  had  been 
flattered  by  his  victories,  but  no  solid  advantage  had  accrued  to  the 
nation.  The  finances  had  fallen  into  disorder,  and  the  persevering 
efforts  of  his  enemies,  obliged  him  to  conclude  the  peace  of  Ryswick, 
in  1697.  The  war,  however,  was  soon  renewed.  That  was  the  war 
of  the  succession.  The  nations  engaged  in  it  were  England,  Hol- 
land, and  the  empire,  against  France  and  Spain.  The  avowed  object 
on  the  part  ot  the  former,  was  to  put  the  house  of  Austria  in  pos- 
session of  the  throne  of  Spain,  on  the  expected  death  of  Charles  II., 
without  issue. 

Louis  hari  passed  his  prime,  and  lost  his  greatest  generals  and 
ministers ;  while  the  armies  of  his  enemies  were  commanded  by  the 
ablest  generals  of  the  age,  and  supported  by  the  treasures  of  the 
united  powers.  The  war  was  carried  on  with  manifest  advantage 


FRANCE.  229 

on  the  part  of  the  allies.  The  battle  of  Blenheim,  in  which  the 
English  Marlborough  began  his  victorious  career,  cost  the  French 
twenty  thousand  men.  He  gained,  besides,  the  battles  of  Ramilies, 
Oudeiiarde,  and  Malplaquet.  One  or  two  victories  on  the  part  of  the 
French  and  Spanish,  prevented  Philip,  king  of  Spain,  from  aban- 
doning his  possessions  in  Europe.  Louis  sued  for  peace,  and  even 
proposed  very  humiliating  terms ;  but  as  they  were  rejected,  and  the 
hard  condition  of  dethroning  his  grandson  Philip,  was  insisted  on, 
he  made  one  more  desperate  effort  in  battle,  in  which  he  was  so 
far  successful  as  to  preserve  Philip  on  the  throne.  The  change  in 
queen  Anne's  cabinet,  gave  facility  to  propositions  for  peace,  in 
which  the  English  and  Dutch  secured  many  valuable  acquisitions. 

4.  Louis  died,  aged  seventy-seven  years,  having  reigned 
more  than  seventy-two,  one  of  the  longest  reigns  on  the 
page  of  history,  and  illustrated  by  many  splendid  achieve- 
ments. His  patronage  of  literature  and  the  arts,  constitutes, 
more  than  any  other  which  he  possessed,  his  claim  to  the 
admiration  of  posterity.  No  species  of  merit  was  suffered  to 
go  unrewarded,  and  the  finest  models  of  composition  in  the 
French  language,  were  produced  in  his  reign.  All  kinds  of 
public  works  were  extended  and  improved — the  capital  was 
enlarged  and  beautified,  the  splendid  palace  of  Versailles 
erected,  commerce  and  manufactures  encouraged,  and  the 
fine  canal  of  Languedoc  constructed. 

Louis  was  remarkable  for  Ids  able  administration  of  in- 
ternal affairs.  His  sagacity  was  peculiarly  displayed  in  the 
selection  of  his  generals  and  ministers.  Besides  those  that 
have  been  already  mentioned,  was  the  famous  Vauban,  whose 
great  genius  was  successfully  employed  in  fortifying  towns. 
Colbert  lias  been  named.  His  skill  in  finances,  has  acquired 
him  an  immortal  reputation.  The  latter  \vas  also  a  zealous 
patron  of  learning,  thus  seconding  the  designs  of  his  royal 
master.  At  his  suggestion,  the  celebrated  astronomer,  Cassini, 
quitted  Italy,  and  placed  himself  under  the  protection  of  the 
king  of  France,  who  bestowed  on  him,  and  also  on  Huy- 
gens,  a  Dutch  mathematician  of  equal  celebrity,  a  very  large 
pension. 

Louis  was  reckoned  the  handsomest  man  in  his  dominions, 
and  was  celebrated  for  his  politeness  and  urbanity.  His  in- 
tellect was  vigorous,  but  indifferently  cultivated.  It  was  the 
great  fault  of  Mazarine,  to  whom  the  childhood  of  Louis 
was  entrusted,  that  he  neglected  his  education.  He  sought 
for  the  young  monarch,  no  other  accomplishments  than  those 

20 


230 


MODERN  HISTORY. — PERIOD  IX. 


of  dancing",  fencing,  and  riding,  so  that  when  the  latter  was 
drawing  on  towards  manhood,  he  scarcely  knew  how  to  pen 
an  epistle. 

The  love  of  glory,  was  perhaps  his  ruling  passion,  though 
he  was  influenced  unduly  by  other  passions,  to  the  indelible 
infamy  of  his  private  life.  How  often  is  it,  that  an  admired 
public  pageant,  lamentably  fails  in  that  which  constitutes  rea- 
worth  of  character. 


GREAT  BRITAIN. 

House  of  Stuart.     Commonwealth.     Restoration  of 

Monarchy. 

5.  The  throne  of  England,  (called  towards  the  close  oi 
the  present  period,  GREAT  BRITAIN,)  was  ascended  by 
James  I.,  1603,  who  was  the  sixth  king  of  Scotland  of  that 
name,  and  son  of  Mary  Stuart,  queen  of  Scots.  Thus  the 
sceptre  passed  with  entire  tranquillity  from  the  house  of 
Tudor,  to  that  of  the  Stuarts — an  event  which  was  in  exact 
accordance  with  the  law  of  succession,  and  with  the  express- 
ed wishes  of  Elizabeth,  and  which  united  the  two  crowns, 
and  eventually  made  the  two  kingdoms  one. 

§  James  I.,  was  a  great  grandson  of  Henry  VII.  When  Elizabeth 
was  dying,  upon  being  requested  to  make  known  her  pleasure  in 
regard  to  a  successor,  she  replied  "  that  she  had  held  a  royal  scep- 
tre, and  required  no  other  than  a  royal  successor" — which  she  ex- 
plained to  be  one  who  was  then  actually  a  king,  viz.  "  her  nearest 
kinsman,  the  king  of  Scots." 

The  history  of  Scotland,  from  the  time  of  Wallace  and  Robert 
Bruce,  to  Mary,  the  mother  of  James,  and  rival  of  Elizabeth,  is 
very  summarily  as  follows  : 

The  son  of  Robert,  was  David  Bruce,  who  began  to  reign  in  1329. 
During  his  minority,  on  account  of  the  invasion  of  the  kingdom  by 
Edward  Baliol,  he  was  conveyed  to  France  for  security.  He  was  a 
weak,  but  virtuous  prince,  and  passed  through  many  reverses  of  for- 
tune. He  was  taken  prisoner  in  the  battle  of  Durham,  by  Ed- 
ward III.,  and  remained  eleven  years  in  captivity.  He  was  ran- 
somed by  his  subjects,  and  ended  a  turbulent  reign,  in  1370. 

He  was  succeeded  by  Robert  II.,  his  nephew,  and  the  grandson  of 
the  great  Robert  Bruce,  whose  reign  of  twenty  years'  continuance, 
was  spent  in  a  series  of  hostilities  between  the  Scots  and  the  English. 

Robert  III.,  then  ascended  the  Scottish  throne  ;  but  his  infirmities 
and  weakness,  obliged  him  to  resign  the  government  into  the  hands 
cf  his  brother,  the  duke  of  Albany 


GREAT    BRITAIN.  231 

James  I.,  a  son  of  Robert,  whom  Albany  had  sought  to  murder, 
and  whom  the  English  had  taken  prisoner  in  his  attempts  to  escape 
to  France,  next  ascended  the  throne,  1424.  He  was  a  prince  of  great 
natural  endowments,  and  profited  by  a  captivity  of  eighteen  years 
in  England,  adorning  his  mind  with  every  valuable  accomplish- 
ment. The  kingdom  had  fallen  into  great  disorders,  during  the 
regency  of  Albany  ;  but  James,  on  his  return,  soon  placed  affairs  on 
a  favourable  footing.  He  bent  all  his  attention  to  the  improvement 
and  civilization  of  his  people.  In  restraining  the  power  of  the 
nobles,  however,  as  necessary  to  this  end,  he  incurred  their  enmity, 
and  was  accordingly  assassinated. 

James  II.,  succeeded  his  father,  1437.  He  inherited  a  portion  of 
his  father's  talents,  but  possessing  an  impetuous  temper,  he  pursued 
the  plan  of  humbling  the  nobles,  with  excessive  rigour.  Ruling  with 
absolute  authority,  he  was  uncommonly  successful  in  attaining  the 
objects  he  had  in  view,  and  greatly  improved  his  kingdom. 

His  son,  James  III.,  without  the  talents  of  his  predecessors,  affected 
to  tread  in  the  same  steps.  But  he  was  impolitic  in  attaching  him- 
self to  mean  favourites ;  and  quarreling  with  the  barons,  he  was  killed 
in  an  insurrection,  1488. 

James  IV.,  a  great  and  most  accomplished  prince,  succeeded  to 
the  throne.  He  was  respected  by  his  nobles,  and  beloved  by  his 
people.  Invading  England  with  a  powerful  army,  he  fell,  with  al- 
most the  whole  of  his  nobility,  in  the  rash  and  unfortunate  battle  of 
Flodden-Field,  1513. 

James  V.,  his  son  and  successor,  was  a  great,  but  uncultivated 
prince.  His  reign  was  long  and  turbulent,  the  aristocracy  attempt- 
ing to  resume  their  power,  and  he  being  employed  in  defeating  their 
projects.  He  died  of  a  broken  heart,  in  consequence  of  the  infideli- 
ty of  his  troops,  in  a  war  with  the  English,  10,000  of  the  Scots  having 
deliberately  surrendered  themselves  to  the  enemy. 

He  was  succeeded  by  Mary,  whose  eventful  life  and  tragical  death, 
have  been  already  narrated. 

6.  Though  the  succession  of  James  I.  was  tranquil,  a  few 
events  soon  occurred,  which  tended  to  disturb  his  reign.  One 
event  was,  a  conspiracy  planned  to  subvert  the  government, 
by  seating  on  the  throne  Arabella  Stuart,  the  king's  near  re- 
lative, descended,  like  himself,  from  Henry  VII. 

§  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  was  taken  as  one  of  the  principals  in  this  plot/ 
and  though  he  was  convicted  on  incompetent  evidence,  he  was  only 
reprieved,  not  pardoned,  and  lay  many  years  a  prisoner  in  the 
tower. 

A  project  of  a  much  fouler  kind  followed.  This  was  the 
gunpowder  plot,  which  was  ascribed  to  the  catholics,  who, 
disappointed  in  their  expectations  from  James,  were  enraged 
beyond  measure,  and  meditated  the  destruction  of  the  royal 
ramily,  lords  and  commons,  at  a  meeting  of  parliament. 


232  MODERN  HISTORY. PERIOD  IX. 

§  The  plot  was  discovered,  just  as  it  was  on  the  eve  of  execution 
It  was  intended,  on  the  part  of  the  conspirators,  to  blow  up  the 
house  in  which  the  parliament  should  assemble,  by  means  of  gun- 
powder, which  had  been  secreted  in  the  cellar  of  the  build Ting. 
Twenty  conspirators  had  sacredly  kept  this  dreadful  secret,  nearly 
a  j^ear  and  a  half;  but  the  same  bigotry  which  had  given  rise  to  the 
plot,  was  directed  as  an  engine  by  Providence,  to  reveal  it.  A  few 
days  before  the  meeting  of  parliament,  a  catholic  member  of  it,  re- 
ceived, from  an  unknown  hand,  a  letter,  advising  him  not  to  attend 
the  meeting,  and  intimating  to  him,  obscurely,  what  was  about  to 
take  place. 

'*  This,  on  the  part  of  the  member,  was  considered  merely  as  a 
foolish  attempt  to  frighten  him.  lie,  however,  showing  it  to  the 
king,  the  superior  sagacity  of  the  latter,  led  him  to  conceive,  that  al- 
lusion was  made  to  danger  from  gunpowder.  The  following  sen- 
fence  in  the  letter,  seems  to  have  suggested  the  idea  to  the  king. 

Though  there  be  no  appearance  of  any  stir,  yet,  I  say,  they  will 
receive  a  terrible  blow  this  parliament,  and  yet  they  shall  not  see 
who  hurts  them." 

Search  was  now  determined  to  be  made  in  the  vaults  under  the 
house  of  parliament.  With  the  view,  however,  that  they  might  de- 
tect not  only  the  conspiracy,  but  the  conspirators,  they  were  quiet 
till  the  night  before  the  cormnencemer-1  of  the  session.  The  plan  01 
the  king  succeeded.  A  man  by  the  name  of  Guy  Fawkes,  was  found 
at  the  door,  who  was  immediately  seized,  the  faggots,  and  powder, 
to  the  amount  of  thirty-six  barrels,  discovered,  and  the  very  matches 
to  set  fire  to  the  train,  were  detected  in  his  pocket.  He  gave  up  the 
names  of  his  accomplices,  eighty  in  number,  who,  with  himself, 
were  all  put  to  death. 

7.  The  puritans,  who  had  already  become  conspicuous, 
having  first  appeared  in  the  reign  of  Mary,  indulged  the  ex- 
pectation at  the  accession  of  James,  of  meeting  with  special 
favour  from  the  new  monarch,  because  lie  had  been  educated 
a  prcsbyterian.  Their  disappointment,  but  especially  the  re- 
straints and  persecutions  which  they  endured,  forced  num- 
bers of  them  to  the  new  world,  where  they  laid  the  founda- 
tions of  a  great  nation. 

Domestic  events,  such  as  have  been  recorded,  chiefly  dis- 
tinguished the  reign  of  James.  He  exerted,  and  wished  to 
exert,  no  influence  abroad.  His  disposition  was  altogether 
pacific.  When,  in  the  early  part  of  his  reign,  he  was  solicited 
to  join  in  a  league  with  Henry  IV.,  the  United  Provinces, 
and  the  northern  crowns,  to  repress  the  exorbitant  power  oi 
the  house  of  Austria,  he  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  the 
scheme. 

The  Stuarts,  as  well  as  Tudors,  were  strenuous  advocates 


GREAT  BRITAIN.  233 

for  the  royal  prerogative,  in  the  widest  exercise.  This  was 
especially  the  case  with  James.  He  was  prejudiced  against 
the  Puritans,  on  account  of  their  notions  of  liberty,  and  took 
part  with  the  established  church.  It  was  a  favourite  maxim 
with  him — "  No  bishop,  no  king."  But  the  minds  of  English- 
men were  undergoing  a  change.  Light  had  increased,  and 
jurfter  notions  of  the  people's  rights  began  to  obtain.  The 
opposition  of  parliament  to  the  royal  prerogative,  was  carried 
to  a  great  height,  and  laid  the  foundation  of  those  fatal  strug- 
gles which,  in  the  next  reign,  subverted  the  monarchy. 

James  died  after  a  reign  of  twenty-two  years  over  Eng- 
land, and  of  nearly  his  whole  life  over  Scotland.  The  pri- 
vate character  of  this  prince,  is  not  free  from  reproach.  His 
disposition,  however,  was  mild  ;  and  his  reiarn,  though  not 

r  /  t  i  o     /  o 

glorious,  in  the  usual  sense  of  that  word,  was  yet,  in  many 
respects,  happy  and  prosperous  to  his  people.  On  them  he 
bestowed  the  care  of  a  parent. 

§  James  was  ingenious  and  learned,  and  yet  pedantic  withal.  Of 
flattery,  he  was  excessively  fond,  and  there  were  parasites  to  deal  it 
out  to  him  without  measure.  On  a  certain  occasion,  he  publicly 
proposed  the  question,  whether  he  might  not  take  his  subjects'  mo- 
ney, when  he  wanted  it,  without  the  formality  of  parliaments. 
;<  God  forbid,"  replied  the  obsequious  Neile,  bishop  of  Durham,  "  but 
that  you  should,  for  you  are  the  very  breath  of  our  nostrils." 

James  is  said  to  have  been  pusillanimous  in  life,  but  he  shewed 
himself  courageous  in  death,  being  so  composed  as  to  close  his  own 
eyes  in  his  last  struggle.  Perhaps,  a  people  who  delighted  in  war, 
and  valued  blood  and  treasure  less  than  the  splendour  of  battles  and 
conquests,  were  incapable  of  doing  justice  to  the  principles  that 
guided  the  public  conduct  of  this  prince.  Hence  the  contempt, 
which  has  sometimes  been  expressed  against  his  benign  and  gentle 
policy.  Saving  his  high  notions  of  prerogative,  and  his  attempt 
to  sustain  them,  there  was  nothing,  during  this  reign,  to  mar  the 
happiness  of  a  great  people. 

Two  of  the  greatest  names  in  the  records  of  genius,  Shakspeare 
and  Bacon,  besides  others,  adorned  the  times  of  James,  and  the  lat- 
ter part  of  the  period  of  Elizabeth. 

8.  Charles  I.,  ascended  the  throne  in  1625.  The  king- 
dom, at  this  time,  was  in  a  prosperous  condition ;  but  the 
principles  of  liberty  had  expanded  the  minds  of  many  of 
his  subjects,  and  they  demanded  a  more  liberal  system  in  the 
administration  of  the  government,  than  was  observed  by  his 
immediate  predecessors.  This  demand,  however,  Charles 

20* 


234  MODERN    HISTORY. — PERIOD    IX 

repelled,  and  he  shewed  that  he  possessed  the  same  arbitrary 
principles  with  his  father,  without  the  prudence  of  the  latter 

The  refusal  of  the  parliament,  to  grant  adequate  suppl' 
for  enabling  the  king  to  carry  on  a  war,  first  in  support  of  his 
brother-in-law,  the  Elector  Palatine,   and   afterwards  with 
France  and  Spain,  led  Charles  to   adopt  the  resolution  ot 
tiling  without  their  aid,  and  of  levying  money  in  the  n. 
illegal  forms. 

§  The  manifestation  of  a  tyrannical  disposition,  on  the  part  of 
Charles,  first  soured  the  minds  of  his  parliament  against  him.     Be- 
ing engaged  to  his  allies,  the  king  could  not  brook  the  denial  of  sup- 
plies, and  accordingly  dissolved  the  parliament,  and  issued  warr, 
for  borrowing  money  of  the  subject.     A  new  parliament  was  fo 
equally  uncomplying,  and  evinced  its  jealousy  of  the  king,  by  the 
impeachment  of  his   minister,    Buckingham.      Charles,  however, 
avenged  the  insult,  by  imprisoning  two  members  of  the  house  of 
commons.     A  quarrel  thus  began,  received  continued  additions  from 
new  causes  of  offence. 

The  king,  in  his  wars  with  France,  sent  troops  to  assist  the  French 
calvinists;  but,  after  an  unsuccessful  expedition  under  Buckingham, 
they  were  obliged  to  return  to  England.  Rochelle  was,  in  conse- 
quence, reduced  to  extremity,  by  which  the  protestant  interest  re- 
ceived an  irrevocable  blow  in  France.  The  blame  of  every  public 
miscarriage  was  thrown  upon  Buckingham,  who  sheltered  himself 
under  the  royal  protection,  till  he  was  assassinated  by  one  Felton, 
just  as  he  was  ready  to  embark  for  the  relief  of  Rochelle. 

The  death  of  this  worthless  favourite,  however,  did  not  deter 
Charles  from  his  arbitrary  proceedings,  which  the  English  patriots, 
in  that  enlightened  age,  justly  considered  as  so  many  acts  of  tyran- 
ny. His  impositions  upon  trade,  without  the  voice  of  parliam 
many  of  the  merchants,  and  some  members  of  the  house  of  com- 
mons, refused  to  pay. 

A  new  parliament,  which  was  now  convoked,  exhibit ed  a  spirit 
of  determined  reformation.  A  petition  of  right  was  passed  by  both 
houses,  which  declared  the  illegality  of  raising  money  without  their 
sanction,  or  enforcing  loans  from  the  subject;  annulled  all  taxes  im- 
posed without  consent  of  parliament,  and  abolished  the  exercise  of 
martial  law;  and  Charles  was  obliged,  with  much  reluctance,  to 
give  his  assent  to  this  great  retrenchment  of  prerogatives.  The 
taxes  of  tonnage  and  poundage  had  usually  been  continued  from 
one  reign  to  another.  On  this  ground,  the  king  conceived  he  was 
warranted  to  levy  them  without  a  new  grant ;  and  a  member  of  the 
house  of  commons  refusing  to  pay  them,  was  imprisoned.  A  com- 
motion being  excited,  parliament  was  dissolved. 

9.  About  this  time,  a  great  number  of  Puritans,  weary  of  the 
restraint  they  experienced  in  England,  under  the  domineering 
spirit  of  Laud,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  embarked  for  Ameri- 


GREAT  BRITAIN.  235 

ca,  where  they  spread  the  liberty  of  which  they  were  deprived 
at  home.  But  at  length  the  enemies  of  that  sect  prevailed 
on  the  king  to  forbid  these  emigrations.  This  providentially 
proved  a  very  unhappy  affair  for  Charles,  inasmuch  as  John 
Hampden,  John  Pym,  and  Oliver  Cromwell,  were  prevented 

from  going. 

§  Hampden  rendered  himself  illustrious,  by  his  talents  and  virtue, 
and  particularly  by  the  firm  stand  he  made  against  the  illegal  impo- 
sition called  ship  money.  He  refused  to  pay  a  small  sum,  that  had 
been  levied  against  him,  and  ventured  to  assert  the  liberty  of  En- 
glishmen, by  risking  a  legal  prosecution.  All  England  was  deeply 
interested  in  the  trial,  and  this  was  the  favourable  result  which  he 
realized,  though  the  venal  judge  decided  the  cause  against  him. 
The  people  began  to  see  their  danger. 

At  a  time  when  the  public  feeling  was  running  strongly  in  favour 
of  Puritanism,  and  a  simpler  form  of  worship,  Laud,  with  a  most 
intemperate  and  insulting  zeal,  was  engaged  in  loading  the  church 
with  new  ceremonies.  Things  might  have  gone  on  in  this  train  for 
some  time;  but  attempting  likewise  to  introduce  the  liturgy  of  the 
church  of  England  among  the  Scots,  the  most  violent  commotions 
w;±re  produced.  A  bpnd,  termed  the  National  Covenant,  containing 
tm  oath  of  resistance  to  all  religious  innovations,  was  subscribed  in. 
Scotland,  by  all  ranks  and  conditions.  To  maintain  this  proceeding, 
the  Scotch  reformers  took  up  arms,  and  soon  marched  into  the 
aeart  of  England. 

At  the  same  time,  a  catholic  rebellion  arose  in  Ireland,  which  the 
people  imputed  to  the  arts  of  the  royalists;  and  to  complete  the  misfor- 
tune of  the  king,  the  parliament,  which  had  been  necessarily  con  vokedT 
proceeded  to  such  extremities  in  its  acts,  that  they  were  considered 
tantamount  to  a  declaration  of  war  against  the  king  and  his  party. 

10.  Things  had  arrived  at  such  a  pass,  that  the  sword  was 
now  to  decide  the  contest.  The  two  houses  of  parliament 
took  into  their  hands  the  force  constituted  by  the  militia  of 
the  country,  and  at  the  same  time  the  king  erected  his  stand- 
ard at  Nottingham,  1642.  Several  battles  were  fought,  du- 
ring three  or  four  consecutive  years,  with  various  success; 
but  at  length  the  royalists  were  overcome,  and  the  king 
was  thrown  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies.  The  cause  of 
Charles  was  supported  by  a  large  proportion  of  the  landed  in- 
terest, all  the  friends  of  the  established  church,  and  all  the 
adherents  of  the  papacy  ;  that  of  the  parliament,  by  the  city 
of  London,  and  most  of  the  great  towns,  and  all  the  dissen- 
ters from  the  establishment.  Cavaliers  was  the  term  applied 
to  the  supporters  of  the  king — Round  Heads  to  those  of  the 
parliament. 


236  MODERN    HISTORY. PERIOD  IX. 

§  The  parliament,  in  order  to  carry  on  hostilities  with  the  greater 
prospect  of  success,  had  entered  into  a  strict  confederacy  with  the 
Scots,  who  were  already  in  a  menacing  attitude.  The  new  bond 
which  they  formed,  was  more  specific  in  its  objects  than  the  former, 
and  more  determined  in  its  spirit.  It  was  called  the  "  Solemn 
League  and  Covenant,"  and  it  brought  an  accession  of  20,000  men 
to  the  forces  of  the  parliament. 

Oliver  Cromwell,  an  officer  under  Fairfax,  general  of  the  parlia- 
ment, in  reality,  directed  all  the  measures  of  the  army.  This  extra- 
ordinary man,  as  will  presently  appear,  was  destined  to  perform  an 
extraordinary  part  in  the  transactions  of  this  period.  The  two  first 
battles,  viz.  those  of  Edgehill  and  Newbury,  were  favourable  to  the 
royalists ;  but  those  of  Marston  Moor  and  Naseby,  terminated  in 
their  overthrow.  Never  were  the  morals  and  religion  of  an  army 
more  carefully  watched,  than  those  of  the  soldiers  of  Cromwell. 
Previously  to  each  battle,  it  was  customary  with  them,  individually, 
to  spend  some  time  in  prayer. 

When  the  king  was  taken  by  a  party  of  Cromwell's  soldiers,  af- 
ter having  been  delivered  up  by  the  Scots,  among  whom  he  had 
sought  protection,  he  was  conveyed  first  to  Hurst  castle,  and  then 
to  Windsor,  and  at  last  to  London.  The  parliament  at  this  time, 
influenced  by  Cromwell,  having  declared  it  treason  in  a  king  to  levy 
war  against  his  parliament,  a  court,  consisting  of  133  men,  were  ap- 
pointed to  try  him  as  a  tyrant,  traitor,  and  murderer.  Charles  de- 
clined the  jurisdiction  of  the  court,  and  refused  to  plead.  He  was 
nevertheless  condemned  to  suffer  death,  and  was  beheaded  the  third 
day  afterwards,  in  the  forty-ninth  year  of  his  age,  and  the  twenty- 
fourth  of  his  reign. 

On  the  morning  of  the  fatal  day,  which  was  the  30th  of  January, 
1049,  Charles  rose  earlier  than  usual,  and  calling  one  of  his  attend- 
ants, bade  him  employ  more  than  usual  care  in  adjusting  his  dress. 
As  lie  was  preparing  for  the  block,  he  observed,  in  reply  to  some 
exhortations  addressed  to  him  by  the  bishop  of  London,  "  I  go  from 
a  corruptible  to  an  an  incorruptible  crown,  where  no  disturbance 
can  have  place."  He  submitted  to  the  stroke  with  entire  resigna- 
tion. 

Charles  had  many  virtues,  and,  in  private  life,  was  estimable  and 
engaging,  beyond  most  princes.  As  a  sovereign,  he  had  imfortu 
nately  imbibed,  in  his  education,  the  arbitrary  principles  which  dis- 
tinguished his  ancestors ;  but  with  the  disadvantage  of  living  in  an 
age  and  country,  in  which  a  king  could  not  be  a  tyrant  with  impu- 
nity. He  deceived  the  parliament  too  often  for  them  to  trust  him, 
and  suffered  himself  to  be  guided  by  counsellors  much  inferior  to 
him  in  knowledge  and  judgment,  while  he  paid  an  unwise  deference 
to  the  advice  of  his  queen,  who  was  a  bigoted  papist.  Granger 
says,  "  He  would  have  made  a  much  better  figure  in  private  life, 
than  he  did  upon  a  throne." 

We  may  lament  the  fate  of  Charles,  as  severe,  and  perhaps  unne- 
cessary ;  and  must  condemn  several  of  the  acts  of  the  republicans 
as  passionate  and  oppressive  j  yet  Providence  seems  to  have  overruled 


GREAT  BRITAIN.  237 

the  evchtsof  the  times,  for  the  advancement  of  civil  liberty,  and  for 
the  general  pood  of  mankind.  Had  Charles  lived,  England  might 
have  been  still  governed  by  despots,  instead  of  limited  monarchs. 

Charles  was  an  author,  both  in  prose  and  verse.  The  Icon  Basi- 
like,  a  work  which  appeared  soon  after  the  king's  death,  and  excited 
much  commiseration  for  his  fate,  has  often  been  attributed  to  him. 
The  authorship  of  that  work,  however,  remains  a  matter  of  dispute. 
If  Charles  wrote  it.  his  talents,  in  composition,  must  have  been  much 
superior  to  those  of  most  contemporary  scholars.  Hume  considers 
it  the  best  prose  composition  which,  at  the  time  of  its  publication, 
was  to  be  found  in  the  English  language  :  and  D'Israeli  remarks,  that 
the  political  reflections  it  contains,  will  be  found  not  unworthy  of 
Tacitus. 

In  a  poem  of  his,  entitled  "  Majesty  in  Misery,"  the  following  stan- 
zas will  show  his  manner  in  poetry. 

"  With  ray  own  power  my  majesty  they  wound, 
In  the  kind's  name,  the  king  himself 'a  uncrown'd ; 
So  doth  the  dust  destroy  the  diamond. 

Felons  attain  more  privilege  than  I, 
They  are  allow'd  to  answer  ere  they  die ; 
'Tis  death  to  me  to  ask  the  reason  why." 

11.  On  the  death  of  Charles  I.,  monarchy  in  England  was 
dissolved,  and  the  house  of  lords  was  abolished  as  useless,  hy 
the  commons.     The  forms  of  all  public  business  were  chang- 
ed from  the  king's  name,  to  that  of  the  keepers  of  the  liber- 
ties of  England.      Religion  shared  in  the  revolutions  of  the 
times. 

§  t^resbyterianism,  which  had  succeeded  episcopacy,  now  began  to 
yield  to  the  independent  interest.  Cromwell  so  managed,  as  to 
transfer  to  the  army,  the  power  which  the  parliament  nad  not  long 
before  taken  into  their  own  hands.  Presbyterians  had  been  mostly 
excluded  from  parliament,  and  that  part  of  the  house  which  re- 
mained, termed,  in  derision,  the  Rump,  was  composed  of  Indepen- 
dents, under  Cromwell's  influence.  As  is  often  the  case,  the  milita- 
ry power  proved  fatal  to  those  Presbyterians  who  had  employed 
it  to  effect  their  own  purposes. 

12.  The  confusions  which  overspread  England,  upon  the 
dissolution  of  monarchy,  could  he  settled  only  by  the  great 
influence,  both  civil  and  military,  acquired  by  Oliver  Crom- 
well, who  was  peculiarly  fitted  for  the  age  in  which  he  lived, 
and  for  the  part  which  he  was  destined  to  act. 

§  The  situation  of  Ireland  and  Scotland,  gave  some  inquietude  to 
the  new  republic.  The  duke  of  Ormond,  at  the  head  of  16,000 
men,  had  recovered  many  places  in  the  former  country,  from  the 
parliament ;  while  in  Scotland,  Charles  II.,  had  been  proclaimed 
king  on  the  condition  of  bin  strict  observance  of  the  covenant.  Crom- 
well, with  his  usual  cunning,  procured  for  himself  the  appointment 


MODERN    HISTORY PERIOD  IX. 

of  eommander-m-chief  in  Ireland.  He  accordingly  passed  over  to 
that  country,  and  soon  put  an  end  to  the  successes  and  authority  of 
Ormond.  He  next  marched  into  Scotland,  at  the  head  of  10,000 
men,  and  defeated  the  royalist  covenanters,  in  the  battle  of  D unbar. 
Upon  the  retreat  of  their  army  into  England,  Cromwell  pursued  it 
thither,  and  overtaking  it  at  Worcester,  the  whole  was  annihilated  by 
him  in  one  desperate  battle.  The  king  was  obliged  to  flee. 

It  was  with  great  difficulty,  and  after  many  adventures,  that  the 
latter  effected  his  escape.  He  first  retired  to  Boscobel,  a  lone  house 
on  the  borders  of  Staffordshire,  inhabited  by  one  Penderell,  a  far- 
mer, who,  in  conjunction  with  his  four  brothers,  served  him  with 
unshaken  fidelity.  They  clothed  him  in  a  garb  like  their  own,  and 
employed  him,  like  themselves,  in  cutting  faggots,  and  he  partook 
of  their  homely  fare.  On  one  occasion,  when  his  enemies  were  in 
search  of  him,  he  ascended  an  oak,  where  he  was  effectually  con- 
cealed a  whole  day,  among  the  leaves.  In  this  situation,  he  saw  seve- 
ral of  his  pursuers  pass  by,  -whom  he  overheard  expressing  theii 
wish  to  be  able  to  find  him.  This  tree  was  afterwards  known,  and 
venerated,  under  the  name  of  the  royal  oak.  He  succeeded,  eventu- 
ally, in  reaching  France. 

The  republic,  at  this  era.  acted  with  uncommon  vigour.     Admiral 
Blake,  and  other  naval  officers,  now  carried  the  terror  of  the  English 
name,  by  sea,  to  all  quarters  of  the  globe.     Under  his  command,  a 
war  with  Holland  was  ably  maintained  against  the  celebrated  Dutch 
commanders,  Van  Tromp  and  De  Ruyter  ;  but  the  advantage  was 
greatly  in  favour  of  the  English,  who  took  1600  of  the  Dutch  ships 
The  famous  Navigation  act,  which  the  parliament  passed  at  this  time 
had  a  most  favourable  effect  on  the  commerce  and  naval  superiority 
of  Great  Britain. 

An  attempt  being  made  to  reduce  the  land  army,  at  this  time, 
Cromwell  remonstrated  against  it,  and  demanded  a  new  parliament. 
But  this  meeting  with  no  regard,  he  entered,  in  great  rage,  into  the 
house,  attended  by  300  soldiers,  and,  loading  the  parliament  with 
reproaches, bade  them  be  gone,  and  give  place  to  honester  men.  The 
republic  of  England,  which  had  subsisted  four  years  and  three 
mouths,  was  thus,  in  a  moment,  annihilated,  April  20th,  1653. 

Cromwell,  however,  though  he  had  seized  the  reins,  could  not 
well  deny  his  subjects  a  parliament.  He  therefore  summoned  144 
persons  in  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  to  assemble  as  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  nation.  They  were  his  creatures ;  and  though  some 
of  them  possessed  the  quality  and  degree  of  gentlemen,  they  were 
generally,  as  Clarendon  says,  "  a  pack  of  weak,  senseless  fellows, 
fit  only  to  bring  the  name  and  reputation  of  parliaments  lower  than 
it  was  yet."  This  body  was  called  Praise  God  Barebones'  parlia- 
ment, from  the  name  of  a  certain  member,  a  leather  seller,  who  dis- 
tinguished himself  by  speaking.  Incompetent  to  their  duties,  they 
re-delivered  to  Cromwell,  at  the  expiration  of  five  months,  the 
instrument  they  nad  received  from  him,  calling  them  together,  and 
besought  him  to  take  care  of  the  commonwealth. 


l^REAT  BRITAIN.  239 

13.  The  supreme  power  of  the  nation,  now  passing  into 
(he  hands  of  Cromwell  and  his  Council  of  officers,  he  was 
declared,  by  the  latter,  Protector  of  the  Commonwealth  of 
England,  with  the  title  of  Highness,  1654.      In  this  capaci- 
ty, he  exercised  greater  power,  than  had  ever  been  annexed 
to  the  regal  dignity.     He  gave  the  command  of  all  the  forces 
in  Scotland,  to  General  Monk,  and  sent  his  own  son,  Henry} 
to  govern  Ireland.      Administering  the  government  with  en- 
ergy and  ability,  and  granting  religious  toleration,  the  repub- 
lic greatly   flourished.      Its  rights  were  respected   abroad. 
Success  attended  the  usurper,  both  in  negociation  and  battle. 
In  an  engagement  which  was  fought  with  the  Spaniards  in 
Flanders,  the  latter  wrere  defeated  ;  and  Dunkirk  being  soon 
after  surrendered,  was  by  agreement,  delivered  to  Cromwell. 

Notwithstanding  the  general  correctness  of  his  administra- 
tion, he  was  never  popular,  either  with  the  royalists  or  repub- 
licans. He  had  subverted  the  freedom  of  his  country,  and 
liis  professions  passed  for  nothing.  He  had  reached  a  fearful 
elevation,  and  was  consequently  kept  in  perpetual  inquietude. 
Neither  society  nor  solitude  could  soothe  his  agitated  mind. 
Fearing  assassination,  he  was  constantly  attended  by  his 
guards,  and  changed  the  place  of  his  sleeping,  every  few 
nights.  Seized  at  length,  with  a  slow  fever,  he  died,  A.  C. 
1658,  in  the  sixtieth  year  of  his  age. 

§  In  regard  to  the  character  of  Oliver  Cromwell,  what  was  said  of 
China,  has  been  applied  to  him.  "  He  attempted  those  things 
which  no  good  man  durst  have  ventured  on  ;  and  achieved  those  in 
which  none  but  a  valiant  and  great  man  could  have  succeeded." 
This,  however,  is  the  judgment  rather  of  an  enemy  than  friend. 
Respecting  his  capacity,  there  can  be  but  one  opinion ;  but  mankind 
have  viewed  his  moral  qualities  in  very  different  lights.  He  has  in 
this  respect  been  oftener  condemned  than  approved.  Indeed,  he 
is  no  favourite  of  history,  as  no  man  of  equal  merit  or  fewer  faults, 
has  been  so  often  held  up  to  suspicion,  derision,  or  hatred.  There 
are,  however,  those  who,  while  they  promptly  condemn  his  dissimu- 
lation and  ambition,  can  see  much  to  admire  in  the  strict  morality 
and  devotions  of  a  man,  who,  in  private  life,  apparently  reverenced 
the  institutions  of  religion. 

14.  Richard  Cromwell,  by  the  father's  dying  request,  suc- 
ceeded the  latter  in  the  protectorate.     He  \vas  acknowledged 
in  all  parts  of  the  empire  ;  but  as  he  wanted  resolution,  and 
possessed  none  of  those  arts  which  take  with  the  soldiery,  he 
soon  signed  his  own  abdication.     He  retired  to  private  life, 


240  MODERN  HISTORY. — PERTOD    IX. 

and  his  virtues  secured  to  him,  rare  enjoyment  to  extreme 
old  age. 

15.  After   the   abdication  of  Richard  Cromwell,  Charles 
II.  was  restored  to  the  throne  of  his  ancestors,  1660.     The 
short  interval  that  occurred,  was  a  season  of  anarchy. 

§  The  restoration  was  effected  by  the  wishes  of  the  people,  who 
seem  to  have  thought,  that  neither  peace  nor  protection  could  be 
obtained,  unless  the  ancient  order  of  things  should  be  re-estaolished 
Monk,  a  man  of  military  abilities,  had  the  sagacity  to  observe  this 
change  in  the  sentiments  of  the  people ;  and  after  temporizing  in 
various  shapes,  rendered  himself  master  of  the  parliament,  through 
which  Charles  was  duly  acknowledged. 

16.  Charles,  who  was  thirty  years  of  age  when  he  began 
his  reign,  made  a  favourable  impression  on  his  subjects,  by 
means  of  his  personal  appearance  and  accomplishments,  and 
of  the  superior  character  of  his  intellect.     He  was  easy  in 
manners,  unaffectedly  polite,  gay  in  his  temper,  lively,  witty, 
and  a  great  observer  of  men  and  things.     It  must  be  added, 
also,  that  he  was  base  and  unprincipled,  and  became  at  length 
immersed  in  pleasure  and  indolence.     He  was  personally  a 
favourite  with  his  subjects,  and  continued  so  to  be  ;  although 
the  government  became  unpopular,  after  the  king  was  so 
immersed  in  private  gratification,  as  to  neglect  the  true  in- 
terests of  his  realm.     Still,  in  this  case,  he  escaped  the  re- 
proaches which  he  merited,  and  most  of  the  odium  of  ex- 
travagance and  unsuccessful  public  measures,  fell  on  his  ad- 
visers.    The  whole  royal  party  were  so  elated  at  the  return 
of  their  sovereign,  that  they  were  dissolved  in  thoughtless 
jollity,  and  many  of  the  republicans,  especially  the  younger 
part  and  the  women,  were  glad   to   be  released  from  the 
gloomy  austerity  of  the  commonwealth.     During  this  reign, 
dissipation  and  infidelity  became  greatly  prevalent 

Charles  was  distinguished  by  the  same  arbitrary  notions 
which  had  prevailed  with  his  ancestors;  and  though  there 
were  many  struggles  like  those  in  the  preceding  reigns,  a 
surprising  change  had  taken  place  in  the  feeling  of  the  peo- 
ple in  general,  in  consequence  of  which,  he  escaped  the  fate 
of  his  father.  The  slavish  doctrines  of  passive  obedience 
and  non-resistance,  now  came  into  repute,  opposed  indeed  by 
the  enemies  of  the  crown.  This  was  the  origin  of  the  dis- 
tinguishing epithets  of  Whig  and  Tory — the  former  oppos- 
ing the  crown,  the  latter  advocating  it.  This  is  a  distinction 


GREAT    BRITAIN.  4  241 

of  parties  still  existing.     The  Whigs  have  always  favoured 
the  rights  of  the  people,  the  Tories,  those  of  the  monarch. 

In  consequence  of  high  church,  or  tory  principles,  an  act 
of  uniformity  in  religion  was  passed,  by  which  two  thousand 
Presbyterian  ministers,  were  deprived  of  their  livings. 

§  We  may  enumerate  among  the  other  events  of  this  reign,  the 
following— an  act  of  indemnity,  by  which  ten  only,  out  of  twenty 
eight  who  were  tried  and  condemned  for  the  murder  of  the  king, 
were  devoted  to  death— the  sale  of  Dunkirk  for  £400,000,  required 
by  the  prodigality  of  Charles,  and  which  he  soon  squandered  upon 
his  pleasures — the  war  with  the  Dutch,  which,  after  an  immense  ex- 
penditure, was  attended  with  no  material  benefit — and  finally,  the 
measures  excited  by  the  influence  of  the  duke  of  York,  (afterwards 
James  II.)  consisting  of  numerous  attacks  upon  the  lives,  liberties, 
and  properties  of  the  people,  mingled  with  party  intrigues,  plots,  and 
conspiracies. 

Before  the  reign  of  Charles  expired,  the  Whigs  became  predomi- 
nant in  parliament,  and  raging  furiously  against  the  Catholics,  in- 
sisted on  the  king's  assent  to  the  bill  for  the  exclusion  of  his  brother, 
the  duke  of  York.  This  affair  induced  the  king  to  dissolve  two 
parliaments  in  succession.  The  consequence  was,  that  England  was 
thrown  into  a  flarne.  But  the  king  took  measures  to  crush  or  in- 
timidate the  opponents  of  the  court.  Lord  Russel,  who  had  been 
remarkable  for  his  opposition  to  the  popish  succession,  Algernon 
Sydney,  and  several  other  distinguished  protestants,  were  tried,  con- 
demned, and  executed.  The  ground  of  proceeding  against  them, 
was  a  pretended  conspiracy  in  favour  of  reform,  called  the  Rye- 
House  Plot.  A  pretended  Popish  Plot  had,  previously  to  this,  been 
disclosed  by  the  unprincipled  Titus  Gates,  by  means  of  which  Lord 
Stafford  and  some  other  Catholics  were  condemned  and  executed. 

17.  It  was  thought  that  Charles,  having  been  guilty  of 
arbitrary  conduct,  intended  to  take  some  measures  for  the 
future  quiet  of  his  reign,  when  he  was  seized  with  a  sudden 
fit  of  illness,  and  after  languishing  a  few  days,  expired,  1685, 
in  the  fifty-fifth  year  of  his  age,  and  the  twenty-fifth  of  his 
reign. 

§  In  addition  to  what  has  already  been  said  of  the  character  of 
Charles,  it  may  be  observed,  that  though  he  was  a  genius,  he  acted 
in  direct  opposition  to  every  principle  of  sound  policy.  He  chose 
rather  to  be  a  pensioner  of  France,  from  whose  king  he  received 
£200,000  a  year,  for  the  concealed  purposes  of  establishing  popery 
and  despotic  power,  than  the  arbiter  of  Europe.  Rochester's  epi- 
grammatic jest,  that  Charles  "  never  said  a  foolish  thing,  and  never 
did  a  wise  one,"  forms  a  tolerable  motto  for  his  "  picture  in  little." 

Charles,  it  is  said,  had  a  constant  maxim,  which  was,  never- to 
fall  out  with  any,  let  the  provocation  be  ever  so  great ;  by  which  he 
observed,  he  had  found  great  benefit  all  his  life,  and  the  reason  he 

21 


242  MODERN    HISTORY. — PERIOD  IX. 

gave  for  it  was,  that  he  did  not  know  how  soon  it  might  be  necessary 
for  him  to  have  them  again  for  his  best  friends.  It  has  likewise 
been  said  of  this  king,  that  had  he  loved  business  as  well  as  he  un- 
derstood it,  he  would  have  been  the  greatest  prince  in  Europe. 

Dryden  did  not  scruple  to  laud  this  prince,  in  a  fulsome  manner 
as  in  the  lines, 

"  Truly  good  and  truly  great : 
For  glorious  as  he  rose,  benignly  so  he  set." 

18.  On  the  death  of  Charles,  the  duke  of  York  was  im 
mediately  proclaimed  king  under  the  title  of  James  IT.,  1685. 
The  history  of  this  reign  consists   of  little  more   than  the 
weak  and  irresolute  efforts  of  a  bigotted  and  tyrannical  prince, 
to  introduce  popery ;  an  attempt  so  absurd,  that  it  did  not 
meet  with  the  least  encouragement  from  the  pope  himself. 

§  The  capacity  of  James  was  by  no  means  equal  to  the  subversion 
of  those  deep  and  solid  foundations,  which  supported  the  civil  and  re- 
ligious liberties  of  his  people.  The  share  which  he  had  in  his  father's 
sufferings  had  not  sufficiently  taught  him,  that  the  jealousy  of  the 
royal  prerogative,  wras  too  strong  in  the  hearts  of  his  subjects,  to  be 
easily  allayed.  He  was  so  violent  and  precipitate  in  his  conduct,  that 
he  never  failed  to  counteract  his  own  purposes;  and  he  established  the 
protestant  religion,  on  a  firmer  basis  than  ever,  by  his  wild  attempts 
to  introduce  those  of  the  church  of  Rome.  Though  he  ascended 
the  throne  with  many  advantages,  he  could  never  sit  easy  in  it;  and 
having  taught  even  the  advocates  of  non-resistance,  to  resist,  he  was 
forced  to  relinquish  a  crown,  which  he  was  absolutely  unfit  to  wear. 

19.  One  of  the  principal  events  of  his  reign,  was  the  re 
hellion  of  the  duke  of  Monmouth,  a  natural  son  of  Charles 
II.,  who  undertook  to  seize  the  crown.     He  was  defeated  at 
Bridgewater,  by  the  king's  forces,  taken  prisoner,  and  be- 
headed.    Had  this  victory  been  managed  with  prudence  by 
James,  it  would  have  tended  much  to  increase  his  authority  ; 
but  the  cruelty  with  which  the  revolt  was  punished,  and  the 
rash  confidence  with  which  this  success  inspired  the  king, 
led  to  his  ruin.     That  most  profligate  of  all  the  judges  that 
ever  sat  on  the  English  bench,  Jeffries,  aided  the  king  in 
the  work  of  murder,  to  an  extent  that  has  called  down  on 
him  the  execrations  of  mankind.     He  was  wont  to  boast  of 
the  numbers  whom  he  had  adjudged  to  the  gallows. 

The  spirit  of  the  nation  was  roused,  by  the  offensive  and 
tyrannical  measures  which  James  took  to  establish  popery; 
and  many  great  men  in  England  and  Scotland,  applied  foi 
relief  to  William,  prince  of  Orange,  who  had  married  Mary 
the  eldest  daughter  of  James.  William  accordingly  embark 


GREAT  BRITAIN.  243 

» 

ed  for  England,  with  an  army,  and  determined,  agreeably  to 
request,  to  assume  the  government. 

§  Upon  the  arrival  of  the  prince,  he  was  joined,  not  only  by  the 
Whigs,  but  by  many  whom  the  king  had  considered  his  best  friends. 
Even  his  daughter  Anne,  inspired  with  protestant  zeal,  deserted 
him,  and,  with  her  husband,  prince  George  of  Denmark,  joined  the 
invader. 

Upon  this,  James,  reasonably  rilled  with  distrust  of  his 
people,  fled  to  France.,  where  the  palace  of  St.  Germain  was 
assigned  him ;  but  as  one  remarks,  "  the  convent  of  La 
Trappe  would  have  been  a  much  more  suitable  retreat."  In 
France,  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life. 

A  convention-parliament  declared  the  king's  flight  an  ab- 
dication, and  settled  the  crown  upon  William  and  Mary. 

§  The  duke  of  Buckingham  gave  this  character  of  the  two  royal 
brothers,  Charles  and  James ;  that  "  the  elder  could  see  things  if  he 
would,  and  the  younger  would  see  things  if  he  could." 

On  the  access  of  James,  an  address  of  the  quakers  to  him,  is  high- 
ly characteristic  of  that  shrewd  sect.  "  We  come  to  condole  the 
death  of  our  friend  Charles ;  and  we  are  glad  that  thou  art  come  to 
be  our  ruler.  We  hear  that  thou  art  a  dissenter  from  the  church  of 
England,  and  so  are  we.  We  beg  that  thou  wov.  Idst  grant  the  same 
liberty  that  thou  takest  thyself,  and  so  we  wish  thee  well.  Fare- 
well." 

20.  William  and  Mary  now  ascended  the  throne.  This 
event  constitutes  what  the  British  writers  are  pleased  to  call 
the  glorious  revolution  of  1688.  In  the  settlement  which 
was  then  made  of  the  crown,  the  sole  administration  remain- 
ed in  the  prince.  The  protestant  succession  was  secured  ; 
religious  toleration  granted,  and  presbyterianism  re-establish- 
ed in  Scotland.  A  declaration  of  rights  was  also  made,  in 
which  the  chief  subjects  of  dispute  between  the  king  and 
people,  were  finally  determined.  The  powers  of  the  royal 
prerogative  were  more  narrowly  circumscribed,  and  more  ex- 
actly defined,  than  in  any  former  period  of  the  English  go- 
vernment. 

§  A  revolution  became  indispensable,  inasmuch  as  the  principles 
of  religious  liberty  were  now  generally  established  in  Britain,  and 
the  princes  of  the  house  of  Stuart,  from  their  arbitrary  notions, 
entertained  a  strong  aversion  to  a  large  portion  of  their  subjects. 
There  was,  however,  a  class,  chiefly  among  the  clergy,  who  held 
the  doctrines  of  passive  obedience,  and  the  divine  right  of  kings  and 
bishops.  Numbers  of  these,  looking  upon  James  as  their  lawful 
king,  and  refusing  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  William,  were 


244  MODERN    HISTORY. PERIOD  IX. 

deprived  of  their  stations.    Hence,  they  were  styled  "  non-jurors 
high-churchmen,  and  Jacobites." 

21.  Wi-lliam  experienced  a  degree  of  trouble  from  Ireland, 
as  that  country  still  adhered  to  James.     The  latter,  being 
assisted  by  Louis  XIV.,  landed  with  some  French  forces  in 
Ireland,  where  he  was  joined  by  a  large  army  of  Irishmen. 
William,  however,  defeated  them,  in  the  memorable  battle  of 
Boyne,  and  the  country  submitted  to  the  new  king. 

During  most  of  the  reign  of  this  prince,  the  nation  was 
involved  in  many  active  wars.  Their  principal  cause  was 
the  ambition  of  Louis  XIV.  These  wars  were  carried  on 
with  vigour  and  success,  though  without  any  distinguished 
actions,  unless  it  be  the  sea-fight  of  La  Hogue.  The  peace 
of  Ryswick,  in  1697,  terminated  hostilities,  and  it  was  ap- 
parent that  the  power  of  France  was  weakened.  The  prin- 
ciple on  which  William  acted  in  his  foreign  wars,  was,  the 
balance  of  power,  of  which  he  was  an  ardent  advocate. 

§  Louis,  who  used  James  to«promote  his  own  interest,  was  deter- 
mined, if  possible,  to  restore  him  to  the  throne.  With  this  object 
he  furnished  him  with  a  powerful  fleet,  and  the  exiled  prince  re- 
paired to  La  Hogue,  whence  he  was  ready  to  embark  for  England. 
The  English  admiial,  Russel,  put  to  sea  with  all  possible  expedition, 
and  being  reinforced  by  the  Dutch  squadron,  he  sailed  for  the  coast  of 
France,  with  ninety  ships  of  the  line,  besides  frigates  and  fire-ships. 
On  the  19th  of  May,  1692,  the  hostile  fleets  met  off  La  Hogue ;  and, 
after  a  bloody  contest  of  ten  hours,  victory  declared  in  favour  of  the 
English.  The  French,  who  had  fifty-three  ships  of  the  line,  lost 
a  great  part  of  their  fleet,  and  could  not  be  made  to  hazard  another 
battle  by  sea.  James  returned  in  despair  to  St.  Germains,  where  he 
died,  in  1701,  in  the  sixty-ninth  year  of  his  age,  having,  some  timf 
before  his  death,  laid  aside  all  thoughts  of  worldly  grandeur,  and 
subjected  himself  to  uncommon  penance  and  mortification.  His 
body,  brains,  and  heart,  like  those  of  Richard  I.,  were  deposited  in 
different  cemeteries. 

22.  After  the  death  of  James,  notwithstanding  the  succes- 
sion of  the  crown  had  been  settled  in  the  house  of  Hanover, 
his  son  was  proclaimed  king  of  England,  at  St.  Germains, 
and  treated  as  such  at  the  court  of  Versailles.     This  act  so 
exasperated  the  British  nation,  that  both  houses  of  parliament 
assured  his  majesty,  that  they  would  assist  him  to  the  ut- 
most of  their  power,  against  all  his  enemies,  and  the  whole 
kingdom  joined  in  a  cry  for  war  with  France.     While  Wil- 
liam was  making  preparations  for  the  approaching  conflict, 
he  was  suddenly  removed  bv  death,  in  the  fifty-second  yea* 


GREAT  BRITAIN.  245 

of  his  age,  and  fourteenth  of  his  reign.  His  excellent  consort, 
and  partner  in  the  throne,  died  seven  years  before  him,  of  the, 
email  pox. 

§  In  person,  William  was  small  and  slender.  His  complexion  was 
brown,  his  nose  Roman,  and  his  eye  piercing.  His  genius  was  pene- 
trating, and  his  judgment  sound ;  but  in  his  manners  he  was  distant, 
and  better  qualified  to  gain  respect  than  love. 

During  this  reign,  the  system  of  borrowing  money  on  remote 
funds  commenced,  which  laid  the  foundation  of  the  present  national 
debt.  A  standing  army,  too,  was  first  sanctioned  by  parliament,  in 
the  time  of  this  prince,  a  measure  only  to  be  defended  by  the  rela- 
tive situation  of  Europe. 

23.  The  crown  now,  (1702,)  devolved  on  Anne,  the 
second  daughter  of  James  II.,  who  was  married  to  George, 
prince  of  Denmark.  Her  reign  is  one  of  the  most  illustrious 
in  British  history.  The  arms  of  England  were  every  where 
triumphant,  nor  were  the  achievements  of  its  scholars  less 
conspicuous.  The  great  names  of  Newton,  Locke,  Addison, 
Swift,  and  others,  have  immortalized  the  times  of  the  "  Good 
Queen  Anne,"  as  she  has  been  familiarly  called.  Though 
not  endowed  with  superior  talents,  she  was  respected  for  her 
virtues.  The  military  and  literary  distinction  of  her  reign, 
could  not,  in  any  great  degree,  be  attributed  to  her  personal 
conduct  or  councils. 

The  principal  events  of  her  reign  were,  her  war  against 
France,  carried  on  by  the  duke  of  Marlborough,  the  greatest 
general  of  the  age,  who  gained  the  splendid  victories  of  Blen- 
heim, Ramilies,  Oudenarde,  and  Malplaquet,  the  constitution- 
al union  between  England  and  Scotland,  in  1706,  and  the 
confusions  occasioned  by  the  high  party  spirit  which  prevail- 
ed in  the  latter  part  of  the  queen's  reign. 

§  The  war  against  France,  continued  from  the  commencement  to 
the  last  year  but  one  of  her  reign.  Germany  and  Holland  were  in 
alliance  with  England.  The  commander,  on  the  part  of  the  empire, 
who  was  associated  with  Marlborough,  was  prince  Eugene.  In  the 
famous  battle  of  Blenheim,  the  French  lost  twenty  thousand  men. 
The  duke,  during  the  engagement,  rode  through  the  hottest  of  the 
fire,  but  neither  in  this,  nor  in  any  other  conflict,  did  he  receive  a 
wound.  This  victory  saved  the  house  of  Austria  from  ruin.  In  the 
battle  of  Ramilies,  six  thousand  of  the  enemy  lost  their  lives,  and 
seven  thousand  were  captured ;  and  this  success  was  soon  followed 
Dy  the  general  conquest  of  the  Netherlands.  In  the  course  of  a  most 
successful  war  on  the  part  of  the  allies,  Louis  was  humbled  to  a  de- 
giee,  that  obliged  him  to  demand  peace,  which  though  at  first  refu- 

21* 


246  MODERN    HISTORY. — PERIOD  IX. 

sed,  took  place  in  1713,  when  the  change  in  Anne's  ministry,  gave  a 
facility  to  negociations  for  that  object. 

In  the  treaty  of  peace  which  was  signed  at  Utrecht,  Spain  yielded 
to  England  all  right  to  Gibraltar,  and  the  island  of  Minorca,  while 
France  resigned  her  pretensions  to  Hudson's  Bay,  Nova  Scotia,  St. 
Christopher's,  and  Newfoundland. 

Of  Marlborough,  it  may  be  said,  that  he  never  laid  siege  to  a  town 
which  he  did  not  take,  or  fought  a  battle  which  he  did  not  win.  His 
understanding  was  as  injurious  to  France  as  his  arms.  At  St.  James', 
he  was  a  perfect  courtier,  the  head  of  a  party  in  parliament,  and  in 
foreign  countries,  one  of  the  ablest  negociators  that  any  age  has  pro- 
duced. 

In  the  constitutional  union  of  England  and  Scotland,  it  was  stipu- 
lated, that  the  united  kingdoms  of  Great  Britian,  should  be  represent 
ed  by  one  and  the  same  parliament,  that  Scotland  should  be  repro 
sented  by  sixteen  peers  and  forty-five  commoners,  and  that  all  peers 
of  Scotland  should  be  peers  of  Great  Britain,  and  rank  next  after 
English  peers,  of  the  like  orders  and  degrees. 

The  confusions  occasioned  by  high  party  spirit,  were  aggravated 
after  the  occurrence  of  peace.  The  strife  between  the  Whigs  and 
Tories,  was  never  higher  than  at  this  time.  After  the  peace,  the  mi- 
nisters, as  leaders  of  the  nation,  no  longer  restrained  by  the  tie  of 
common  danger,  gave  loose  to  their  mutual  animosity. 

The  great  duke  of  Marlborough  was  sacrificed,  in  consequence  of 
these  dissentions ;  though  every  honour  had  been  accorded  to  him,  and 
the  most  munificent  benefactions  bestowed  upon  him,  (£500,000 
having  been  voted  at  one  time,  to  build  the  castle  of  Blenheim,)  when 
his  enemies  came  into  the  ministry,  the  queen  was  induced  to  dis- 
miss him  from  all  his  employments.  The  tories  had  now  supplant- 
ed the  whigs  in  her  favour,  an  event  brought  about  by  the  preaching 
of  Dr.  Sacheverell,  who  inculcated  the  tory  principles  of  passive 
obedience,  and  who,  on  account  of  his  trial,  before  the  house  of  com- 
mons, excited  a  sympathy  which  he  did  not  deserve. 

24.  Anne  died  in  her  fiftieth  year,   after  a  short  reign  of 
twelve  years,  in  1714.     She  became  a  victim  to  an  apoplec- 
tic disorder,  which  was  brought  on,  or  hastened,  by  fatigue, 
and  the  agitation  of  her  mind,  in  attending  a  prolonged  ca- 
binet council,  in  which,  her  ministers  fell  into  violent  alterca- 
tions with  one  another. 

§  Anne  was  of  the  middle  size,  majestic,  and  well  proportioned  j 
her  face  was  round,  her  features  regular,  her  complexion  ruddy,  and 
Her  hair  a  dark  brown. 

GERMANY. 

25.  Soon  after  the  commencement  of  this  period,   1612, 
Matthias  was  at  the   head  of   the   German   empire.     He 


GERMANY.  24T 

t  .tempted  to  reconcile  the  protestants  to  the  catholics,  but 
without  success.  TJie  revolt  of  the  Bohemians  brought  on  a 
civil  war,  which  lasted  thirty  years,  in  the  course  of  which, 
Ferdinand,  cousin  to  the  emperor,  was  invested  with  the 
kingdom  of  Bohemia;  and  Hungary,  also,  was  soon  afterwards 
conceded.  Matthias,  overwhelmed  with  grief,  died  before  the 
conclusion  of  the  war. 

§  An  excellent  rule  of  conduct  for  a  prince,  which  the  emperor  de- 
livered to  his  successor,  was  the  following :  "  If  you  wish  your  sub- 
jects  to  be  happy  under  your  government,  do  not  let  them  feel  the 
full  force  of  your  authority." 

26.  Ferdinand  II.  became  emperor  in  1619.     During  his 
reign,  the  ambition  of  Austria  appeared,  in  her  attempts  to 
extinguish  the  protestant  religion,  to  abridge  the  liberties  of 
the  empire,  and  to  render  the  imperial  diadem  hereditary  in 
her  own  house.     But  these  attempts,  especially  in  regard  to 
the  first  two  objects,  were  frustrated  by  the  agency  of  Gusta- 
vus  Adolphus,  king  of  Sweden,  who,  at  the  head  of  the 
Evangelical  Union,  made  rapid  progress  in  Germany,  till 
death  stopped  his  career,  in  1632.     Austria,  however,  has 
usually  held  the  imperial  sceptre,  and  has  long  had  an  as- 
cendancy in  the  empire. 

§  Ferdinand  has  been  styled  by  the  papists,  the  Apostolical  Empe- 
ror, on  account  of  his  hatred  to  the  protestants.  He  was  an  unfeel- 
ing: bigot,  and  scourge  of  the  empire. 

27.  Ferdinand  III.,  son  of  the  preceding,  was  elected  king 
of  the  Romans,  (so  is  the  head  of  the  Germanic  body  often 
called,)  in  1637.     The  protestants  in  the  empire,  found  the 
most  active  support  during  the  former  part  of  this  reign,  both 
fiom  the  Swedes  and  the  French ;  and  the  emperor  being 
forced  to  conclude  the  peace  of  Westphalia,  1648,  these  pow- 
eis  dictated  its  terms.     By  this  celebrated  treaty,  all  disputes 
were  settled  between  the  contending  princes  of  the  empire, 
and  the  contending  religions. 

§  The  Swedes  were  indemnified  for  the  charges  of  the  war,  and 
acquired  Pomerania,  Stettin,  Wismar,  &c.,  and  tneir  sovereign,  the 
dignity  of  prince  of  the  empire ;  the  Palatine  family  was  restored  to 
its  chief  possessions ;  the  king  of  France  made  landgrave  of  Alsace, 
and  an  equal  establishment  of  the  three  religions,  viz.  the  Catholic, 
Lutheran,  and  Calvinistic. 

Ferdinand  was  a  devoted  Catholic.  He  experienced  many  cala* 
mities,  but  bore  them  with  magnanimity. 

28.  Leopold  I.,  king  of  Hungary  and  Bohemia,  was 


248  MODERN   HISTORY.— PERIOD  IX. 

ed  emperor  in  1657.  His  was  a  long  reign,  of  nearly  fifty 
years.  Joseph  I.  succeeded  him,  1705,  and  reigned  till  1711 
Both  of  these  emperors  were  engaged  in  the  war  of  the  Span- 
ish succession,  which  commenced  in  1700,  on  account  of  the 
claim  advanced  by  Leopold,  to  the  crown  of  Spain.  The 
house  of  Bourbon  was  his  competitor.  The  war  was  car- 
ried on  by  Austria,  (England  and  Holland  being  her  allies,) 
with  success.  Joseph,  after  having  conquered  Naples  and  Sar- 
dinia, forced  the  pope  to  acknowledge  the  Archduke  Charles, 
as  king  of  Spain.  But,  at  length,  the  Austrian  claimant 
being  elected  emperor,  the  Spanish  crown  was  relinquished 
to  the  house  of  Bourbon,  in  the  peace  of  1713.  In  1683, 
Vienna  was  besieged  by  an  immense  army  of  the  Turks, 
but  the  place  was  relieved  by  John  Sobieski,  king  of  Poland. 
Charles  VI.  was  elected  in  1711.  His  reign  extends  many 
years  into  the  next  period,  but  before  the  conclusion  of  the 
present,  occurred  his  memorable  war  with  the  sultan  Achmet 
III.,  in  which  he  obtained  many  victories  over  the  Turks, 
by  his  general,  the  renowned  prince  Eugene. 

SPAIN. 

29.  The  successor  of  Philip  II.,  on  the  throne  of  Spain, 
was  his  son,  Philip  III.,  1 598.     From  the  commencement  of 
this  reign,  Spain  declined  in  power,  and  notwithstanding  her 
great  sources  of  wealth,  the  national  finances  were  exceeding 
ly  embarrassed.     He  had  lost  the  seven  United  Provinces, 
whose  independence  was  solemnly  acknowledged,  1609.     A 
most  ill  judged  measure  of  his  reign,  was  the  expulsion  of 
all  the  Moors,  from  his  kingdom,  who  were  its  most  industri- 
ous inhabitants.     This,  added  to  the  depopulation  occasioned 
by  her  American  colonies,  rendered  Spain  a  mass  of  weak 
ness. 

30.  Under  Philip  IV.,  who  succeeded  his  father,  in  1621, 
the  national  weakness  and  disorders  increased,  rather  than 
diminished.      Philip  was   implicitly  ruled    by  his  minister, 
Olivarez,  a  man  of  an  indiscreet  and  insolent  turn,  who, 
while  he  encouraged  the  licentiousness  of  his  sovereign,  him- 
self wore  the  specious  appearance  of  extraordinary  piety. 

The  reign  of  Philip  was  indeed  one  continued  series  of 
miscarriages  and  defeats.      Tho  Dutch  seized  Brazil :  the 


SPAIN.  249 

French  invaded  Artois  ;  Catalonia  revolted  to  France  ;  and 
Portugal,  shaking  off  the  yoke,  recovered  its  independence. 

31.  The  revolution  of  Portugal,  was  effected  with  unwont- 
ed ease  and  celerity.  It  took  place,  1640,  and  Portugal,  af- 
ter having  been  an  appendage  of  the  kingdom  of  Spain  for 
sixty  years,  asserted  the  rights  of  self  government.  The 
people,  disgusted  with  Ihe  administration  of  Olivarez,  were 
prepared  for  a  change.  The  duke  of  Braganza,  descended 
from  the  ancient  kings  of  Portugal,  having  command  of  the 
army  at  this  time,  and  instigated  by  the  ambition  of  his 
dutchess,  caused  himself  to  be  proclaimed  king,  at  Lisbon, 
The  Spanish  guards  were  attacked  and  overcome,  and  the 
principal  adherents  of  the  government,  were  put  to  death  by 
the  populace.  The  whole  was  accomplished  in  two  or  three 
hours.  The  example  of  the  capital  was  followed  by  all  the 
considerable  towns,  and  soon  after,  by  all  the  foreign  settle- 
ments. The  duke  of  Braganza  took  the  title  of  John  IV. 

§  The  events  which  occurred  in  the  history  of  Portugal,  previous- 
ly to  the  above  revolution,  are  summarily  as  follows : 

Portugal  was  the  ancient  Lusitania,  and  was  successively  subject 
to  the  Siievi,  the  Goths,  and  the  Moors. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  twelfth  century,  Henry  of  Burgundy 
grandson  to  Robert  L,  of  France,  rendered  assistance  to  Alphonso. 
in  his  wars  against  the  Moors,  and  having  distinguished  himself  by 
great  bravery,  Alphonso  bestowed  on  him  his  natural  daughter 
Theresa,  in  marriage,  and  also  created  him  count  of  that  part  of 
Portugal,  where  Oporto  was  situated,  from  which  place,  formerly 
called  Portus  Calle,  the  whole  country  took  its  name.  By  the  valour 
of  Henry,  the  country  regained  its  liberty,  and  he  governed  it  with 
the  title  of  count. 

His  son,  Alphonso  Henriquez,  having  obtained  a  decisive  victory 
over  five  Moorish  kings,  was  proclaimed  king,  by  the  soldiers.  Seve- 
ral princes  succeeded  him,  whose  reigns  deserve  no  particular  notice. 
On  the  death  of  Ferdinand  L,  in  1383,  the  states  gave  the  crown  to 
his  natural  brother,  John  L,  surnamed  the  Bastard,  who  was  equally 
politic  and  enterprising,  and  in  whose  reign,  the  Portuguese  first 
projected  discoveries  in  the  western  ocean. 

In  the  reign  of  his  great  grandson,  John  II.,  who  was  a  prince  of 
profound  sagacity  and  extensive  views,  the  Portuguese  made  con- 
quests in  the  interior  of  Africa,  and  discovered,  under  Diaz,  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope.  That  cape  was  doubled  in  1497,  for  the  first  time,  by 
\rasco  de  Gama,  who  thence  sailed  for  the  East  Indies. 

Emamiel,  cousin  of  John,  ascending  the  Portuguese  throne,  in 
1495,  adopted  the  plan  of  his  predecessors,  and  sent  out  a  fleet.  It 
"vas  with  this  fleet,  that  Gama  doubled  the  cape  as  above  mentioned ; 
others  of  the  king's  vessels  discovered  Brazil,  in  1501. 


250  MODERN  HISTORY. PERIOD  IX. 

These  princes  had  the  merit  of  exciting  that  spirit  of  discovery 
Which  led  to  many  subsequent  improvements  of  navigation  and 
commerce.  Their  discoveries  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  led  to  the  voy- 
age of  Columbus,  and  the  discovery  of  America  They  also  estab- 
lished valuable  colonies  in  Africa  and  America,  and  an  extensive 
empire  in  India.  The  reign  of  Emanuel,  was  the  most  glorious  in 
the  annals  of  Portugal.  He  was  a  great  and  wise  prince,  and  ban- 
ished poverty  and  distress  from  his  dominions. 

John  III.,  the  son  of  Emanuel,  admitted  the  new  founded  order 
of  the  Jesuits,  which  has  since  been  a  powerful  engine  of  despotism 
and  superstition.  He  encouraged,  if  he  did  not  establish,  the  Inqui- 
sition in  Portugal. 

Sebastian,  his  grandson,  fanatically  led  an  army  against  the  Moors, 
in  Africa,  where  he  and  most  of  his  army  perished  in  battle.  Sebas 
tian,  leaving  no  issue,  was  succeeded  by' his  uncle,  cardinal  Henry, 
in  1578,  who,  also  dying  without  children,  Philip  II.,  king  of  Spain, 
obtained  the  crown,  in  right  of  his  mother,  1580.  After  sixty  years 
of  subjection  to  Spain,  the  Portuguese,  as  already  related,  threw  off 
the  Spanish  yoke,  and  became  independent,  under  the  duke  of  Bra- 
ganza,  the  legal  heir  of  the  throne. 

ff 

32.  Charles  II.,  succeeded  his  father,  Philip  IV.,  on  the 
throne  of  Spain,  in  1665.     In  order  to  frustrate  the  schemes 
of  the  kings  of  England  and  France,  and  of  the  states  of 
Holland,  he  left  his  dominions  to  Philip,  duke  of  Anjou, 
second  son  of  Louis,  dauphin  of  France. 

§  This  prince  is  said  to  have  been  debilitated,  both  in  body  and 
in  mind,  by  certain  drugs  which  his  mother  administered  to  him  in 
his  chocolate.  To  so  unnatural  an  act,  she  was  led,  in  consequence 
of  his  refusal  to  accept  of  her  assistance  as  regent.  Certain  it  is, 
that  active  before,  he  lost,  in  the  course  of  a  few  weeks,  his  wonted 
spirits ;  and  his  future  imbecility,  proved  highly  detrimental  to  the 
interests  of  his  kingdom. 

33.  The  duke  of  Anjou,  under  the  title  of  Philip  V.,  tl 
first  Spanish  monarch  of  the  house  of  Bourbon,  ascended  tl 
throne  in  1700.      In  1701,  nearly  all  Europe  united  against 
France  and  Spain,  and  a  useless  and  bloody  war  was  carried 
on  till  the  peace  of  Utrecht,  in  1713.      Gibraltar  was  lost  to 
Spain,  in  the  course  of  this  war. 

TURKISH  EMPIRE. 

34.  The  most  splendid  period  in  the  history  of  TURKE*, 
was  that  which  immediately  preceded  the  present.    The  spirit 
of  military  enterprise  was  now  considerably  abated  ;  though 
the  power  of  the  empire  continued  undiminished,  except  in 


TURKISH  EMPIRE.  251 

8  naval  torce.     The  latter  never  wholly  recovered  from  the 
effects  of  the  fatal  battle  of  Lepanto. 

The  present  period  embraces  the  reigns  of  nine  sultans, 
and  a  part  of  the  reign  of  another.     They  were  generally  at 
war  with  the  neighbouring  powers  ;  Persia  on  the  one  side 
Venice,  Hungary,  and  Austria,  on  the  other. 

§  During  the  former  period,  the  wars  of  the  Turks  with  the  Vene- 
tians, had  been  extremely  frequent  and  bloody.  That  small,  but 
enterprising  and  martial  republic,  had,  during  one  hundred  and  fifty 
years,  restrained  the  Ottoman  power,  and  prevented  it,  most  proba- 
bly, from  overspreading  a  great  part  of  Europe.  The  spirit  of  hos- 
tility continued  through  the  present  period,  and  broke  out  occasion- 
ally into  fierce  fightings.  The  Turks  were  for  a  long  time  superior 
to  the  Christian  powers  of  Europe  in  military  tactics,  on  account  of 
having  an  order  of  men  exclusively  devoted  to  the  profession  of 
arms,  and  also  on  account  of  their  frequent  use  of  artillery. 

Achmet  I.,  made  war  with  Persia  and  Hungary,  but  with  little 
success.  During  his  reign,  in  1611,  Constantinople  was  afflicted  with 
a  dreadful  plague,  of  which  more  than  200,000  persons  died. 

Othman  II.,  invaded  Poland,  but  was  forced  to  make  peace  aftei 
having  lost  80,000  men.  In  1622,  he  was  strangled  by  tne  Janizaries, 
whom  he  intended  to  disband. 

Amurath  IV.,  tarnished  a  victory  which  he  had  obtained  in  the 
capture  of  Bagdad,  by  the  barbarous  slaughter  of  30,000  Persians, 
who  had  laid  down  their  arms,  as  well  as  of  all  the  inhabitants. 

Mahomet  IV.  made  a  conspicuous  figure  in  the  annals  of  Europe, 
from  the  middle,  till  towards  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
Under  him,  the  Turks  again  became  formidable  to  Europe,  and  took 
Candia  from  the  Venetians,  and  besieged  the  capital  of  Austria. 
The  siege  of  Candia  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  of  modern  times. 
Candia  was  the  ancient  Crete,  and  an  emporium  for  commerce. 
The  Turks  had  long  desired  to  take  possession  of  it,  and  at  length, 
in  1645,  effected  a  landing  on  it,  with  60,000  men.  After  several 
towns  had  surrendered,  Candia,  the  capital,  was  invested.  This 
siege  continued  twenty-five  years.  For  the  last  two  years,  the 
Turks  put  forth  every  effort,  inasmuch  as  the  delay  was  mortifying 
to  their  pride,  and  disappointed  their  ambitious  hopes.  After  the 
loss  of  30,000  lives,  on  the  part  of  the  Venetians  and  their  allies,  and 
118,000  on  the  part  of  the  besiegers,  in  the  space  of  two  years  and 
four  months,  the  city  surrendered  on  honourable  terms,  in  1670.  It 
is  said  the  besiegers  made  against  it.  fifty-six  assaults  and  ninety-six 
sallies ;  and  that  the  Venetians  discharged  276,743  cannon  balls, 
48,119  bombs,  and  consumed  50,317  barrels  of  powder.  The  Turks 
have  ever  since  held  possession  of  the  island. 

In  the  siege  of  the  capital  of  Austria,  in  1683,  John  Sobieski, 
king  of  Poland,  particularly  distinguished  himself.  His  assistance 
was  requested  by  the  emperor  of  Germany,  and  readily  bestowed. 
Through  his  efforts,  Austria  seems  to  have  "been  saved  from  destruc- 


252  MODERN  HISTORY. — PERIOD  IX. 

tion,  and  the  Ottoman  power  prevented  from  effecting  an  establish 
ment  in  the  heart  of  Europe — a  service  which  Austria  has  since  ill 
requited.  Sobieski,  whose  army,  when  joined  by  the  Austrians,  did 
not  exceed  50,000  men,  advanced  to  the  environs  of  Vienna,  and 
fought  one  of  the  most  memorable  battles  of  the  age.  An  army  ol 
nearly  200,000  Turks,  brave  and  well  disciplined,  was  entirely  de- 
feated by  the  Pole,  who  lost  only  600  men.  The  victors  secured  the 
great  Ottoman  standard,  180  pieces  of  cannon,  and  the  immense 
treasures  found  in  the  carnp  of  the  enemy.  The  war  continued 
after  that  defeat,  in  which  the  Turks  were  the  greatest  sufferers. 
The  imperialists,  however,  were  weary  of  it ;  but  neither  party 
could  be  speedily  brought  to  an  accommodation,  on  account  of  the 
intrigues  of  the  French  king,  who  wished  to  exhaust  the  resources 
of  the  house  of  Austria. 

Under  Solyman  II.,  the  Turks  were  almost  constantly  defeated  by 
the  imperialists.  Mustapha  II.,  was  severely  beaten  in  the  famous 
battle  of  Zenta,  in  Hungary,  by  prince  Eugene,  in  1697;  and,  in 
1699,  concluded  a  peace  at  Carlowitz,  by  which  he  was  forced  to 
cede  Transylvania,  Karniniek,  the  Morea,  and  Azof. 

Under  Achmet  III.,  in  1715,  the  Ottoman  court  declared  war 
against  the  Venetians,  and  recovered  the  Morea.  At  the  same  time, 
war  was  waged  against  Austria,  but  the  most  disastrous  effects  to 
the  Turks,  took  place  from  this  renewal  of  the  contention.  Prince 
Eugene  defeated  a  powerful  army,  in  the  battle  of  Peterwaradin, 
and  took  Temeswar,  in  1716.  The  next  year,  the  strong  town  of 
Belgrade  surrendered  to  his  again  victorious  arms.  The  disadvan- 
tageous peace  of  Passarowitz,  in  1718,  followed  these  defeats.  And 
the  Ottoman,  formerly  so  terrible  in  arms,  was  obliged  to  yield  the 
palm  of  military  skill,  if  not  valour,  to  the  disciplined  legions  of 
Christendom. 

BRITISH  COLONIES  IN  NORTH  AMERICA. 

35.  Our  own  country,  is  intended  by  the  BRITISH  COLO- 
NIES in  AMERICA.     During  the  present  period,  and  part  of 
the  following,  the  people  inhabiting,  chiefly,  the  south-eastern 
portion  of  North  America,  were  known  by  the  above  appella- 
tion. 

These  colonies  were  settlements  made  principally  by  the 
English,  though  some  of  them  derived  their  origin  from  ad- 
ventures set  on  foot  by  other  European  nations.  They  were 
all,  however,  included  within  the  English  patent,  and  claimed 
by  the  English  crown. 

36.  It  was  more  than  a  century,  from  the  discovery  of  the 
northern  portion  of  the  American  continent,  by  Cabot,  before 
the  English  made  any  effectual  attempts  to  colonize  the 


BRITISH  COLONIES  IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  253 

country.  The  first  grant  from  the  crown,  under  which  set- 
tlements were  actually  made  in  North  America,  was  dated 
April  10,  1606.  James  I.,  by  his  letters  patent,  granted  an 
exclusive  right  or  privilege  to  two  companies,  called  the  Lon- 
don and  Plymouth  companies,  by  which  they  were  autho- 
rized to  possess  the  lands  in  America,  lying  between  the  thirty- 
fourth  and  forty-fifth  degrees  of  north  latitude ;  the  southern 
part,  called  South  Virginia,  to  the  London,  and  the  northern, 
called  North  Virginia,  to  the  Plymouth  company.  Before 
the  present  patents,  however,  a  project  to  settle  the  country 
was  undertaken  by  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  who,  under  a  com 
mission  from  Elizabeth,  in  1584,  had  arrived  in  this  portion 
of  North  America,  which,  upon  his  flattering  account  of  it, 
was  called  Virginia,  in  compliment  to  the  queen's  virgin 
majesty.  But  this  project,  as  well  as  two  that  followed  it, 
wholly  failed. 

Under  the  king's  patent,  the  London  company  sent  Cap- 
tain Christopher  Newport  to  Virginia,  December  20th,  1606, 
with  a  colony  of  one  hundred  and  five  persons,  to  commence 
a  settlement  on  the  island  Roanoke,  now  in  North  Carolina. 
By  stress  of  weather,  however,  they  were  driven  north  of 
their  place  of  destination,  and  entered  Chesapeake  Bay. 
Here,  up  a  river  which  they  called  James  river,  on  a  beautiful 
peninsula,  they  commenced,  in  May,  1607,  the  settlement  of 
Jamestown.  This  was  the  first  permanent  settlement  in  the 
United  States. 

37.  Seven  years  afterwards,  1614,  a  colony  of  Dutch  com- 
menced a  settlement  on  the  present  island  of  New- York, 
which  had  been  discovered  in  the  year  1609,  by  Henry  Hud- 
son, an  Englishman  in  the  service  of  Holland.     The  Eng- 
lish government  claimed  a  prior  right  to  the  country,  by  vir- 
tue of  Cabot's  discovery ;  but  the  first  settlers  retained  pos- 
session, until  1664,  when  it  was  surrendered  to  an  armament 
fitted  out  by  Charles  II.,  and  received  its  name  from  his  bro- 
ther, the  duke  of  York.     It  had  been  previously  called  New- 
Amsterdam.     The  Dutch  had  built  a  fort  here,  and  one  also 
at  Albany. 

38.  The  same  year  in  which  the  Dutch  settled  on  the 
Hudson,  Captain  John  Smith,  ranged  the  coast,  from  Penobs- 
cot  to  Cape  Cod.     King  Charles,  to  whom  a  map  of  the 
country  was  presented,  named  it  New-England,  instead  of 

22 


254  MODERN    HISTORY. —  PERIOD  IX. 

« 

IN'orth  Virginia.  Sixteen  years  from  this,  December  22, 
1620,  a  colony  of  puritans  landed  at  Plymouth,  in  Massa- 
chusetts, and  began  the  first  permanent  settlement  in  New- 
England.  These  colonists  were  originally  from  England, 
but  had  resided  several  years  in  Holland,  on  account  of  the 
religious  intolerance  which  prevailed  in  their  native  country, 
The  colony  of  Plymouth  was  afterwards  connected  with 
another  colony  in  New-England,  called  Massachusetts  Bay, 
which  was  founded  in  1628. 

39.  In  1623,  a  number  of  persons  from  England,  arrived 
in  the  river  Piscataqua,  and  began  two  settlements ;  one  at 
the  mouth,  at  a  place  called  Little  Harbour,  the  other  at  a 
place  now  called  Dover.     These  were  the  first  settlements  in 
New-Hampshire. 

40.  The  next  settlement  in  the  order  of  time,  seems  to  be 
that  which  was  made  by  some  bodies  of  the  Dutch  and 
Danes,  about  the  year  1625,  in  New- Jersey.     This  was  fol- 
lowed  by  the  colonization  of  Delaware,  in  1627,  by  the 
Swedes. 

41.  In  1637,  Charles  I.  granted  a  patent  to  Lord  Balti- 
more, conveying  to  him  a  tract  of  country,  on  the  Chesapeak 
Bay,  which,  in  honour  of  Henrietta  Maria,  daughter  of  the 
French  king,  he  named  Maryland.     The  next  year,  Balti- 
more appointed  his  brother,  Leonard  Calvert,  governor  of  the 
province,  who,  with  about  two  hundred  planters,  chiefly  Ro- 
man catholics,  began  a  settlement,  in  1634,  near  the  mouth 
of  the  Potomac,  on  the  northern  side. 

42.  In  1633,  the  first  house  was  erected  in  Connecticut. 
This  was  a  trading  house  built  by  some  Plymouth  adven- 
turers, who  transported  the  materials  up  Connecticut  river 
Two  years  from  this,  1635,  about  sixty  men,  women  and 
children,  from  Newtown  and  Watertown,  in  Massachusetts, 
commenced  their  journey  through  the  wilderness  to  Connec- 
ticut river.  By  these  people,  Windsor,  Wethersfield,  and  Hart- 
ford, were  settled. 

43.  The  settlement  of  Rhode  Island,  is  dated  from  the 
year  1636,  an  event  occasioned  by  the  banishment  of  Roger 
Williams  from  Massachusetts,  on  account  of  his  religious 
opinions.     He  removed  with  his  family  to  Mooshawic,  and 
began  a  plantation,  which,  on  account  of  the  Divine  kind  • 
ness,  he  called  Providence. 


I 


BRITISH  COLONIES.  255 

44.  The  colony  of  New-Haven,  was  formed  in  1638.  m 
consequence  of  the  English  having  occasion  to  visit  the  ter- 
ritory, in  an  expedition  against  the  Pequots.     This  colony 
eventually  united  with  that  of  Connecticut. 

45.  In  1663,  some  of  the  Virginia  settlers  laid  the  foun- 
dation of  North  Carolina,  which  was  followed  by  the  settle- 
ment of  South  Carolina,  in  1670.     The  Carolinas  were  so 
called  in  honour  of  Charles  IX.,  king  of  France,  under  whos<s 
patronage  the  coast  had  been  discovered,  in  1563. 

46.  In  Pennsylvania,  a  small  body  of  Swedes  had  plant 
ted  themselves,  at  an  early  period.      Their  settlement  in 
creased  slowly,  until  the  arrival  of  William  Penn,  in  1681, 
with  a  numerous  company  of  Quakers,  whom  religious  per- 
secution drove  across  the  Atlantic.     Penn  had  acquired  a 
grant  of  the  territory  now  constituting  the  state,  in  conside- 
ration of  the  debts  due  from  the  crown,  for  services  perform- 
ed by  his  father,  admiral  Penn. 

47.  The  last  settled  of  the  original  thirteen  states,  was 
Georgia,  founded  in  1732,  by  General  Oglethorpe.      This 
comes  within  our  next  succeeding  period.     At  first,  Georgia, 
and  even  the  Floridas,  were  covered  by  the  Charter,  as  it  was 
afterwards  confirmed  and  enlarged,  which  conveyed  Carolina 
to  its  proprietors. 

48.  The  three  eldest  of  the  American  states,  it  will  be  per- 
ceived above,  are  Virginia,  New-York,  arid  Massachusetts. 
These  have  hitherto  been  the  most  important  and  influential 
in  the  confederacy.      Others,  however,  from  their  numbers, 
are  beginning  to  acquire  their  just  consideration. 

49.  The  causes  of  the  settlement  of  the  American  states, 
were  various.      Some  were  made  on  mercenary  views,  the 
usual  principle  of  colonization,  for  the  particular  benefits  of 
the  proprietors.     This  was  the  case  with  Virginia.     The  im- 
mediate purpose  of  the  settlement  of  New- York,  was  com- 
merce.    The  Dutch  were  then  particularly  distinguished  for 
their  commercial  and  enterprising  spirit.     Massachusetts,  and 
New-England  generally,  were  planted  principally  to  enjoy, 
in  an  unrestricted  manner,  the  institutions  of  religion. 

50.  In  the  original  foundation  of  three  of  the  states,  viz., 
Rhode  Island,  Maryland,  and  Pennsylvania,  the  free  tolera- 
tion of  religion  was  recognized,  and  these  were  the  first  civil 
communities  which  acted  on  a  principle  that  now  seems  to 


256  MODERN  HISTORY. — PERIOD  IX. 

be  fast  gaining  the  popular  consent.  In  the  ol  her  colonies-, 
there  was  a  degree  of  intolerance  on  the  subject  of  religion, 
the  fault  of  the  age  ;  and  yet  they  laid  the  foundations  of  a 
civil  community,  the  freest  and  best  which  the  world  had 
hitherto  seen.  In  New-England,  particularly,  they  wished 
to  enjoy  their  religion  in  peace ;  and  in  shutting  out  others, 
whose  religious  opinions  differed  from  their  own,  they  seem 
to  have  justified  themselves  on  the  principle  of  self  defence, 
with  a  view  to  be  delivered,  ever  afterwards,  from  evils  simi- 
lar to  those  from  which  they  had  recently  escaped.  As,  how 
ever,  it  must  be  impossible  to  prevent  differences  of  opinion 
on  the  subject  of  religion,  a  civil  community  would  be  wise 
in  providing  for  such  a  state  of  things,  by  suitable  and  tole- 
rant regulations. 

51.  Many  of  the  first  settlers  of  the  country,  were  men 
of  talents  and  liberal  culture  ;  and  a  wilderness  has  never 
been  planted  by  a  body  of  people,  who  were  more  solicitous 
for  the  interests  of  learning,  and  general  education.     Next, 
after  the  establishment  of  the  Gospel,  their  greatest  object 
was  to  multiply  schools  and  higher  seminaries  of  learning. 
Indeed,  the  colonists  possessed  excellent  traits.     Their  mo- 
rality and  piety,  their  spirit  of  enterprise  and  habits  of  indus- 
try, their  love  of  liberty,  and  attention  to  education,  were  un- 
paralleled in  the  history  of  similar  efforts.     They  were  not 
perfect  men,  but  they  were  the  best  and  the  noblest  that  ever 
founded  an  empire.     These  remarks  are  intended  particular- 
ly for  New-England,  though  they  have  a  degree  of  applica- 
tion to  all  the  American  states. 

52.  The  colonists  purchased  their  lands  of  the  Indians ; 
and  notwithstanding  what  has  been  often  asserted,  respecting 
the  frauds  that  were  practised,  there  is  little  reason  to  question 
the  purity  of  motive,  and  the  good  faith  of  those  who  were 
engaged  in  these  transactions. 

53.  The  settlers  in  some  of  the  colonies,  experienced  at* 
first  but  little  trouble  from  the  Indians,  for  many  years.  This 
was  the  case  particularly  with  Massachusetts  and  Pennsylva- 
nia.     In  others,  they  were  molested  from  this  quarter,  at  a 
very  early  period.      Connecticut,  and  particularly  Virginia, 
were  obliged,  soon  after  their  settlement,  to  make  war  against 
the  savages,  in  self-defence.     And  all  the  colonies,  sooner  or 
later,  suffered  in  various  ways,  and  especially  by  contentions 


BRITISH    COLONIES.  257 

\vitn  the  natives.  It  is  not  to  be  denied,  that  in  the  end, 
wrong  was  sometimes  done  to  these  miserable  tribes.  Their 
ferocity  and  faithlessness  were,  occasionally,  met  with  the 
sternest  inflictions  of  vengeance  on  the  part  of  the  whites. 

Respecting  the  colonists  as  a  body,  during  the  present  pe- 
riod, it  may  be  remarked,  in  a  very  general  way,  that  they 
struggled  long  with  all  the  hardships,  difficulties,  and  priva 
tions  incident  to  new  establishments  among  savages ;  that 
they  displayed  a  heroism  and  constancy,  such  as  have  rarely 
been  witnessed  among  men,  and  though  tempted  to  believe, 
in  some  instances,  that  their  undertaking  would  never  suc- 
ceed, yet  that  their  virtues  finally  overcame  every  obstacle, 
and  they  found  themselves  before  the  conclusion  of  this  pe- 
riod, increasing  in  wealth  and  population. 

It  may  be  added,  that  the  colonists  were  often  involved  in 
the  wars  of  the  mother  country,  with  other  powers  ;  that  a 
few  of  their  wars  with  the  Indians,  affected  several  of  the 
states  at  a  time,  and  that  a  consideration  of  their  common 

f 

exposure,  led  to  a  general  intercourse  with  one  another,  and 
particularly  to  the  union  which  was  formed  between  the  New- 
England  colonies,  in  1 643  ;  a  union  which  lasted  more  than 
forty  years,  or  until  their  charters  were  revoked,  and  which 
furnished  the  example  of  that  nobler  confederacy  which  has 
since  taken  place,  of  all  the  American  states.  In  general, 
however,  it  is  with  the  individual  colonies  that  we  are  mostly 
concerned  in  the  history  of  this  period,  but  the  limits  of  our 
work  will  admit  only  of  a  very  few  details,  in  regard  to  one 
or  two  of  the  states. 

§  Two  years  after  the  settlement  of  Connecticut,  occurred  the  war 
with  the  Pequots,  a  tribe  of  Indians,  whose  principal  residence  was 
on  a  hill  in  the  present  town  of  Groton  These  savages  had  pre- 
viously made  depredations  on  the  infant  settlement,  and  killed  seve- 
ral individuals,  and  carried  others  away  captive.  In  this  perilous 
state  of  affairs,  a  court,  convened  at  Hartford,  determined  on  war. 
Ninety  men,  nearly  half  the  fencible  men  of  the  colony,  were  or- 
dered to  be  raised.  Forty-two  from  Hartford,  thirty  from  Windsor, 
and  eighteen  from  Wethersfield.  These  troops,  together  with  seventy 
River  and  Mohegan  Indians,  were  commanded  by  Captain  Mason, 
who,  sailing  down  the  river,  surprised  Mystic,  one  of  the  principal 
forts  of  the  enemy,  in  the  present  town  of  Stonington. 

Before  the  savages  could  get  themselves  in  readiness,  the  troops 
instantly  pressed  forward  and  fired.  The  destruction  soon  became 
terrible,  but  the  Indians  rallied  at  length,  and  made  a  desperate  re- 

22* 


258  MODERN  HISTORY. — PERIOD  ix. 

sistance.  All,  however,  was  in  vain.  Upon  an  order  to  burn  them, 
the  work  of  destruction  was  completed.  Seventy  wigwams  were  in 
ruins,  and  between  500  and  600  Indians,  lay  bleeding  on  the  ground, 
or  smouldering  in  ashes.  With  the  assistance  of  a  detachment  of 
nearly  two  hundred  men  from  Massachusetts  and  Plymouth,  the 
whites  pursued  the  rest  of  the  tribe,  who  fled  towards  the  Hudson, 
and,  defeating  them  in  another  terrible  battle,  in  a  great  swamp,  in 
Fairfield,  the  power  of  the  Pequot  nation,  was  entirely  prostrated. 

In  Virginia,  the  colonists  were  soon  involved  in  contests  with  the 
Indians.  In  addition,  they  suffered  severely  by  the  scarcity  and 
badness  of  provisions — the  consequence  of  which  was,  that  diseases 
swept  off  one  half  of  their  number,  in  a  few  months.  In  the  latter 
part  of  the  year  1609,  Captain  Smith,  whose  romantic  story  has  been 
so  often  told,  and  whose  name  was  a  defence  of  the  settlers,  and  a  tei  - 
ror  to  the  Indians,  returned  to  England.  Soon  after  his  departure. 
the  colonists  were  reduced  to  the  greatest  extremities,  having  had  a 
company  of  thirty  men  slain  by  the  Indians,  and  their  provisions 
wasted  on  the  occasion.  A  most  distressing  famine  ensued,  the  ef- 
fect of  which  was  the  reduction,  in  six  months,  of  the  colonists,  from 
.nearly  five  hundred  to  sixty.  The  remainder  embarked  for  their 
native  home ;  but  being  met  by  a  new  company  of  adventurers,  with 
a  large  supply  of  provisions,  they  were  induced  to  return,  and  try 
the  fortunes  of  a  wilderness  once  more.  For  a  number  of  years, 
it  was  only  by  the  arrival  of  new  comers,  that  the  colony  wras  pre- 
served from  extinction.  At  last  it  began  to  prosper,  from  the  date 
of  Sir  William  Berkeley's  administration,  1638,  which  lasted  nearly 
forty  years.  Before  the  conclusion  of  this  period,  however,  the 
colony  experienced  the  evils  of  a  terrible  insurrection,  known  by 
the  name  of  Bacon's  rebellion,  which  terminated  only  with  the  death 
of  its  mover. 

54.  The  principal  events  which  relate  to  the  colonies,  as  a 
body,  or  to  the  greater  part  of  them,  during  the  present  pe- 
riod, were  Philip's  war,  in  1675  and  1676,  which  was  the 
most  general  and  destructive  war  with  the  Indians,  in  which 
the  colonies  were  ever  involved — the  oppressive  measures  re- 
lating to  the  colonies  under  the  Stuart  family,  who  attempted 
the  destruction  of  their  charters  and  liberties — and  the  warn 
occasioned  by  the  hostilities  into  which  the  mother  country 
entered  with  other  European  powers,  usually  called  king 
William's  war,  and  queen  Anne's  war;  the  former  com- 
mencing in  1690,  and  continuing  to  1697,  and  the  latter  com- 
mencing in  1702,  and  ending  in  1713. 

§  Philip's  war  was  carried  on  by  a  king  or  sachem  of  that 
name,  who  was  at  the  head  of  the  Wampanoags,  and  whose  re- 
sidence was  at  Mount  Hope,  Rhode  Island.  This  distinguished 
warrior,  designing  to  exterminate  the  whites,  formed  a  most  exten- 
sive combination  of  the  Indians.  The  greatest  battle  during  this 


RUSSIA.  259 

contest.  Is  known  by  the  name  of  the  Swamp  Fight,  December.  1675, 
in  the  Narraganset  country,  at  the  Indian  fortress,  situated  in  a  large 
swamp.  The  English,  who  were  commanded  by  Josiah  Winslow, 
governor  of  Plymouth,  obtained  a  great  victory,  but  dearly  bought, 
with  the  loss  of  two  hundred  and  thirty  men,  killed  and  wounded. 
The  Indians  lost  more  than  four  times  this  number,  besides  many 
women  and  children.  Though  their  power  was  greatly  broken  by 
this  defeat,  they  continued  their  depredations  and  massacres,  until 
the  death  of  their  great  warrior,  in  1676,  and  in  some  parts  of  New- 
England,  two  years  later.  This  was  a  melancholy  period  in  the  an- 
nals of  the  country,  during  which,  six  hundred  men,  the  flower  of 
its  strength,  had  fallen ;  twelve  or  thirteen  towns  had  been  destroyed, 
and  six  hundred  dwelling  houses  consumed — a  terrible  destruction, 
out  of  a  population  not  exceeding  60,000. 

The  oppressive  measures,  under  the  Stuart  family,  were  owing, 
in  part,  to  the  tyrannical  disposition  of  the  princes  of  that  family, 
and,  in  part,  to  the  sinister  attempts  of  certain  men,  who,  having 
visited  the  colonies,  became  hostile  to  them,  and  infused  their  preju- 
dices into  the  king  and  his  ministry.  Under  this  baleful  influence, 
the  colonies  were  required  to  surrender  their  charters — a  demand 
which  was  complied  with,  except  in  the  case  of  Connecticut.  The 
duration  of  this  state  of  things,  however,  was  short ;  the  revolution 
occurring  in  England,  in  1688,  when  William  and  Mary  were  placed 
on  the  throne. 

From  this  time,  the  colonies,  though  unmolested  by  the  mother 
country,  in  regard  to  their  liberties,  suffered  by  means  of  her  wars 
with  the  French,  who  employed  the  savages  as  their  auxiliaries. 
This  was  a  long  period  of  woe  and  desolation,  lasting  from  1688  to 
1713,  with  an  intermission  of  only  four  or  five  years, 

RUSSIA. 

55.  The  history  of  RUSSIA  is  both  obscure  and  unimpor- 
tant, until  the  time  of  Peter  I.,  surnamed  the  Great,  who  as- 
cended the  throne  in  1089.  Russia,  then  raised  from  bar- 
barism and  ignorance,  was  brought  into  notice  with  the  civil- 
ized world;  and,  by  successive  advancements,  has  attained  to 
a  rank,  in  power  anO,  influence,  second  to  no  other  state  in 
Europe.  To  Peter,  that  country  owes  all  its  greatness. 

§  In  regard  to  the  early  history  of  Russia,  it  is  only  ascertained, 
that  in  the  fourth  century,  the  country  was  possessed  by  several 
different  tribes.  In  the  tenth  century,  it  is  said  to  have  received  the 
light  of  Christianity.  In  the  fifteenth  century,  John  Basilowitz  re- 
deemed the  empire  from  its  subjection  to  the  Tartars,  and  united  the 
greater  part  of  the  country  under  one  monarchy.  The  sovereigns 
of  Russia,  until  Ivan  Basilowitz  IV.,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  bore 
the  title  Wenike  Knez,  "  Great  Prince,"  but  he  added  that  of  czar, 
which,  in  the  Sclavonican  language,  signifies  king.  Peter  the  Great 


260 


MODERN  HISTORY. PERIOD  IX. 


assumed  the  title  of  emperor.    It  was  not  till  the  end  of  the  six 
teentli  century,  that  Siberia  was  added  to  the  empire,  which,  to  that 
time,  was  bounded  by  the  limits  of  Europe. 

The  predecessors  of  Peter,  maintained  considerable  splendour,  as 
sovereigns;  but  their  dominions  were  uncultivated,  and  their  sub- 
jects barbarians.  Alexis  Michaelowitz,  father  of  Peter,  was  the  first 
who  published  a  code  of  laws. 

Peter  became  master  of  the  empire,  by  setting  aside  a  weak  elder 
brother,  and  banishing  a  factious  sister,  who  had  seized  the  govern- 
ment. His  youth  was  spent  in  ignorance  and  debauchery  ;  but  his 
new  situation  immediately  displayed  his  talents,  and  gave  birth  tc 
the  wisest  plans  for  the  improvement  of  a  barbarous  people. 

56.  The  principal  events  of  his  reign,  were,  his  war  with 
the  Turks,  and  taking  of  Azof,  in  1696 — his  sending  an 
embassy  into  Holland,  which  he  accompanied  in  disguise, 
in  order  to  learn  the  art  of  ship  building — his  destruction  of 
the  Strelitzes,  a  body  of  troops,  much  resembling  the  Janiza- 
ries of  Turkey — his  abolition  of  the  patriarchate  of  Moscow, 
which  rivalled  the  authority  of  the  czars — the  several  de- 
feats he  experienced  in  a  war  with  Charles  XII.  of  Sweden — 
his  signal  victory  over  that  monarch,  in  the  battle  of  Pul- 
towa — his  building  of  Petersburg}) — and,  finally,  his  institu 
lion  of  a  numerous  infantry,  and  powerful  army. 

§  Having  gained  the  little  knowledge  he  possessed  from  foreigners, 
he  resolved  to  travel  in  search  of  more.  Appointing  De  Fort,  an 
able  Genevese,  his  ambassador,  he  travelled  as  a  private  person  in 
his  suite,  through  Germany  to  Holland,  and  when  he  arrived  at 
Amsterdam,  engaged  himself  as  a  workman  in  the  dock  yard,  under 
the  name  of  Peter  Michaelof.  Here  was  exhibited  the  astonishing 
spectacle  of  a  mighty  prince,  at  the  age  of  twenty-five,  quitting  the 
luxury  of  a  court,  labouring  with  his  own  hands,  at  a  toilsome  me- 
chanic art,  fed  and  clad  like  the  rest  of  his  fellow-workmen,  and 
obeying  the  orders  of  his  temporary  master !  His  occupation  did 
not  prevent  him  from  attending  the  lectures  on  anatomy,  surgery, 
mechanics,  and  other  branches  of  practical  philosophy,  cultivated  in 
Holland.  From  Holland  he  passed  to  England,  where  he  was  simi- 
larly employed,  and  where  he  gained  still  higher  improvement. 
At  the  end  of  sixteen  months,  he  returned  to  Moscow,  laden  with 
knowledge,  and  the  fruits  of  experience,  which  he  employed  for  the 
benefit  of  his  own  subjects. 

Charles  the  XII.  was,  at  this  time,  sweeping  all  before  him.  He 
had  beaten  the  czar,  in  a  number  of  engagements;  and,  suddenly 
breaking  off  a  negociation,  he  entered  Russia  with  45,000  men,  with 
the  design  of  dictating  peace  at  Moscow.  He  would  probably  have 
accomplished  hia  object,  had  he  not  been  induced,  by  a  treacherous 
promise  of  aid  from  the  Cossacs,  to  inarch  through  the  Ukraine,  in 
the  midst  of  winter.  Here  Peter  seized  his  opportunity,  when  the 


SWEDEN 

enemy's  army  was  wasted  by  fatigue  and  famine,  and  meeting 
Charles,  at  Pultowa,  he  gave  him  battle,  killing  9000  of  the  Swedes, 
and  taking  14,000  prisoners. 

Peter  died  in  1725.  His  usefulness,  as  a  sovereign,  is  un- 
questioned ;  yet,  as  a  man,  he  is  justly  obnoxious  to  the 
charge  of  being  ferocious,  impatient,  passionate,  and  prodigal 
of  the  lives  of  his  subjects. 

SWEDEN. 

57.  The  history  of  SWEDEN  is  unimportant,  until  the  re- 
volution of  1523,  which  placed  Gustavus  Vasa  on  the  throne, 
who  was  followed  by  eight  sovereigns  to  the  time  of  Charles 
XIL,  in  1697.  The  crown  was  elective  till  1544,  when 
Gustavus  persuaded  the  states  to  render  it  hereditary  in  his 
family.  Sweden,  Denmark,  and  Norway,  had  been  united 
into  one  kingdom,  from  the  time  of  Margaret  of  Denmark, 
in  1389,  to  the  t^ime  of  Gustavus.  The  last  king  (Christian 
II.)  of  the  united  countries,  was  so  tyrannical,  that  G  ustavus 
was  induced  to  take  up  arms  against  him,  and  deliver  his 
subjugated  countrymen.  He  introduced  Lutheranism  into 
his  states,  administered  the  government  with  great  firmness 
and  wisdom  ;  and,  considering  the  age  in  which  he  lived,  was 
one  of  the  most  extraordinary  of  men. 

Two  at  least  of  his  successors  to  the  period  of  Charles 
XII.,  were  eminent  sovereigns,  viz.  Gustavus  Adolphus,  sur- 
named  the  Great,  and  Christiana.  Gustavus  was  illustrious 
as  a  hero,  and  Christiana  was  enthusiastically  devoted  to 
literature,  and  distinguished  for  her  patronage  of  learned 
men. 

§  Sweden  was  the  eastern  part  of  the  ancient  Scandinavia,  and, 
together  with  Denmark,  was  first  inhabited  by  the  Cimbri,  a  colony 
of  the  Gomerians.  From  this  country  came  the  Goths,  the  Gepidoe, 
the  Heruli,  and  the  Lombards.  The  Swedish  monarchy  is  very  an- 
cient ;  but  the  history  of  its  earlier  sovereigns  is  too  uncertain,  to 
satisfy  the  sober  enquirer.  Eric  IX.,  in  the  twelfth  century,  is  the 
first  monarch  whose  reign  approximates  to  chronological  truth. 
There  appear  to  have  been  nine  sovereigns  between  him  and 
Gustavus  Vasa. 

During  the  oppressive  reign  of  Christian  II.,  Gustavus  Vasa  was 
sent  as  an  hostage  into  Denmark,  in  1518,  whence  he  made  his 
escape  on  hearing  of  the>  massacre  at  Stockhold  of  ninety-four 
senators,  among  whom  his  father  perished.  For  a  while  he  con- 
cealed himself  m  Dalecarlia ;  at  length  he  entered  into  a  small  town 


262  MODERN  HISTORY. PERIOD  IX. 

on  a  day  when  a  fair  was  held,  harangued  the  country  people,  and 
with  their  assistance  took  possession  of  the  fortress,  and  put  the 
Danish  commander  to  death. 

From  this  moment  his  life  became  a  scene  of  triumphs.  Follow- 
ed by  his  brave  Dalecarlians,  he  besieged  Stockholm ;  and  it  hap- 
pening, when  the  Danes  came  to  relieve  that  city,  that  a  sudden 
frost  detained  their  ships  at  a  great  distance  from  the  port,  Gusta- 
vus's  soldiers  advanced  on  the  ice  and  set  fire  to  them.  This  victory 
opened  the  gates  of  Stockholm,  and  he  was  proclaimed  king. 

Gustavus  Adolphus  began  to  reign  in  1611.  He  became  a  hero 
in  early  life,  having  in  his  twelfth  year  been  encircled  with  the 
laurels  of  victory.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  was  successfully 
prosecuting  a  war  with  Denmark,  which  he  concluded  in  1613 
with  an  advantageous  peace.  He  was  equally  successful  in  his 
wars  with  the  Poles  and  Russians,  from  whom  he  took  many  towns. 
In  his  war  with  the  Imperialists,  he  defeated  their  forces  in  the  battle 
of  Leipsic,  in  1631,  and  afterwards  in  that  of  Lutzen;  but  in  the 
latter  he  lost  his  life. 

Christiana,  in  1632,  succeeded  her  father  Adolphus  when  only 
seven  years  of  age,  and  during  her  reign,  Sweden  preserved  its 
ascendency  in  the  affairs  of  Germany.  She  ruled  the  kingdom  with 
great  wisdom  and  prudence,  till  1654,  when  she  resigned  her  crown 
to  her  cousin,  Charles  Gustavus.  She  was  so  eager  to  quit  Sweden, 
and  to  reach  a  land  more  congenial  to  the  cultivation  of  science, 
that  when  she  arrived  at  a  small  brook,  which  separates  that  country 
from  Denmark,  she  alighted  from  her  carriage,  and  leaped  over  the 
stream :  "  At  length.'-  said  she,  "  I  am  free,  and  out  of  Sweden, 
whither  I  hope  never  to  return."  She  visited  Paris,  where  unbound- 
ed homage  was  paid  to  her  genius,  but  where  her  manners  gave  of- 
fence to  the  court  for  want  of  decency  and  conformity  to  rules. 
Rome,  however,  became  the  place  of  her  residence,  where  she  em- 
braced the  Catholic  religion,  and  where  she  died. 

58.  Charles  XII.  succeeded,  in  1697,  at  the  age  of  fifteen 
years.  He  was  a  competitor  of  Peter  the  Great,  and  divided 
with  him  the  admiration  of  Europe.  He  has  been  lanked 
with  the  greatest  conquerors  of  antiquity,  on  account  of  his 
heroism  of  character  and,  extraordinary  achievements.  But 
Charles  was  rather  a  singular,  than  a  great  man.  His  suc- 
cess as  a  warrior,  for  a  time,  alarmed  and  agitated  Europe. 
Soon  after  his  accession,  his  dominions  were  attacked  on 
three  sides,  by  Russia,  Poland,  and  Denmark,  and  he,  al- 
though then  only  a  boy  of  seventeen  years,  successively  took 
the  field  against  these  powers,  and  signally  defeated  them. 
Poland  he  humbled  in  the  dust.  A  negociation  having  been 
begun  by  the  czar,  Charles  abruptly  terminated  it,  and  de- 
clared that  he  would  negociate  only  at  Moscow.  The  rigour 


DISTINGUISHED    CHARACTERS  263 

of  a  Russian  winter,  prepared  his  army  for  the  defeat,  wnich 
it  so  signally  experienced  at  Pultowa.  After  this  battle,  he 
fled  into  Turkey,  where  his  conduct  seemed  to  be  that  of  a 
maniac,  rather  than  of  a  man  in  his  senses. 

§  The  war  with  Denmark  he  despatched  m  six  weeks.  The 
Danish  king  purchased  the  safety  of  his  capital  and  kingdom,  by 
making  full  indemnity  to  the  duke  of  Ho'lstein,  whose  territory  he 
had  attempted  to  wrest  from  him. 

The  Swedish  monarch  then  hastened  into  Ingria,  which  the  czar 
had  attacked,  and  at  the  battle  of  Narva,  with  eight  thousand  men, 
he  defeated  an  army  of  eighty  thousand  Russians,  of  whom  he  took 
thirty  thousand  prisoners. 

In  his  chastisement  of  Poland,  he  satisfied  the  dictates  of  the 
amplest  revenge.  He  reduced  Courland  and  Lithuania,  penetrated 
into  the  heart  of  the  kingdom,  and  subdued  the  capitals  of  Warsaw 
and  Cracow.  He  then,  by  means  of  the  assembled  states,  declared 
the  Polish  Augustus  deposed,  and  procured  Stanislaus,  his  own  de- 
pendent, to  be  elected  sovereign  of  Poland. 

When  Charles  fled  into  Turkey,  he  had  only  eighteen  hundred 
men.  He  still  hoped  to  dethrone  the  czar,  by  engaging  the  Otto- 
man power  against  him.  After  many  efforts  the  Sultan  was  induced 
to  send  two  hundred  thousand  soldiers  against  the  Russians.  But 
upon  the  capitulation  of  Peter's  army,  peace  having  been  made, 
Charles  was  disappointed,  and  vented  his  rage  against  the  Turk. 
He  had  been  hospitably  entertained  more  than  three  years,  but  his 
arrogance  becoming  insufferable,  he  was  ordered  to  quit  the  Turkish 
dominions.  This  order  he  refused  to  obey,  and  proceeded  immedi- 
ately to  fortify  his  camp.  With  only  three  hundred  men,  he  de- 
fended himself  for  some  time,  against  an  army  of  twenty  thousand 
Turks,  and  only  yielded,  when  he  was  taken  by  the  legs  and  arms, 
and  dragged  to  the  tent  of  the  bashaw. 

Distinguished  Characters  in  Period  IX. 

i 

1.  Tycho  Brahe,  a  Dane,  celebrated  as  an  astronomer. 

2.  Cervantes,  a  Spaniard,  the  celebrated  author  of  Don 
Q,uixote. 

3.  Shakspeare,  the  greatest  of  dramatic  poets. 

4.  Galileo,  an  Italian,  distinguished  for  his  discoveries  in 
mathematics  and  astronomy. 

5.  Raleigh,  an  eminent  navigator  and  man  of  letters. 

6.  Bacon,  an  English  philosopher  and  universal  genius. 

7.  Kepler,  "a  German  astronomer. 

8.  Grotius,  a  Dutch  writer,  of  various  and  profound  learn- 
ing. 

9    Des  Cartes,  a  famous  French  philosopher 


264  MODERN    HISTORY. — PERIOD    IX. 

10.  Gassendi,  a  Frenchman,  distinguished  ay  an  astrono- 
mer. 

11    Pascal,  an  eminent  French  philosopher  and  theologian. 

12.  Milton,  the  greatest  of  epic  poets  among  the  moderns. 

13.  Corneille,  the  prince  of  the  French  dramatic  poets. 

14.  Boyle,  an  Englishman,  distinguished  in  natural  philo- 
sophy. 

15.  Dryden,  an  eminent  English  poet. 

16.  Locke,  the  greatest  among  the  English  metaphysi- 
cians. 

17.  Leibnitz,  an  acute  German  philosopher  and  mathema 
tician. 

§  1.  TychoBrahe,  descended  from  an  illustrious  Swedish  family,  was 
horn  in  Denmark,  1546.  He  was  sent  by  his  father  to  Copenhagen, 
for  the  purpose  of  studying  rhetoric  and  philosophy  ;  but  the  great 
eclipse  of  the  sun  on  the  21st  of  August,  1562,  engaged  him  to  study 
astronomy.  With  this  science  he  was  excessively  delighted.  lie 
often  spent  whole  nights  with  a  small  celestial  globe  in  his  hands,  in 
learning  the  names  of  the  stars,  and  in  the  acquisition  of  a  science 
which  he  called  divine.  He  was  honoured  by  the  noble  and  learned 
of  his  age,  and  patronized  by  his  sovereign,  for  a  time ;  but  the  ma- 
lice of  his  enemies  drove  him  from  his  country,  and  he  found  an 
asylum  in  Prague,  where  he  died,  in  160]. 

It  is  said,  that  his  learning  made  him  superstitious,  and  his  philo- 
sophy irritable,  to  such  a  degree,  that  in  a  philosophical  dispute  with 
some  person,  the  argument  rose  to  such  a  pitch  of  personal  violence, 
that  he  lost  his  nose.  This  he  supplied  by  a  gold  and  silver  one, 
admirably  constructed. 

The'best  of  his  works  are,  the  Rodolphine  Tables,  and  the  Histo- 
ria  Ccnlestis.  He  opposed  the  Copernican  system,  which  is  a  suffi- 
cient proof  of  the  unsoundness  of  his  judgment. 

2.  Cervantes,  who  is  better  known  by  this  name  than  by  his  sur- 
name, Saavedra,  was  born  at  Madrid,  1549.  He  led  a  life  of  hard- 
ship and  poverty.  Before  he  became  an  author,  he  engaged  in  the 
military  profession,  and  five  years  and  an  half  he  endured  all  the 
horrors  of  an  Algerine  captivity.  After  his  release  and  return  to 
Spain,  he  began  to  write  plays  for  his  maintenance,  but  though  his 
pieces  were  acted  with  universal  applause,  he  pined  in  poverty,  and 
at  last,  found  himself  in  a  prison.  In  his  confinement,  he  began  his 
immortal  work  Don  Quixote,  which  was  not  finished  till  the  ex- 
piration of  several  years.  This  work  is  read  and  admired  in  every 
known  language ;  but  though  popular  from  the  beginning,  it  pro- 
duced him  neither  notice  nor  bread.  He  was,  however,  serene 
amidst  his  wretchedness. 

In  Don  Quixote,  Cervantes  appears  the  purest  of  all  humourists, 
gentle,  genial,  and  kind. 


DISTINGUISHED    CHARACTERS.  265 

3.  Shakspeare,  (William)  was  born  of  a  respectable  family,  at 
Stratford-on-Avon,  April,  1546.     Few  events  of  his  life  have  been 
recorded,  while  scores  of  volumes  have  been  written  on  his  poetry 
and  on  the  character  of  his  genius.     lie  was  designed  to  carry  on 
the  trade  of  his  father,  which  was  that  of  a  wool  dealer,  and  with 
that  view,  he  was  early  taken  from  school.     He  married  at  the  age 
of  seventeen,  and  soon  became  the  father  of  a  family.     An  un- 
fortunate and  criminal  act,  (deer  stealing,)  which  he  committed 
in  connexion  witli  some  thoughtless  companions,  was  the  means  of 
driving  him  to  London. 

Here,  a  new  scene  opened  upon  him,  and  he  soon  laid  the  foun- 
dation of  a  fame,  which  is  unequalled  in  the  history  of  human  genius. 
He  first  enlisted  among  the  players,  and  became  an  actor  on  the  stage. 
It  is  not  known  that  he  excelled  in  the  profession  of  an  actor ;  the 
contrary  is  rather  inferred.  But  from  acting,  he  passed  to  the  wri- 
ting of  plays,  which,  at  first,  he  adapted  to  the  lower  classes;  but 
when  his  performances  had  gained  the  favour  of  the  queen  and 
her  court,  he  aimed  at  more  elaborate  compositions.  Having  by  the 
productions  of  his  pen,  and  by  the  management  of  the  play-house, 
acquired  a  competent  fortune,  he  retired  to  his  native  town,  where 
he  lived  respected  and  beloved  by  his  neighbours.  Shakspeare  died 
23d  April,  1516,  in  the  fifty-third  year  of  his  age. 

Several  relics  of  the  immortal  bard,  are  still  preserved  in  the  house 
where  he  was  born,  the  front  of  which  is  now  occupied  as  a  meat- 
shop.  Among  the  articles  are,  his  sitting-chair,  a  table  on  which 
he  wrote,  a  Spanish  card  and  dice-box,  presented  to  the  poet  by 
the  prince  of  Castile,  part  of  a  Spanish  match-lock,  the  remains  of 
the  piece  with  which  he  shot  the  deer  in  Charlicote  Park,  a  table-co- 
ver, a  present  from  good  Queen  Bess,  &c.  &c.  This  is  a  place,  which 
is  visited  by  thousands,  of  all  ranks,  conditions,  and  countries,  in 
homage  to  the  genius  which  was  there  first  brought  to  light. 

Of  Shakspeare,  it  has  been  said,  almost  in  the  language  of  adora- 
tion, "  that  he  is  the  greatest  of  poets  and  of  men — that  he  went  be- 
yond all  men,  and  stands  in  the  array  of  human  intellect,  like  the 
sun  in  the  system,  single  and  unapproachable."  But  eulogy  has 
been  exhausted  on  him.  After  all,  it  is  melancholy  to  reflect,  that 
amidst  his  great  and  incomparable  beauties,  there  are  many  moral 
blemishes  and  defects. 

4.  Galileo  made  discoveries  in  astronomy,  that  were  too  astonish- 
ing, and  too  opposite  to  the  doctrines  of  Aristotle,  to  escape  the  cen- 
sure of  the  philosophers  of  tl  3  age ;  and  no  sooner  was  it  known, 
that  he  had  embraced  the  Co\  ernican  system,  than  he  was  sum- 
moned before  Jhe  Inquisition.     Into  its  terrible  dungeons  was  this 
illustrious  man  twice  thrown,  where,  in  the  whole,  he  spent  three  or 
four  miserable  years,  and  this  for  embracing  opinions  then  deemed 
so  false  in  philosophy,  and  so  heretical  and  contrary  to  the  word  of 
God. 

Among  the  discoveries  that  have  rendered  the  name  of  Galileo 
mmortal,  are  his  observation  of  the  inequalities  on  the  surface  of 
tne  moon,  and  his  knowledge  of  her  vibration,  his  calculation  of  the 

23 


266  MODERN  HISTORY. PERIOD  IX. 

longitude  by  the  eclipses  of  Jupiter's  satellites,  which  he  first  noti- 
ced, his  invention  of  the  cycloid,  and  his  perception  of  the  increas- 
ing celerity  in  the  descent  of  bodies. 

He  lived  seventy-eight  years.  Towards  the  close  of  his  long  life, 
he  became  blind.  Milton  has  finely  alluded  to  him  in  the  lines 

"  Like  the  moon,  whose  orb 
Through  optic  glass,  the  Tuscan  artist  views 
At  evening,  from  the  top  of  Fesole, 
Or  in  Valdarno,  to  descry  new  lands, 
Rivers,  or  mountains,  on  her  spotty  globe." 

5.  Raleigh  (Sir  Walter)  was  one  of  the  most  brilliant  and  useful  cha- 
racters of  the  times  in  which  he  lived.  His  perseverance  in  making 
discoveries,  first  inspired  the  British  nation  with  that  ardour  after 
maritime  distinction,  which  has  given  both  wealth  and  glory  to  the 
empire.  He  was  also  a  valiant  leader,  an  able  negociator,  and  a  man 
of  letters.  His  works,  composed  in  the  obscurity  of  a  dungeon,  on 
history,  politics,  geography,  and  philosophy,  as  well  as  some  good 
poetical  pieces,  will  make  him  known  to  future  time.  It  must  be 
owned,  nevertheless,  that  his  genius  was  cramped  by  the  fashions  of 
the  age. 

His  life,  not  indeed  free  from  stain,  was  clouded  by  misfortune — 
he  became  the  victim  of  royal  persecution, — and  his  head  was  finally 
brought  to  the  block.  On  the  most  frivolous  and  arbitrary  charges, 
king  James  confined  him  in  the  tower  thirteen  years  ;  and  though 
he  was  afterwards  released,  it  was  not  long  before  he  fell  again 
under  the  king's  suspicion,  the  consequence  of  which  was  his  tragical 
.end,  on  the  29th  Oct.  1618. 

That  at  one  time  Sir  Walter  aspired  to  the  hand  of  Elizabeth, 
would  seem  to  be  inferred  from  the  following  incident.  On  a  win- 
dow where  the  queen  could  see  it,  he  wrote  this  line — 

"  Fain  would  I  climb,  yet  fear  I  to  fall." 

Attracting  Elizabeth's  eye,  she  replied  to  it  with  her  usual  good 
sense. 

"  If  thy  heart  fail  thee,  climb  not  at  all." 

6.  Bacon  (Sir  Francis)  was  born  22d  January,  1501,  in  West- 
minster. His  astonishing  faculties  were  early  developed,  and  when 
only  a  child  he  was  favourably  noticed  by  Queen  Elizabeth,  who 
used  to  call  him  her  "young  lord  keeper,"  alluding  to  the  office  held 
by  his  father.  On  the  accession  of  James  I.,  he  rose  into  power — he 
was  knighted,  and  successively  made  attorney-general  and  keeper 
of  the  seals,  lord  chancellor,  and  raised  to  the  peerage.  His  eleva- 
tion excited  the  envy  of  his  enemies,  and  he  was  accused  of  bribery 
and  corruption  in  the  office  of  lord  chancellor.  The  consequence 
was,  that  he  was  fined  £40,000,  and  sentenced  to  be  imprisoned  in 
the  tower.  But  his  fine  was  remitted  by  the  king,  he  was  restored 
to  the  public  opinion,  and  sat  in  the  first  parliament  called  by 
Oharles.  It  is  a  matter  of  some  doubt  whether  Bacon  was  guilty  of 


DISTINGUISHED    CHARACTERS.  267 

I 

Ihe  crime  alledged  against  him.  The  blame  is  with  much  reason 
supposed  to  attach  to  his  servants,  so  that  the  eulogy  of  the  poet,  is 
more  clearly  due  to  him  than  the  poet's  censure — 

"  The  wisest,  brightest,  meanest  of  mankind." 

Bacon  was  indeed  one  of  the  greatest  and  most  universal  geniuses, 
that  any  age  or  country  has  produced.  As  an  author,  his  "  No- 
vum  Organum  Scientiarum,"  has,  among  his  other  performances, 
immortalized  his  name.  He  was  the  first  who  taught  the  proper 
method  of  studying  the  sciences  :  that  is,  he  pointed  out  the  way  in 
which  we  should  begin  and  carry  on  our  pursuit  of  knowledge,  in 
order  to  arrive  at  truth.  In  this  view  he  has  been  very  properly 
denominated  "the  miner  and  sapper  of  philosophy,"  "  the  pioneer 
of  nature."  "  the  priest  of  nature's  mysteries."  The  great  princi- 
ples of  the  Baconian  philosophy,  arc  now  universally  established. 

7.  Kepler,  (John,)  though  the  contemporary  of  Bacon,  and  the 
worthy  precursor  of  Newton,  was  by  no  means  freed  from  the  illu- 
sions of  the  old  philosophy.     The  old  or  Aristotelian  philosophy 
was  the  method  of  anticipating  nature,  or  dictating  to  her  as  to 
what  her  operations  are  to  be,  instead  of  observing  what  they  ac- 
tually are,  and  inferring  general  truths  from  particular  facts.     Thus, 
Tycho  Brahe  anticipated  nature,  in  taking  it  as  a  certain  truth,  that 
the  earth  must  be  at  rest,  though  he  admitted  the  reality  of  the 
planetary  motions.    Thus  the  great  Kepler,  imagined  that  the  planets 
must  be  six  in  number,  because  of  certain  properties  of  numbers, 
and  he  maintained  other  puerile  absurdities,     lie  was,  however,  a 
man  of  high  celebrity  as  an  astronomer,  and  deservedly  commended 
by  most  of  the  great  astronomers  who  succeeded  him.    He  first 
proved  that  the  planets  do  not  move  in  circles,  but  in  ellipses ;  and 
that  in  their  motions,  they  describe  equal  areas  in  equal  times,  &c. 

His  earliest  years  were  not  improved  by  education.  When,  how- 
ever, he  began  to  study,  the  turn  of  his  intellect  was  abundantly 
manifest.  He  was  born  in  1571,  and  died  in  1630. 

8.  Grotius  (Hugo)  was  born  at  Delft,  in  1583,  and  died,  in  1645. 
A  singular  event  of  his  life,  showing  the  sufferings  and  dangers  of 
literary  men  in  those  times,  was  the  following.     In  consequence  of 
the  persecution  of  the  Arminians,  of  whom  Grotius  was  one,  and 
an  able  defender,  in  1618,  he  was  doomed  to  perpetual  imprisonment. 
His  confinement  was  alleviated  by  his  literary  occupations,  and  the 
assiduities  of  his  wife.     The  fond  care  of  this  worthy  woman  at 
last  procured  his  deliverance,  after  a  captivity  of  nearly  two  years. 
On  pretence  of  removing  books,  which  she  declared  proved  injurious 
to  her  husband's  health,  she  was  permitted  to  send  away  a  small 
chest  of  drawers,  of  the  length  of  three  feet  and  a  half,  in  which  he 
was  confined.     Thus,  carried  by  two  soldiers  from  the  prison,  the 
chest  was  then  removed  to  a  distance  on  horseback,  and  at  the  house 
of  a  friend  the  illustrious  prisoner  was  set  at  liberty,  pursuing  his 
flight  afterwards  in  the  guise  of  a  mason  with  a  rule  and  a  trowel. 

His  particular  profession  was  the  law,  and  he  pleaded  his  first 
cause  at  the  age  of  seventeen  with  great  eclat.  But  polite  literature 


268  MODERN  HISTORY. — PERIOD  IX. 

engaged  much  of  his  attention,  and  he  wrote  many  works  on  moral 
and  religious  subjects,  together  with  histories,  poetry,  critical  notes, 
epistles,  &c.  His  learning  was  very  various  and  profound. 

9.  Des  Cartes,  (Renedes,)  though  a  man  of  genius  and  extensive 
attainments,  was  too  much  of  a  theorist.     He,  however,  advanced 
far  beyond  his  predecessors  in  many  respects,  and  if  lie  had  done 
nothing  besides  introducing  a  spirit  of  inquiry,  and  a  wish  of  ex- 
amining the  mysterious  operations  of  nature,  he  would  have  effected 
much  for  mankind.     He  was  well  acquainted  with  mathematics  and 
philosophy,  and   possessed  a  mind  capable  of  profound  meditation 
and  patient  inquiry,  though  highly  imaginative.     He  wrote  ingeni- 
ously on  the  laws  of  the  universe,  but  his  theory  of  vortices,   ac- 
counting for  the  movements  of  the  planetary  worlds,  is  sufficiently 
visionary. 

He  was  courted  by  the  learned  and  the  noble,  and  princes  almost 
vied  with  one  another  in  paying  him  their  attentions.  He  died  at 
the  age  of  fifty-four,  at  Stockholm,  but  after  he  had  been  interred 
seventeen  years,  his  body  was  removed  to  Paris,  as  his  countrymen 
chose  to  claim  it. 

10.  Gassendi,  (Peter,)  also  a  native  of  France,  was  born  in  Pro- 
vence, 1592.     He  contributed  somewhat  to  weaken  the  dominion  01 
Aristotle  over  the  human  mind,  though  lie  was  not  himself  altoge- 
ther based  on  the  true  philosophy.     He  was  nevertheless  a  great 
man  and  a  great  scholar ;  and  to  his  genius  and  labours,  the  intel- 
lectual improvements  of  subsequent  ages  are  not  a  little  owing.     His 
studious  habits  proved  injurious  to  his  constitution,  but  he  was  in 
some  degree  relieved  by  phlebotomy.     He,  however,  at  length  sunk 
under  his  chronic  complaint,  and  placing  the  hand  of  his  faithful 
amanuensis  on  his  heart,  after  perceiving  that  the  motion  of  that 
spring  of  life  was   faint  and  fluttering,  he  exclaimed  in  these  last 
words,  "  You  see  what  is  man's  life,"   and  immediately  expired, 
22d  Oct.,  1655. 

11.  Pascal,  (Blaise)  whose  early   extraordinary  powers  and   at- 
tainments astonished  the  world,  was  born  at  Clermont  in  Auvergne, 
19th  June,  1623.     From  a  child,  he  inquired  into  the  reasons  of 
every  thing,  and  he  could  be  satisfied  with  nothing  but  with  such 
proof  as  the  subject  examined  would  admit.     He  always  sought  for 
demonstration  and  truth,  if  they  could  be  attained. 

The  following  circumstance  evinces  his  \vonderful  aptitude  foi 
mathematical  studies,  and  the  superiority  of  his  intellect.  His  father 
an  eminent  mathematician,  had  carefully  secured  him,  as  was  sup 
posed,  from  learning  the  mathematics,  by  denying  the  child  the 
requisite  books.  The  father's  object  was  first  to  perfect  Blaise  in  the 
languages;  bm  the  latter  extorting  from  his  father  by  entreaty,  a 
definition  of  geometry,  which  was  very  vague  and  general,  irnme 
diately  entered  on  the  stud}',  without  any  otlnr  help.  He  was  then 
but  twelve  years  of  age.  He  pursued  his  inquiries  clandestinely, 
till  his  father  happened  to  enter  the  room,  where  he  was  busy  with 
his  bars  and  rings,  (used  in  place  of  geometrical  lines  and  circles,) 
and  to  his  infinite  astonishment,  found  that  the  child  was  endeavour- 


DISTINGUISHED    CHARACTERS.  269 

ing  to  demonstrate  what  makes  the  thirty-second  proposition  of 
Euclid's  first  book.  He  had  proceeded  thus  far  in  geometry,  from 
axioms  and  principles  which  he  had  laid  down,  and  which  he  had 
applie-l  in  a  connected  series,  through  the  intervening  propositions. 

At  the  age  of  sixteen,  he  composed  the  ablest  treatise  on  conic  sec- 
lions,  that  had  appeared  since  the  time  of  the  ancients.  At  the  age 
of  nineteen,  he  contrived  a  mathematical  machine,  by  which  calcu- 
lati'ms  of  every  kind  could  be  made,  without  the  help  of  a  pen. 
And  at  the  age  of  twenty-three,  he  demonstrated  the  phenomena  o 
the  gravity  of  the  air,  and  soon  after  solved  a  problem,  proposed 
by  Mersennus,  which  had  hitherto  perplexed  the  ablest  mathema- 
ticiyns  of  Europe. 

All  these  mighty  powers  and  attainments,  he  consecrated  to  re- 
ligion, and  Christianity  never  received  a  more  splendid  offering  than 
she  did  from  the  genius  of  Pascal.  His  religious  views  and  feelings 
are  embodied  in  his  Provincial  Letters,  and  his  Thoughts  on  Re- 
ligion, &c.  works,  whose  celebrity  has  not  surpassed  their  merits. 

Voltaire,  with  his  characteristic  scorn  of  piety,  calls  Pascal,  "a 
sublime  madman,  born  a  century  too  early." 

12.  Milton,  (John,)  was  born  in  London,  1608.     His  political  and 
controversial  writings  are  justly  celebrated,  and  contain  many  ad- 
mirable passages.     He  was  a  strenuous  asserter  and  defender  of 
liberty,  and,  in  many  of  his  views  on  this  and  kindred  subjects,  was 
far  in  advance  of  his  own  age.    But  as  a  poet,  he  is  still  more  justly 
celebrated,  and  is,  at  least,  a  compeer  of  Homer  and  Virgil.     His 
Paradise  Lost,  is  the  greatest  poem  which  modern  ages  have  pro- 
duced.    In  his  life  time,  the  poet  never  received  the  meed  of  praise 
which  was  his  due;  but  ample  justice  has  since  been  accorded  to 
him,  and  all  posterity  will  render  homage  to  his  transcendent  genius. 

The  incidents  of  his  life  are  interesting,  but  they  are  so  well 
known,  that  we  shall  pass  them  over,  except  to  say  that  he  was 
thrice  married;  was  subjected  to  much  domestic  infelicity,  in  his 
first  marriage;  became  blind  in  writing  his  Defence  of  the  English 
People,  against  the  Attack  of  Salmasius ;  suffered  not  a  little  from 
personal  and  political  enemies  ;  and,  finally,  died  comparatively  poor 
and  forsaken  by  the  world. 

It  may  be  added,  that  he  was  uncommonly  handsome,  when 
young  ;  was  economical  in  his  living,  and  rigidly  abstemious ;  and, 
in  religion,  was  a  puritan,  with  some  diversity,  however,  in  his  re- 
ligious views,  at  the  different  periods  of  his  life.  He  died  of  the 
gout,  in  1674. 

13.  Corneille,  (Peter,)  whose  poetical  works  are  among  the  sub- 
limest  effusions  of  the  French  muse,  was  born  at  Rouen,  1606.     He 
was  brought  to  the  bar,  but  he  soon  abandoned  it  for  poetry,  which 
was  far  more  congenial  to  his  taste.     He  wrote  plays,  the  most  cele- 
brated of  which  was,  the  Cid,  a  tragedy,  which  drew  against  him 
the  persecution  and  obloquy  of  rival  wits  and  unsuccessful  poets. 
He  is  said  to  have  been  a  very  meritorious  man;  in  private  life ; 
liberal,  humane,  and  devout,  and  rather  inclined  to  melancholy.    He 
died  at  the  age  of  seventy-nine  years. 

28* 


270  MODERN  HISTORY. — PERIOD  IX. 

14.  Boyle,  (Robert,)  was  the  seventh  son  and  fourteenth  child  ol 
Richard,  earl  of  Cork,  and  born  in  1626.     After  having  visited  foreign 
countries,  he  retired,  in  1646,  to  his  estate  at  Stalbridge,  and,  amidst 
the  confusion  and  tumults  of  the  time,  enjoyed  there  a  peaceful  soli- 
tude.     He,  however,  laboured  assiduously  for  the  promotion  oi 
learning  and  religion,  to  both  of  which  he  was  devoted  in  a  most 
exemplary  manner.     He  was  eminent  in  natural  philosophy  and 

hemistry,  in  which,  from  adopting  the  Baconian  method,  he  made 
many  discoveries.  "  To  him,"  says  Boerhaave,  "  we  owe  the  secrets 
of  fire,  air,  water,  animals,  vegetables,  fossils;  so  that,  from  his 
works  may  be  deduced  the  whole  system  of  natural  knowledge." 
He  invented  the  air-pump,  and  founded  the  Royal  Society.  His  re- 
gard for  religion,  he  showed  in  the  purity  of  his  life,  the  general 
tendency  of  his  writings,  his  aversion  to  temporal  honours,  which 
were  abundantly  offered  him,  and  his  liberal  benefactions  in  aid  of 
benevolent  and  pious  undertakings.  His  regular  charities  amounted 
to  £1000  annually.  He  founded  a  public  .lecture  for  the  defence  of 
divine  revelation  against  unbelievers,  and  particularly  interested 
himself  in  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel  among  the  nations,  send- 
ing many  hundred  copies  of  parts  of  the  New  Testaments  into  the 
east.  He  died  in  his  sixty-fifth  year. 

15.  Dryden,  (John,)  early  gave  proof  of  his  superior  poetical  abili- 
ties.    He  continued  to  write  to  old  age,  and  improved  to  the  very  last, 
not  only  in  judgment,  but  in  fire,  of  which,  his  Ode  on  St.  Cecilia's 
Day,  and  his  Fables,  are  a  proof.     He  wrote  much,  both  in  poetry 
and  prose,  and  doubtless  too  much ;  for  the  rapidity  with  which  he 
composed,  prevented  correctness.     He  produced  no  less  than  twen- 
ty-seven plays,  besides  a  very  large  number  of  other  works.     He 
excelled  less  in  dramatic  composition,  than  in  any  other  species  of 
poetry.     In  his  prose,  he  was  equalled  by  few  of  his  age,  for  judg- 
ment, criticism,  and  erudition.     He  professes  himself  to  have  derived, 
in  regard  to  prose  writing,  more  essential  aid  from  Tillotson,  than 
from  any  other  writer. 

Dr.  Johnson's  critique  on  Dryden,  is  very  just  and  discriminating. 
The  Edinburgh  reviewers  place  him  at  the  head  of  his  line;  they 
think  him  great  as  a  satirist,  but,  in  respect  to  genuine  poetic  power 
a  step  lower  than  the  poets  of  Elizabeth  and  James.  His  writings 
are  too  much  tinctured  with  the  licentiousness  of  the  age,  and,  in 
his  religious  views,  the  poet  was  too  flexible  and  accommodating. 
The  year  of  his  birth  was  1631— that  of  his  death  1701. 

16.  Locke,  (John,)  so  celebrated  as  a  philosopher,  and  an  orna- 
ment of  English  literature,  was  born  in  1632.     In  the  field  of  men- 
tal and  political  philosophy,  he  has  won  laurels  that  can  never  fade. 
He  has  been  called,  "  the  glory  of  theorists." 

By  the  patronage  of  Lord  Shaftsbury,  he  held  a  respectable  situa- 
tion under  government,  and  wrote,  at  that  time,  several  political 
tracts.  The  danger  of  prosecution  for  high  treason,  compelled  his 
.ordship,  at  length,  to  fly  to  Holland.  Thither  Mr.  Locke  followed 
him.  After  a  time,  the  English  demanded  him  of  the  States  Gene- 
ral, on  suspicion  ,of  being  concerned  in  Momriouth's  rebellion 


SWEDEN.  271 

Thus  persecuted,  Locke  concealed  himself  twelve  month?,  devoting 
his  time  to  literary  labours;  and,  two  years  after,  when  he  returned 
to  England,  in  consequence  of  the  revolution,  he  published  his  cele- 
brated Essay  on  the  Human  Understanding,  in  the  composition  of 
which,  he  had  been  engaged  nine  years.  The  latter  portion  of  his 
life  was  passed  in  religious  retirement,  and  in  the  composition  of 
theological  treatises.  He  died  at  the  seat  of  lady  Masham,  his 
friend,  in  1704,  giving  emphatic  testimony,  in  what  he  said,  to  the 
vanity  of  human  life. 

17.  Leibnitz  (William  Godfrey)  was  not  undistinguished  as  a 
statesman,  lawyer,  and  poet,  though  he  is  most  celebrated  as  a 
mathematician  and  philosopher.  On  the  principle  of  the  Baconian 
philosophy,  he  must  be  pronounced  wanting,  in  some  respects,  yet 
he  enjoyed  the  singular  lelicity  of  being  esteemed  the  greatest  and 
most  learned  man  in  Europe. 

In  civil  life,  he  had  considerable  employment,  and  attained  to 
some  distinction.  He  spent  thirteen  years  in  studying  the  plan  of  an 
universal  language,  but  he  died  before  lie  had  completed  the  extra- 
ordinary design.  Leibnitz  proposed  characters  which,  like  those  in 
algebra,  might  not  only  be  simple,  but  expressive,  and  enable  men 
of  all  nations  to  converse  familiarly  together.  He  died  in  1716,  o/ 
those  complicated  disorders,  the  gout  and  the  stone,  aged  seventy. 

In  temper,  he  was  passionate ;  in  character,  avaricious.  At  his 
death,  such  a  quantity  of  money  was  found  in  his  house,  hoarded  in 
sacks,  that  the  wife  of  his  nephewr  who  possessed  his  property,  died 
vrith  excess  of  joy  at  the  sight. 


PERIOD  X. 

T7ie  period  of  the  American  and  French  Revolutions  ;  ex- 
tending from  the  death  of  Charles  XII.,  of  Sweden, 
1718  A.  C.,  to  the  final  restoration  of  the  Bourbons, 
1815  A.  C. 

SWEDEN. 

SECT.  1.  In  pursuing  the  history  of  SWEDEN,  a  country 
which  at  this  time  excited  much  attention,  on  account  of  the 
character  of  its  sovereign,  we  have  to  record  an  event,  which 
secured  for  Sweden  a  reformation  of  her  government,  and 
saved  Europe  from  the  ravages  of  a  fatal  ambition.  This 
was  the  death  of  Charles  XII.,  who,  while  besieging  a  Nor- 
wegian fortress,  was  killed  by  a  camion  ball,  on  the  llth  ol 
December,  1718. 


272  MODERN   HISTORY. PERIOD  X. 

§  While  Charles  remained  'in  Turkey,  the  czar  and  the  king  o 
Denmark  ravaged  Sweden  on  every  side.  At  the  same  time,  through 
the  influence  of  the  czar,  Stanislaus  had  been  driven  from  the  throne 
of  Poland,  on  which  Augustus  was  replaced.  This  state  of  affairs 
made  Charles  desirous  of  returning  to  his  own  country,  especially 
as  he  despaired  of  engaging  the  sultan  in  a  war  with  Russia,  lie- 
turning  in  disguise,  he  immediately  conceived  the  design  of  wresting 
Norway  from  Denmark.  This  project,  however,  he  soon  abandoned, 
in  consequence  of  failing  in  the  outset.  Sweden  was  too  much 
exhausted  and  distracted,  and  surrounded  by  too  many  powerful 
enemies,  to  sustain  him  at  that  time,  in  a  war  of  conquest. 

His  able  minister,  Goertz,  advised  him  to  a  different  course,  which 
was,  to  make  peace  with  the  czar,  and  with  him,  unite  in  the  attempt 
to  dethrone  George  I.,  and  reinstate  James,  on  the  throne  of  Great 
Britain.  These  measures  were  agreed  upon  ;  but  in  the  interval  ot 
preparation,  Charles,  still  wishing  to  wrest  Norway  from  the  Banes, 
made  an  attack  on  that  country.  It  was  in  this  expedition  that  he  lost 
his  life.  A  half  pound  ball,  discharged  from  a  cannon  loaded  with 
grape  shot,  struck  his  head,  while  he  was  exposing  himself,  with  per- 
fect temerity,  to  unnecessary  danger.  Though  he  expired  without  a 
groan,  the  moment  he  had  received  the  blow,  he  instinctively  grasped 
the  hilt  of  his  sword,  and  was  found  in  that  position,  so  characteristic 
of  his  temper. 

No  conqueror,  either  of  ancient  or  modern  times,  ever  had  a  more 
enthusiastic  passion  for  glory,  than  Charles  XII.  This  is  the  clue  to 
all  those  eccentricities  and  acts  of  daring,  which  have  justly  entitled 
him  to  the  epithet  of  "mad-man."  His  preceptor  asked  him,  when 
a  pupil,  what  he  thought  of  Alexander.  "  I  think,"  fe'aid  he,  "  that 
I  should  choose  to  be  like  him."  "  Aye,  but,"  said  the  tutor,  "  he 
lived  only  thirty-  two  years."  "  Oh,"  answered  the  prince,  "  that  is 
Jong  enough,  when  a  man  has  conquered  kingdoms." 

After  the  death  of  Charles,  Sweden,  exhausted  and  impoverished, 
demanded  repose  and  enjoyed  it.  She  engaged  in  the  pursuits  of  com- 
merce, and  cultivated  the  attendant  arts.  Her  islands  in  the  West 
Indies,  were  of  great  consequence  to  her  foreign  trade.  The  states 
took  the  opportunity  to  reform  the  government,  and  wisely  restricted 
the  prerogatives  of  the  crown. 

2.  Charles  XII.  was  succeeded  by  his  sister,  Ulrica 
Eleonora,  by  the  election  of  the  states,  who  permitted  her 
husband,  the  prince  of  Hesse,  to  be  associated  with  her  in 
the  government ;  but  they  greatly  limited  the  power  of  the 
sovereign.  Ulrica  soon  resigned  the  throne  to  her  husband. 
On  his  death,  in  1751,  the  states  elected  Adolplms  Frederick, 
a  prince  of  mild  and  pacific  virtues,  but  whose  reign  was 
rendered  most  uneasy,  by  the  factions  of  the  senate.  After 
his  decease,  the  sceptre  was  given  to  his  son,  Gustavus  III.' 
in  177J,  who,  notwithstanding  his  coronation  oath,  deprived 


PRUSSIA.  273 

the  senate-  of  its  privileges,  and  rendered  himself  absolute. 
The  despotism,  however,  which  he  wrongfully  procured,  he 
moderately  exercised,  and  the  succeeding  part  of  his  reign  was 
marked  with  peace  and  prosperity.  In  1792,  he  was  assas- 
sinated, at  a  masked  hall. 

§  Gustavus  effected  the  change  in  the  government,  in  the  following 
manner.  Having  assembled  the  officers  of  his  army,  without  making 
any  communication  of  his  design,  he  repaired  to  the  senate  house, 
>yhere  he  read  a  decree,  already  prepared,  for  making  the  crown  ab- 
solute, caused  it  to  be  signed  by  all  the  members  of  the  senate,  and 
then  dismissed  the  assembly. 

3.  Gustavns  IV.,  son  of  the  former,  now  succeeded  to  the 
throne,  under  the  regency  of  the  duke  of  Sudermania.     In 
1800,  he  joined  the  Northern  Confederacy  against  England, 
but  made  peace  with  that  power  the  next  year.     In  1805,  he 
united  with  Austria  and  Russia,  in  the  war  against  France. 
He  soon  after,  lost  Pomerania  and  Rngen,  and  in  1808,  Fin- 
land, which  was  conquered  by  Russia.      He  was  dethroned 
in  1809,  and  the  crown  given  to  the  duke  of  Sudermania. 

§  The  conduct  of  Gustavus,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  period  of  these 
wars,  was  marked  by  so  much  extravagance,  that  he  was  considered 
mentally  deranged  ;  and  to  prevent  the  total  ruin  of  the  kingdom, 
it  was  determined  to  dethrone  him.  This  plan  was  carried  into  ef- 
fect, without  difficulty  or  blood-shed. 

4.  The  duke  of  Sudermania,  under  the  title  of  Charles 
XIIL,  made  peace  with  France  ;  but  the  king  having  no 
children,  Bernadotte,  a  favourite  general  of  Napoleon,  was, 
through  his  influence,  declared  crown  prince,  and  successor 
to  the  throne,  1810.     Bernadotte,  however,  has  been  faithful 
to  the  country  which  adopted  him,  and  he  never  afforded  any 
aid  to  his  former  master. 

§  Upon  the  death  of  Chrrles,  in  1818,  the  crown  prince  quietly 
succeeded  to  the  throne.  He  rendered  efficient  aid  in  the  wars  which 
terminated  in  the  overthrow  of  the  French  emperor.  He  proves  to 
be  a  wise  prince,  and  promotes  the  welfare  of  his  subjects,  by  salu- 
tary improvements  and  reforms.  A  few  years  before  the  accession 
of  Bernadotte,  (1814,)  Norway  was  taken  from  Denmark,  and  an- 
nexed to  Sweden,  in  opposition  to  the  wishes  and  efforts  of  the  Nor- 
wegians. 

PRUSSIA. 

5.  PRUSSIA  was  very  little  noticed,  till  some  time  within 
the  present  period,  when  Frederick  li.,  the  Great,  raised  the 
kingdom  to  a  high  degree  of  splendour.     It  had  existed  as  a 


274  MODERN    HISTORY. PERIOD  X. 

kingdom,  from  the  year  1700,  when  all  the  German  states 
acknowledged  it  as  such.  It  was  before  stlyed  the  Electorate 
of  Brandenburgh. 

§  Tliis  country  was  inhabited  by  the  Borussi,  who  denominated  it 
Borussia,  which  has  been  corrupted  to  Prussia.  They  were  conquered 
by  the  knights  of  the  Teutonic  order,  whom  Cassimer  IV.,  king  of 
Poland,  compelled  to  acknowledge  themselves  his  vassals,  and  to  al- 
low Polish  Prussia  to  continue  under  the  protection  of  Poland. 

Modern  Prussia,  is  a  kingdom  formed  of  several  states,  united  by 
alliances  and  conquests.  The  house  of  Brandenburgh,  which  now 
occupies  the  throne,  is  descended,  in  a  direct  line,  from  the  ancient 
family  of  Hohenzollern,  mentioned  in  history  from  the  year  800. 
The  more  distinguished  predecessors  of  the  great  Frederick,  were 
Frederick  William,  surnamed  the  Great  Elector,  and  Frederick  Wil- 
liam I.,  the  father  of  the  Great  Frederick.  Frederick  William,  the 
Elector,  was  a  prudent  and  valiant  prince.  At  the  commencement 
of  his  reign,  his  electorate  resembled  a  desert  ;  the  villages  were 
burnt,  the  cities  presented  nothing  but  ruins,  and  a  part  of  his  inheri- 
tance was  in  the  hands  of  the  Swedes.  He  began  by  regulating  the 
finances,  and  discharging  his  father's  unworthy  ministers,  and  by 
skilful  negotiations,  regained  all  the  provinces  guaranteed  to  him  by 
the  peace  of  Westphalia. 

Frederick  William  I.,  would  have  been  deemed  an  extraordinary 
man,  had  he  not  been  eclipsed  by  his  greater  son.  As  the  case  is, 
his  talents  and  management  excite  a  degree  of  wonder.  His  father 
was  profuse,  and  lavished  treasures  without  an  object.  Frederick 
William  was  economical  in  the  extreme,  and  expended  nothing  ex- 
cept on  the  soldiery.  In  his  dress  and  diet,  he  was  remarkably  sim- 
ple and  plain.  He  even  denied  himself  the  common  comforts  of 
life,  being  wont  to  say,  that  a  prince  ought  to  spare  not  only  the  blood, 
but  the  property  of  his  subjects.  Voltaire  describes  this  monarch 
thus.  "  He  used  to  walk  from  his  palace,  clothed  in  an  old  blue  coat 
with  copper  buttons,  half  way  down  his  thighs ;  and  when  he  bought 
a  new  one,  these  buttons  were  made  to  serve  again.  It  was  in  this 
dress  that  his  majesty,  armed  with  a  huge  Serjeant's  cane,  marched 
forth  every  day  to  review  his  regiment  of  giants.  These  giants 
were  his  greatest  delight,  and  the  things  for  which  he  went  to  the 
heaviest  expense.  The  men  who  stood  in  the  first  rank  of  this  re- 
giment, were  none  of  them  less  than  seven  feet  high  ;  and  he  s6nt 
to  purchase  them  from  the  farthest  parts  of  Europe,  to  the  borders 
of  Asia." 

FrederickWilliam  was  a  man  of  vulgar  habits,  and  coarse  manners, 
and  often  treated  his  children  with  a  rudeness  and  asperity,  that 
would  have  disgraced  a  savage.  According  to  an  account  given  by 
his  daughter,  Wilhelmina,  princess  of  Prussia,  it  would  be  difficult 
to  count  the  canings  and  the  fisticuffs  with  which  he  gratified  his 
son,  the  great  Frederick,  who  could  never  appear  before  the  king  with- 
out being  beaten,  or,  at  least,  insulted.  The  princess,  too,  had  her 
full  share  of  the  brutal  liberality  of  her  father,  who  often  struck  her. 


PRUSSIA.  275 

She  tells  us,  one  day,  "  he  seized  her  by  the  hand,  gave  her  several 
blows  on  the  face  with  his  fist,  one  of  which  knocked  her  over." 
What  added  to  their  misfortunes  was,  the  severe  diet  to  which  they 
were  condemned,  for  they  were  almost  literally  famishing.  There 
was  often  nothing  at  their  father's  table  but  garden-stuff,  so  badly 
cooked,  that  it  disgusted  them.  Frequently,  indeed,  it  was  impossi- 
ble to  touch  it,  for,  after  serving  the  other  guests,  Frederic  William 
would  spit  in  the  dish,  that  his  children  might  not  break  their  fast. 
What  a  specimen  of  a  prince's  court. 

6.  Frederick  II.,  the  Great,  ascended  the  throne,  1740. 
His  father  had  left  him  an  efficient  and  well  disciplined  army, 
amounting  to  sixty-six  thousand  men.  His  views  were  bent 
on  conquest,  and  on  the  enlargement  of  his  small  territory. 
With  the  best  army  in  Europe,  he  was  by  no  means  backward 
in  putting  his  ambitious  projects  into  execution.  The  next  year 
after  his  accession,  he  revived  some  obsolete  claim  to  Silesia, 
and  accordingly  marched  against  the  Austrians,  whom  he  de- 
feated at  the  battle  of  Molwitz.  He  effected  the  conquest  of 
Silesia,  in  1 742.  He  next  invaded  Saxony,  but  the  part  he 
had  already  acted,  was  sufficient  to  alarm  the  neighbouring 
states.  Accordingly,  Russia,  Austria,  and  France,  concluded 
a  treaty  of  defensive  alliance  against  him.  This  confedera- 
cy took  place  in  1756,  and  constituted  what  is  called,  "  the 
seven  years'  war,"  which  proved  to  be  an  extremely  sangui- 
nary contest. 

§  The  success  of  this  war  was  various.  Frederick  maintained  his 
ground  against  his  powerful  enemies,  sometimes  conquering,  and 
sometimes  conquered.  He  lost,  perhaps,  as  many  battles  as  he  gain- 
ed ;  but  so  equal  a  contest  was  wonderful,  considering  the  vast  su- 
periority of  numbers  on  the  side  of  his  opponents.  At  last,  howe- 
ver, his  affairs  became  so  critical,  from  his  diminishing  resources, 
and  the  increase  of  his  enemies,  that  he  began  to  act  solely  on  the  de- 
fensive. But  the  death  of  the  Russian  empress,  at  this  time,  afford- 
ed him  the  most  essential  relief.  Her  successor  made  peace  with 
the  Prussian  king,  and  being  joined  by  the  Russian  troops,  with 
whose  aid,  Frederick  obtained  an  important  victory,  he  was  enabled 
to  secure  an  honourable  peace  witU  all  the  hostile  powers. 

In  1772,  Frederick  added  New  Prussia  to  his  dominions, 
which,  in  conjunction  with  Russia  and  Austria,  he  dismem- 
bered from  Poland.  In  1786,  he  died,  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
four  years,  with  the  reputation  of  being  the  greatest  warrior 
of  the  time,  and  one  of  the  most  distinguished  princes  of 
whom  history  has  preserved  any  memorial.  This  distinc 


276  MODERN  HISTORY. — PERIOD  X. 

• 

tion,  however,  lies  not  in.  his  moral,  but  in  his  intellectual 
endowments. 

§  Frederick  possessed  a  discernment,  energy,  activity,  decision, 
and  constancy  of  purpose,  which  fitted  him  to  act  the  part  of  a  hero  j 
and,  together  with  these  qualities,  as  much  moral  perverseness  as  is 
required  to  make  a  consummate  hero.  He  was  not  so  distinguished 
for  the  conduct  of  a  battle,  or  a  campaign,  as  for  resources  in  adver- 
sity, "for  celerity  of  operation,  and,  especially,  for  the  discipline  of 
his  troops.  An  instance  of  his  decision  of  character,  and  the  seve- 
nty of  his  discipline,  appears  in  the  following  relation  : 

Intending  to  make,  in  the  night,  an  important  movement  in  his 
camp,  which  was  in  sight  of  the  enemy,  he  gave  orders,  that  by  eight 
o'clock,  all  the  lights  in  the  camp  should  be  put  out,  on  pain  of  death. 
The  moment  that  the  time  was  past,  he  walked  out  himself  to  see  whe- 
ther all  were  dark.  He  found  a  light  in  the  tent  of  a  captain  Zietern, 
which  he  entered,  just  as  the  officer  was  folding  up  a  letter.  Zietern 
knew  him,  and  instantly  fell  on  his  knees,  to  intreat  his  mercy. 
The  king  asked,  to  whom  he  had  been  writing;  he  said  it  was  a  let- 
ter to  his  wife,  which  he  had  retained  the  candle  these  few  minutes 
beyond  the  time,  in  order  to  finish.  The  king  coolly  ordered  him  to 
write  one  line  more,  which  he  should  dictate.  This  line  was  to  in- 
form-his  wife,  without  any  explanation,  that  by  such  an  hour  the 
next  day,  he  should  be  a  dead  man.  The  letter  was  then  sent  as  had 
been  intended,  and  the  next  day  the  captain  was  executed. 

Frederick  was  remarkably  attentive  to  business,  and  every  depart- 
ment of  administration  was  under  his  own  immediate  inspection 
The  most  minute  particulars  of  national  and  domestic  policy,  did 
not  escape  his  observation.  He  extended  the  limits  of  his  kingdom, 
and  much  increased  its  industry,  population,  and  wealth. 

His  intellectual  powers  were  great,  and  when  we  consider  his 
situation,  and  the  little  care  that  had  been  taken  of  his  education, 
we  must  acknowledge,  that  his  literary  acquisitions  were  considera- 
ble. He  had  much  general  knowledge  of  the  sciences,  and  was  well 
conversant  with  French  writers  on  polite  literature.  He  aimed  at 
the  reputation  both  of  philosopher  and  poet,  and  was  a  voluminous 
author  in  prose  and  verse. 

Nothing  favourable  can  be  said  of  his  moral  and  religious  charac- 
ter. He  was  sceptical,  undevout,  and  addicted  to  various  species  of 
vice.  Atheists  and  libertines  were  his  bosom  companions,  particu- 
larly the  corrupt  ing  and  flagitious  Voltaire. 

7.  He  was  succeeded.  178(3,  by  Frederick  William  II.,  Iiis 
nephew,  an  impolitic,  pleasure-loving  prince,  who  joined  in 
the  league  against  the  French  republic,  and  then  deserted  his 
allies.  Dying  in  1797,  he  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Frede- 
rick William  III.,  who  unhappily  revived  some  obsolete  pre- 
tensions to  Hanover,  in  1805,  and  on  Napoleon's  proposing  to 
restore  that  electorate  to  the  king  of  England,  in  1806,  Fre- 


.     GERMANY*  s  277 

-- 

dericktook  the  field  against  him,  and  experienced  an  titter 
overthrow  at  the  great  battle  of  Jena,  which  was  fought  Oc- 
tober 14,  1806. 

§  A  hereditary  animosity  against  Austria,  prevented  a  co-operation 
of  strength,  when  their  national  existence  was  threatened.  The 
whole  of  Germany  well  united  and  organized,  would,  probably, 
at  any  time,  have  resisted  the  power  of  Napoleon.  But  being  di- 
vided, both  Prussia  and  Austria,  as  well  as  the  lesser  states,  were 
overrun  and  subjected  by  the  fortunate  conqueror.  Prussia,  after 
neglecting  several  opportunities  of  humbling  the  common  enemy, 
with  a  strange  inconsideration,  risked  her  national  existence  on  the 
issue  of  a  single  battle.  She  trusted  too  implicitly  in  her  ancient  mi- 
litary fame,  and  the  beauty  of  her  army,  (for  there  was  not  a  proud- 
er army  in  Europe,)  and,  therefore,  fell  before  her  more  sagacious 
and  calculating  enemy.  Frederick  was  shorn  of  nearly  half  of  his 
dominions. 

8.  In  1812,  the  Prussian  monarch  assisted  the  French  in 
their  Russian  campaign  ;  but  on  the  failure  of  that  enter' 
prise,  joined  his  forces  with  those  of  the  emperor  Alexander, 
and  contributed  to  the  subsequent  overthrow  of  Napoleon.  At 
the  battle  of  Waterloo,  his  army,  under  the  valiant  Blucher, 
turned  the  fortune  of  the  day,  and  thus  essentially  contributed 
to  the  restoration  of  the  Bourbons.  Prussia  honourably  acquit- 
ted herself  in  this  great  contention,  and  regained  her  former 
territory.  Of  late  years,  the  Prussian  king  has  been  effectu- 
ally engaged  in  promoting  the  intellectual  improvement  of  his 
people.  Perhaps,  no  monarch  in  Europe,  has  done  more  than 
he,  to  advance  the  true  happiness  and  glory  of  his  kingdom, 
He  has  declared,  that  a  Bible  shall  be  put  into  the  hands  of 
every  peasant's  family  in  his  realm. 

§  It  has  been  conjectured  by  politicians,  that  Prussia  cannot  long 
preserve  the  rank  that  she  has  now  attained,  situated  as  her  territory 
is,  running  out  in  different  parcels  of  lands,  of  singular  shape,  and 
intersected  by  half  of  the  secondary  states  of  Germany.  It  is,  there- 
fore, further  supposed,  that  Frederick  only  waits  a  favourable  oppor- 
tunity, to  consolidate  his  territory ;  and  they  are  little  acquainted 
\vith  the  intelligence,  energy,  and  ambition  of  the  Prussian  people, 
who  imagine  they  will  be  backward  in  attempting  any  thing  which 
promises  to  promote  their  national  honour  and  security. 

GERMANY. 

9  In  the  history  of  GERMANY,  during  this  period,  we  aie 
principally  concerned  with  Austria,  its  more  important  mem- 
ber, in  which  the  imperial  crown  usually  resides.  From  the 

24 


278  MODRRN    HISTORY. — PERIOD    X. 

commencement  of  this  period,  there  was  no  war  of  any  con 
sequence,  till  that  of  the  Pragmatic  Sanction,  which  was  an 
engagement  of  several  powers,  to  secure  the  Austrian  domi- 
nions to  the  female  children  of  the  emperor  Charles  VL,  in 
case  of  the  failure  of  male  issue. 

§  Charles  VI.  died  without  male  issue,  1740.  The  house  of  Austria, 
in  the  male  line,  thus  became  extinct,  after  it  had  governed  Austria 
for  several  centuries,  and  the  whole  of  the  Austrian  dominions  now 
belonged  to  Maria  Theresa,  the  eldest  daughter  of  the  emperor.  She 
was  accordingly  raised  to  the  Austrian  throne  ;  but  the  neighbour- 
ing powers,  regardless  of  their  engagements,  supported  the  duke  of 
Bavaria,  in  his  claim  to  the  crown.  After  much  opposition,  the  lat- 
ter was  invested  with  the  imperial  dignity,  in  1742,  under  the  name 
of  Charles  VII. ;  but  this  prince,  worn  out  by  a  complication  of 
bodily  complaints,  and  by  a  long  train  of  misfortunes,  died  two  years 
afterwards.  In  the  mean  time,  the  queen,  though  nearly  overwhelm- 
ed by  her  numerous  adversaries,  finally  triumphed  over  them,  and 
at  the  peace  of  1748,  was  confirmed  in  the  possession  ,of  her  domi- 
nions, and  her  husband,  duke  of  Lorrain,  under  the  tide  of  Francis 
I.,  was  raised  to  the  imperial  throne. 

10.  Francis  I.,  was  crowned  at  Frankfort,  in  1745.     He 
continued  the  war  till  1748,  when  the  peace  of  Aix-la-Cha- 
pelle  was  concluded,  and  Maria  Theresa  obtained  the  succes- 
sion of  her  father.     She  had  all  the  time  been  sustained  by 
the  affection  of  her  subjects,  and  had  received  important  aid 
from  Great  Britain. 

During  the  reign  of  Francis,  the  "  seven  years'  war,"  the 
fiercest  that  had  hitherto  been  waged  in  Germany,  took  place  ; 
but  of  this,  an  account  has  been  given  in  the  history  of  Prussia. 

§  Maria  Theresa,  as  heiress  to  the  Austrian  dominions,  was  queen 
of  Hungary  and  Bohemia ;  and  as  the  wife  of  Francis,  was  empress 
of  Germany.  She  was  a  woman  distinguished  for  her  heroism,  in- 
telligence, felicity  of  temper,  and  captivating  condescension.  As  a 
wife  and  parent,  she 'was  unrivalled  ;  she  was  blessed  with  a  nume- 
rous and  amiable  progeny,  and  left  her  possessions  to  a  son,  who 
was  worthy  of  the  empire.  She  built  hospitals,  encouraged  com- 
merce and  science,  and  did  every  thing  which  humanity  and  muni- 
ficence could  devise  to  render  her  infirm  soldiers  comfortable. 

11.  Joseph  II.,  the  son  of  Francis  and  Maria,  succeeded 
to  the  empire,  in  1765.     He  seized  Bavaria,  on  the  death  of 
Maximilian  IT.,  the  elector,  1777  ;  made  war  two  years  with 
Prussia ;  reformed  the  church  of  Germany,  indulging  the 
protestants  with  the  imperial  protection,  and  curtailing  the 
authority  of  the  court  of  Rome ;  dismantled   the  fortified 
towns  in  Brabant ;  restrained  the  excesses  of  the  clergy  in 


GERMANY.  279 

that  country,  and  carried  on  a  disastrous  war  against  the 
Turks.  During  that  war,  he  died.  He  maintained  the  cha- 
racter of  a  most  equitable  and  tolerant  prince. 

§  Joseph  promulgated  a  decree  in  favour  of  the  liberty  of  the 
press,  which  had  been,  hitherto,  much  circumscribed  in  the  Austrian 
dominions.  He  even  permitted,  that  all  strictures  upon  the  throne 
itself  might  be  published,  with  full  security,  provided  they  did  not 
descend  to  the  character  of  libels  and  pasquinades.  "  If  they  be 
founded  in  justice,"  said  he,  "  we  shall  profit  by  them ;  if  not,  we 
shall  disregard  them  ;"  a  remark  well  worthy  of  his  character  and 
dignity. 

It  was  during  the  reign  of  Joseph,  that  a  series  of  unfavourable 
seasons  had  occasioned  a  general  dearth  of  corn,  which  was  more 
or  less  felt  in  all  the  countries  of  Europe ;  but  in  parts  of  Germany, 
the  scarcity  was  so  great,  that  vast  numbers  of  people  actually  pe- 
rished, and  the  peasants,  in  many  places,  were  compelled  to  unthatch 
their  cottages,  to  supply  the  want  of  provender  for  their  cattle.  They 
themselves,  in  some  instances,  subsisted  on  the  bark  of  beech  and 
alder,  mixed  with  a  quantity  of  spice.  A  part  of  this  time,  terrible 
inundations  overspread  the  country ;  several  districts  were  totally 
ruined  by  a  flood  of  the  Elbe ;  Hamburgh  was  in  a  most  critical 
situation  ;  and  the  great  suburb  lying  towards  the  Elbe,  was  so  com- 
pletely covered  with  water,  that  only  the  tops  of  the  trees  were  dis- 
cernible. 

12.  Leopold  II.,  brother  of  Joseph,  was  invested  with  the 
empire,  in  1790.  Though  powerfully  solicited  to  arm  against 
the  revolutionists  of  France,  his  moderation  and  prudence 
kept  him  aloof  from  the  vortex ;  but  a  speedy  death  cut  short 
the  promise  of  much  excellence.  At  the  time  of  his  death, 
however,  he  was  preparing  to  take  the  field  against  France. 

§  After  the  "  seven  years'  war,"  the  Germanic  body  remained  in 
comparative  quiet,  till  the  French  Revolution.  During  that  period, 
up  to  the  time  of  the  restoration  of  the  Bourbons,  Germany  suffer- 
ed more  than  most  other  nations.  Its  territory  was  the  theatre  of 
most  of  the  wars  that  were  waged  during  the  great  struggle.  This 
country,  however,  had  been  eminently  prepared  to  experience  the 
evils  which  such  an  event  was  calculated  to  produce.  The  Germans 
embraced  the  fashionable  prevailing  system  of  anarchy  and  irreli- 
gion,  with  almost  the  same  ardour  which  characterized  the  French 
themselves ;  and  their  country  was  early  inundated  with  the  deadly 
publications  which  proceeded  from  the  school  of  atheistical  disor- 
ganizes. 

In  nearly  all  the  wars  of  the  revolution,  and  of  the  subsequent 
period,  Austria  has  had  a  share.  She  has  generally  been  arrayed 
against -France,  and  often  been  beaten.  In  the  production  of  such  a 
result,  some  have  been  disposed  to  ascribe  more  to  French  intrigue, 
than  to  the  superiority  of  the  French  soldiers,  or  generals,  over  those 
of  Austria.  The  archduke  Charles,  brother  of  the  present  emperor 


280  MODERN    HISTORY. PERIOD    X. 

Francis  II.,  has  often  shown  himself  not  inferior  to  any  of  the  com 
manders  of  his  time. 

13.  Francis  II.,  son  of  Leopold,  was  crowned  in  1792.  He 
has  proved  to  be  a  prince  of  mild  virtues,  and  is  much  re- 
spected.     He  prosecuted  the  contemplated   war   with   the 
French  republic  ;  but  it  proving  unsuccessful,  he  concluded 
the  treaty  of  Campo  Formio,  in  1797,  by  which,  the  Nether- 
lands were  ceded  to  France.     This  was  the  first  in  that  series 
of  hostilities,  which  distinguished  that  period  of  convulsion. 

1 4.  Hostilities  were  renewed  in  1799,  in  Italy,  on  the  part 
of  Austria,  assisted  by  Russia  ;  for  it  was  evident  to  the  Aus- 
trian sovereign,  that  France  was  bent  on  aggrandizement. 
The  Russian  forces  were  commanded  by  Marshal  Suwarrow. 
The  war  was  carried  on  with  great  success,  on  the  part  of  the 
Austrians  and  Russians,  and  the  French  were  in  a  few  months 
driven  out  of  Italy.     Much  now  might  have  been  accom- 
plished for  the  salvation  of  Europe,  had  it  not  been  for  the 
jealousy  which  the  Austrian  court  felt  towards  their  ally. 

§  This  jealousy  was,  without  doubt,  excited  by  the  intrigues  ol 
France  ;  and  the  consequence  was,  that  Paul,  the  Russian  emperor 
recalled  his  victorious  troops. 

Austria,  left  single-handed  to  sustain  the  contest,  and  meet* 
ing  the  enemy  with  scattered  forces,  suffered  most  severely 
in  the  great  battles  of  Marengo  and  Hohenlinden.  Peace 
was  concluded  at  Luneville,  in  1801.  This  was  the  second 
war,  and  more  humiliating  to  Austria  than  the  former. 

§  During  the  peace,  Francis  formed  a  numerous  army,  and  fore 
seeing  the  ruin  of  the  German  constitution,  caused  himself  to  be 
proclaimed  hereditary  emperor  of  Austria,  in  1804. 

15.  The  Austrian  sovereign  had  been  mortified  too  severe- 
ly, to  remain  contented  at  peace.     A  third  warlike  coalition 
was  formed  between  Austria  and  Russia,  against  France,  in 
1805.     But  the  destruction  of  an  Austrian  army,  under  Ge- 
neral Mack,  and  the  fatal  battle  of  Austerlitz,  speedily  ter- 
minated this  war.    T^he  same  year,  the  peace  of  Presburgh 
followed,  in  which  the  Austrian  monarchy  was  far  more  hum- 
bled than  ever,  by  the  loss  of  some  of  its  most  important  pos 
sessions. 

§  A  part  only  of  the  emperor  of  Russia's  forces,  had  joined  those 
of  Francis,  when  the  battle  of  Austerlitz  took  place.  To  this  im- 
prudence, was  added  the  greater  one,  of  risking  an  engagement 
without  the  assistance  of  the  archduke  Charles,  who,  at  the  distance 


GERMANY.  281 

of  only  a  few  days'  march,  was  hastening  with  a  victorious  army 
of  nearly  one  hundred  thousand  men. 

In  1806,  several  of  the  states  of  Germany  were  united 
under  the  name  of  the  "  Confederacy  of  the  Rhine,"  of  which 
Napoleon  was  acknowledged  the  head ;  and  in  the  course  of 
the  same  year,  Francis  was  compelled  formally  to  resign  the 
title  of  emperor  of  Germany,  and  to  absolve  the  German 
states  from  their  reciprocal  duties  towards  the  empire. 

§  According  to  the  terms  of  this  confederacy,  all  those  states  of 
the  ancient  German  empire,  that  did  not  accede  to  the  act  of  federa- 
tion, were  excluded  from  common  protection.  By  this  means,  the 
French  emperor  united  Bavaria,  Wirtemburg,  Baden,  Burg,  Darm- 
stadt, Nassau,  Holienzollern,  &c.,  to  the  political  interests  of  France, 
and,  virtually,  raised  himself  to  the  head  of  the  German  empire. 

16.  In  1809,  Austria,  for  the  fourth  time,  took  the  field 
against  France.     In  this  war,  was  fought  the  sanguinary 
battle  of  Essling,  in  which  the  French  emperor,  almost  for 
the  first  time,  was  beaten  in  a  regular  field   fight ;  but  re- 
ceiving a  large  reinforcement,  he  crossed  the  Danube,  from 
which  he  had  been  driven  back,  and  fought  the  long  and  ob- 
stinate battle  of  Wagram.     This  battle,  lost  by  Austria,  ter- 
minated the  war,  and  the  conditions  of  peace  were  soon  after 
settled  "by  the  treaty  of  Vienna,  according  to  which,  Francis 
was  obliged  to  relinquish  a  further  portion  of  territory,  and 
consented  to  bestow  his''  eldest  daughter  and  child,  Maria 
Louisa,  on  the  emperor  of  France. 

§  In  this  war,  the  Austrians  had  taken  wiser  measures  than  before. 
Their  best  commanders  were  in  the  field  ;  the  archduke  Charles,  as- 
sisted by  the  archduke  John,  the  prince  of  Lichtenstein,  and  the 
prince  of  Schwartzenburg.  The  whole  strength  and  resources  of  the 
empire  were  held  in  requisition  ;  but  Austria  had  become  essentially 
weakened,  and  really  less  a  match  for  France  than  ever :  and,  be- 
sides, the  French  emperor  was  in  advance  of  the  Austrian.  Antici- 
pating the  event  of  a  declaration  of  war,  he  was  soon  prepared  for 
action,  and  joining  his?  army,  marched  at  once  into  the  heart  of  Ger- 
many. So  expeditious  was  the  French  emperor,  that  forty-five 
days  after  the  declaration  of  war  by  Austria,  the  battle  of  Essling 
was  fought  below  Vienna. 

17.  In  1813,  Austria  engaged  in  a  fifth  war  with  France, 
having  united  its  forces  with  those  of  Russia,  Prussia,  Great 
Britain,  and  almost  all  Europe,  in  the  invasion  of  France,  in 
obtaining  possession  of  Paris,  and  in  dethroning  Napoleon. 
On  this  occasion,  the  emperor  accompanied  the  army,  which 
was  commanded  by  the  prince  of  Schwartzenburg.     Then 

24* 


2S2  MODERN    HISTORY PERIOD  X. 

was  gained  the  celebrated  battle  of  Leipsic,  which  produced 
the  overthrow  of  Napoleon.  The  whole  allied  forces  were, 
in  this  battle,  principally  commanded  by  Schwartzenburg, 

§  When  this  junction  of  the  greatest  part  of  Europe  was  formed, 
Napoleon  had  just  returned  from  Russia,  having  lost  his  great  army, 
composed  in  part  of  troops  of  many  European  nations,  then  his  tri- 
butaries. Austria,  at  first  seemed  reluctant  to  take  the  field,  proba- 
bly on  account  of  its  family  alliance.  A  remembrance  of  former 
sufferings  may  also  have  had  its  effect.  But,  though  late,  the  assis- 
tance of  Austria  was  very  efficient. 

It  was  on  hearing  of  the  issue  of  the  battle  of  Leipsic,  which  was 
announced  by  Schwartzenburg  himself,  to  the  emperors  of  Austria 
and  Russia,  and  to  the  king  of  Prussia,  that  these  three  sovereigns, 
who  were  viewing  the  battle  from  a  distant  hill,  on  horseback,  im- 
mediately dismounted,  and,  on  their  bended  knees,  offered  a  tribute 
of  thanks  to  the  God  who  had  crowned  their  arms  with  victory. 

18.  On  the  return  of  Bonaparte  from  Elba,  in  1815,  Au- 
stria, for  the  last  time,  combined  with  the  other  powers  oi 
Europe,  to  dethrone  him,  and  succeeded.  At  this  time,  a 
new  union  was  formed  by  the  states  of  Germany,  designed 
to  secure  its  future  tranquillity,  under  the  title  of  the  Ger- 
manic Confederation.  This  was  signed  at  Vienna,  by  its 
sovereigns  and  free  cities  ;  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that,  as  it 
has  done  hitherto,  so  it  will  continue  to  prove,  a  powerful 
preservative  against  the  renewal  of  those  wars,  domestic  and 
foreign,  of  which  Germany  has  so  often  been  the  cause  and 
the  victim. 

§  In  the  new  order  of  things,  which  succeeded  the  downfal  of  the 
French  emperor,  Austria  manifested  a  due  regard  to  the  rights  of 
the  Germanic  body,  as  appears  from  the  nature  of  the  confederation 
above  noticed.  The  several  states  have  been  reinstated,  as  far  as 
possible,  in  their  former  possessions,  and  Francis  is  now  acknow- 
ledged, as  formerly,  the  emperor  of  Germany. 

Shortly  after,  another  union,  of  a  more  doubtful  character,  was 
formed  between  the  emperors  of  Austria  and  Russia,  and  the  king  of 
Prussia,  to  which  they  gave  the  name  of  the  Holy  Alliance.  The 
object,  in  a  great  measure,  seems  to  have  been  to  confirm  their  own 
power,  and  to  suppress  any  effort,  on  the  part  of  their  subjects,  to 
obtain  liberal  constitutions. 

The  improper  views  of  this  confederacy,  were  openly  displayed 
on  the  occasion  of  the  Neapolitan  revolution.  A  congress  of  the 
three  sovereigns,  in  1821,  issued  a  manifesto  against  Naples,  in 
which  they  plainly  avow  their  hostility  to  every  form  of  improve- 
ment. To  enforce  their  views,  an  Austrian  army  marched  towards 
the  territories  of  Naples.  This  alliance  may,  at  the  present  mo 
ment,  bo  considered  as  virtually  dissolved. 


POLAND.  283 


POLAND. 

19.  POLAND,  which  existed  in  independence,  dunng  a 
part  of  the  present  period,  was  a  nation  of  some  importance, 
for  several  ages ;  but  we  feel  little  interest  in  its  history,  till 
nearly  the  memorable  era  when  it  was  blotted  out  from  the 
list  of  nations.  Its  fine  situation,  and  rich  natural  resources, 
are  strikingly  contrasted  with  its  wretched  government  and 
institutions ;  nor  can  we,  perhaps,  find  a  spot  on  the  globe, 
where,  with  so  many  physical  means  of  securing  felicity,  a 
civilized  people  are  found,  that  have  been  involved  in  greater 
miseries.  Its  former  government,  which  partook  of  all  the 
different  kinds,  with  a  peculiarly  strong  infusion  of  aristocracy, 
and  with  a  weak  executive  power,  was  wholly  inadequate  to 
the  administration  of  justice,  or  the  maintenance  of  peace. 
Weakness,  anarchy  and  crime  within,  and  injustice,  trea- 
chery, and  oppression  on  the  part  of  others,  without,  consti- 
tute a  great  portion  of  the  history  of  Poland.  Yet  its  in- 
habitants were  not  without  some  striking  and  noble  charac- 
teristics. They  were  a  brave  and  martial  people.  Amidst 
their  degradation,  they  cherished  the  love  of  liberty  in  an 
eminent  degree. 

Till  the  first  division  and  plunder  of  Poland,  in  1772,  we 
find  a  long  list  of  kings  up  to  the  year  842,  A.  C.  But  we 
can  record  the  names  of  a  very  few  only. 

§  Poland  is  denominated  by  the  natives,  Poloka ;  which  is  a  Scla- 
vonian  word,  signifying  a  level  or  champain  country.  Such  is  the 
surface  of  Poland. 

In  the  history  of  its  sovereigns,  we  notice  the  name  of  Lech  V., 
who  is  here  introduced  for  the  sake  of  a  singular  maxim,  which  he 
used  to  utter,  and  which  must  be  very  convenient  to  a  king.  "  A 
sovereign  is  not  bound  to  observe  his  oath,  except  when  neither  his 
safety  nor  his  advantage  requires  that  he  should  violate  it."  His 
reign,  it  is  said,  was  the  most  inauspicious  in  the  annals  of  the  na- 
tion. 

Cassimer  III.,  the  Great,  formed  a  new  code  of  laws,  which  he 
committed  to  writing  ;  for,  before  his  time,  the  Poles  had  only  oral 
traditions.  This  was  in  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century.  Cas- 
simer is  said  to  have  been  a  model  of  integrity,  wisdom  and  pru- 
dence. 

Sigismund  I.,  whose  reign  began  in  1506,  was  one  of  the  most 
accomplished  monarchs  that  ever  sat  qn  the  throne  of  Poland.  In  his 
epitaph,  which  was  not  composed  in  the  language  of  exaggeration, 


284  MODERN  HISTORY. — PERIOD  X. 

he  was  styled  the  "conqueror  of  the  Russians,  Wallachians,  and 
Prussians."  and  obtained  the  still  more  honourable  appellation  of  the 
"  father  of  his  country."  He  applied  himself  to  the  improvement 
of  the  manners  of  his  subjects,  by  inspiring  them  with  a  taste  for 
the  arts  and  sr'.ences,  and  fortified  and  embellished  the  cities 

No  Polish  monarch  was  more  distinguished,  on  the  whole,  than 
John  Sobieski,  who  ascended  the  throne  in  1674.  Many  of  the 
rulers  of  Poland  were  foreigners,  but  Sobieski  was  a  native,  elected 
on  account  of  his  eminent  virtues,  and  military  talents.  He  was 
particularly  distinguished  by  his  wars  with  the  Turks,  and  his  vic- 
tories over  them.  The  assistance  which  he  rendered  to  the  house 
of  Austria,  when  Vienna  was  besieged  by  an  arrny  of  200,000  men, 
has  been  mentioned  in  another  place.  He  died  in  1696,  leaving  his 
country  in  prosperity  and  peace. 

Frederick  Augustus,  elector  of  Saxony,  was  chosen  as  the  succes- 
sor of  Sobieski,  after  an  interregnum  of  twelve  months.  The  fac- 
tious nobles,  who  had  been  kept  in  awe  under  Sobieski,  were  un  - 
willing  to  place  any  one  of  his  family  on  the  throne,  and  thus  showed 
themselves  unworthy  of  such  a  sovereign.  Augustus  made  war  against 
Charles  XII.  of  Sweden,  mistaking  utterly  the  character  of  his  ene- 
my. Being  defeated  and  overcome,  he  was  dethroned,  and  Stanislaus, 
through  the  influence  of  Charles  in  the  diet  of  Warsaw,  was  elect- 
ed to  fill  his  place,  in  1704.  After  the  ruin  of  Charles,  at  Pultowa, 
Augustus  was  restored  to  the  throne,  and  in  1773,  was  succeeded  by 
his  son  Frederick  Augustus  II.,  after  an  interregnum  of  eight  months 
The  reign  of  the  latter  was  generally  tranquil  and  peaceable,  though 
both  before  and  afterwards,  the  kingdom  was  in  a  very  unquiet  state, 
owing  to  political  and  religious  controversies,  as  well  as  foreign  wars, 

Stanislaus  Augustus  Poniatowski,  elected  in  1763,  was  the  last 
king  of  Poland.  He  was  the  creature  of  Catharine  of  Russia,  placed 
on  the  throne,  more  by  the  influence  of  her  armies  and  treasures, 
than  by  the  free  consent  of  the  Polish  nobles ;  and  in  the  subsequent 
difficulties  of  his  reign,  was  unable  to  manifest  the  independence  of 
a  sovereign.  He  was  finally  kept  as  an  honourable  prisoner,  at  Pe- 
tersburgh,  where  he  died,  in  1798. 

20.  In  1772,  the  dismemberment  of  Poland,  by  Russia, 
Prussia,  and  Austria,  which  had,  for  some  time,  been  secret 
ly  meditated,  took  place,  to  the  utter  astonishment  of  all 
Europe.  This  has  been  stigmatized  as  one  of  the  most  un- 
principled acts  recorded  in  history.  The  pretexts  of  the 
plunderers,  as  set  forth  in  their  manifestoes,  were  various ;  but 
they  were  doubtless  encouraged  to  this  act  of  violence,  in 
consequence  of  the  perpetual  divisions  in  the  Polish  counsels, 
and  the  mutual  animosities  of  the  nobility.  Indeed,  they 
purposely  increased  the  factions  and  difficulties  in  which  the 
nation  was  involved. 

§  Prussia  laid  the  train  of  events,  by  flattering  the  Russians  with 


POLAND.  285 

the  idea  of  giving  a  king  to  Poland ;  but  not  designing  that  Poland 
should  sink  into  a  Russian  province,  it  was  contrived  on  the  part  of 
Prussia,  to  make  the  Poles  dissatisfied  with  their  king.  This  was 
easily  effected,  and  in  the  course  of  two  or  three  years,  nothing  could 
exceed  the  disorder,  dissensions,  and  weakness  of  the  kingdom.  In 
this  situation  of  affairs,  when  the  Poles  were  prevented  from  vindi- 
cating their  sacred  rights,  the  unholy  deed  of  partition  was  perpe- 
trated. Each  party  had  previously  agreed  on  its  portion,  the  whole 
including  nearly  half  of  the  Polish  territory.  The  Diet  was  assem- 
bled, and  surrounded  by  the  partitioning  powers,  it  could  do  no  other- 
wise than  sanction,  by  a  legislative  act,  the  crime  which  these 
cowers  had  committed. 

In  the  division  which  was  made,  Frederick  seized  Polish 
Prussia,  and  a  part  of  Great  Poland  ;  the  emperor  of  Austria, 
the  kingdoms  of  Galicia  and  Ludomiria  ;  and  Catharine, 
Polish  Livonia,  with  a  part  of  Lithuania. 

21.  In  1791,  a  revolution  took  place  in  Poland;    a  new 
constitution  was  proclaimed,  which  opened  to  the  middling 
classes,  the  avenue  to  every  employment ;  and  the  crown, 
hitherto  elective,  was  declared  to  be  hereditary.     This  was 
done  in  an  assembly  of  the  people,  with  entire  concord.     But 
Poland,   despoiled   of  half  her  territories,   was   weak ;  and 
though  the  change  was  approved  by  all  Europe,  except  Russia, 
the  Poles  were  suffered  to  become  the  victims  of  the  Russian 
empress,  and  eventually  again  of  the  Prussian  and  Austrian 
sovereigns.     A  new  division  was  agreed  on,  in  1793,  which 
included  a  considerable  portion  of  the  remainder  of  Poland. 

§  Catharine  first  resented  the  act  of  the  Poles  in  framing  a  new 
constitution,  as  it  was  wholly  opposed  to  her  ambitious  views  in  re- 
gard to  the  remainder  of  Poland.  Frederick  William,  though  he  at 
first  expressed  his  approbation  of  the  measure,  yet  finally,  with  un- 
blushing effrontery,  consented,  with  the  others,  to  act  the  royal 
plunderer. 

22.  Before,  however,  this  second  nefarious  project  could  be 
executed,  it  became  necessary  to  encounter  the  hazards  of 
war.     The  spirit  of  the  Poles  was  raised,  and  under  the  brave 
and  patriotic  Kosciusko,  they  resisted,  for  a  time,  the  united 
force  of  their  powerful  enemies.     But  on  the  part  of  enfeebled 
Poland,  numbers  were  wanting,  which  could  not  long  be 
supplied  by  love  of  country  and  a  desire  of  vengeance  ;  and 
Kosciusko,  after  making  every  effort  that  man  could  be  ex- 
pected to  make,  was  defeated  and  taken  prisoner.     Under 
the  barbarous  Suwarrow,  Warsaw  was  captured  and  sacked. 


286  MODERN  HISTORY. PERIOD  X. 

In  attempting   to  defend  it,  nine  thousand  gallant  Poles 
perished. 

§  But  the  carnage  which  succeeded  the  victory,  was  greater,  and 
has  forever  tarnished  the  laurels  of  the  Russian  general.  The  houses 
were  pillaged,  women  violated,  children  murdered,  and  thirty  thou- 
sand victims  fell  a  prey  to  a  ferocity  bordering  on  that  of  savages. 

Kosciusko,  who  originated  from  a  noble  family,  had  been  a  dis- 
tinguished officer  in  the  United  States  of  America,  during  the  war 
of  the  Revolution.  The  Poles  elected  him  their  general,  and  he 
proved  worthy  of  their  choice.  Under  more  propitious  circumstan- 
ces, he  would  have  been  hailed  as  the  deliverer  of  his  country.  After 
his  defeat,  he  was  held  as  a  prisoner  at  Petersburgh,  till  the  death  of 
the  empress,  in  1797.  Upon  the  accession  of  Paul,  he  obtained  his 
freedom,  and  was  favoured  with  a  pension — an  act  on  the  part  of 
the  Russian  monarch,  which  received  the  applause  of  the  civilized 
world.  Kosciusko  has  since  been  in  America. 

23.  A  third  and  final  dismemberment  of  Poland,  took  place 
in  1795.  when  the  three  powers  appropriated  it  entirely  to 
themselves.     Both  Stanislaus  and  Kosciusko,  were  secured ; 
the  spirit  of  the  Poles  was  crushed,  and  the  robbers  had  only 
quietly  to  divide  all  that  remained  of  their  bloody  prey. 

At  the  congress  held  at  Yienna,  in  1815,  part  of  Poland 
was  united  to  the  Russian  Empire,  with  the  preservation  of 
its  own  constitution  ;  and  on  this  event,  Alexander,  emperor 
of  Russia,  assumed  the  title  of  king  of  Poland. 

RUSSIA. 

• 

24.  In  the  history  of  RUSSIA,  we  find  Catharine  I.,  the  wife 
of  Peter  the  Great,  on  the  throne,  near  the  commencement 
of  this  period.     By  his  appointment,  she  succeeded  him,  in 
1725.     She  reigned  only  two  years,  but  with  great  ability, 
and  pursued  the  plan  begun  by  her  husband,  in  civilizing  her 
people. 

§  Catharine  was  originally  the  wife  of  a  Swedish  soldier,  but  fall 
ing  into  the  power  of  the  Russians,  she  was  employed  in  the  gene 
ral's  kitchen,  where  ]YIenzicoff,  one  of  Peter's  favourites,  saw  and 
obtained  her.    Peter  having  met  her  at  Menzicoff  's  house,  and  being 
delighted  with  her  understanding,  at  first  made  her  his  mistress,  but 
afterwards  married  her.    She  obtained  a  complete  control  over  the 
emperor,  by  her  singularly  gay  and  cheerful  temper,  as  well  as  by 
her  respectful  and  kind  attentions. 

25.  Peter  II,  grandson  of  Peter  the  Great,  succeeded  her, 
in  1727.     He  reigned  only  three  years,  but  his  reign  was  a 


RUSSIA.  287 

scene  of  peace  and  prosperity.     He  was  extremely  beloved 
by  his  people.  . 

§  The  succession,  during  several  reigns  after  Peter  the  Great,  seems 
not  to  have  been  regular,  or  fixed  by  any  certain  rules ;  yet  the  prin- 
ces came  to  their  thrones  with  little  difficulty,  and  pursued  the  gene- 
ral features  of  that  wise  policy  which  Peter  adopted.  The  great 
object  constantly  kept  in  view,  was  the  advancement  of  civilization 
and  knowledge  among  the  people. 

26.  Anne,  duchess  of  Courland,  next  ascended  the  throne, 
in  1730,  the  male  line  of  the  house  of  Romanow,  to  which 
Peter  the  Great  belonged,  having  become  extinct.     She  was 
a  niece  of  that  monarch.     Her  reign'was  glorious  and  happy, 
and  comprised  the  war  against  Turkey,  in  1736  ;  the  con- 
quest of  the  principal  towns  in  Grim  Tartary ;  and  the  vic- 
tory of  Choczim  over  the  Turks,  in  1739. 

27.  On  the  death  of  Anne,  Ivan,  or  John,  only  about  two 
month's  old,  was  elected  emperor,  1740  ;  but  the  next  year 
a  sudden  revolution  took  place,  by  which  the  young  prince 
was  deposed,  and  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Peter  the  Great, 
was  proclaimed  empress. 

There  were  strong  points  of  resemblance  between  her  and 
her  father,  and  like  him,  she  seemed  to  possess  an  inherent 
capacity  for  reigning.  She  united  benevolence  with  great 
political  talents,  and  to  her,  Russia  is  indebted  for  much  of 
its  influence  in  the  affairs  of  Europe  and  Asia.  In  1757, 
her  troops,  in  conjunction  with  those  of  Austria,  entered  upon 
'  the  seven  years'  war"  against  the  great  Frederick,  and  her 
part  was  so  well  acted,  that  had  she  lived,  the  Prussian  mo- 
narchy would  probably  have  been  in  jeopardy,  as  to  its  very 
existence. 

§  Elizabeth  founded  the  universities  of  Petersburgh  and  Moscow 
and  decreed  a  new  code  of  laws,  called  Elizabeth's  code.  It  is  re- 
ported that  a  few  years  preceding  her  death,  this  princess  indulged 
in  the  most  unbounded  intemperance  and  sensuality. 

28.  She  was  succeeded,  in  1762,  by  her  nephew,  Peter  III., 
son  of  her  elder  sister  Anne,  and  consequently  grandson  of 
the  great  Peter.     He  was  at  first  somewhat  popular  with  his 
subjects,  but  they  soon  became  disaffected  towards  him.     He 
was  found  to  be  deficient  in  talents  and  strength  of  charac- 
ter ;  and  his  wife,  Catharine,  becoming  disgusted  with  him, 
and  inspired  with  ambitious  views,  is  supposed  to  have  been 


288  MODERN  HISTORY.— PERIOD  X. 

the  mover  of  the  conspiracy  by  which  he  was  dethroned  and 
murdered,  in  the  first  year  of  his  reign. 

§  Catharine  of  Anhalt,  a  *princess  of  Germany,  had  been  married 
to  Peter  several  years  before  his  accession ;  and  as  she  began  her 
political  life  with  crime,  she  seems  never  afterwards  to  have  been 
scrupulous  as  to  the  means  with  which  she  executed  her  plans.  It 
was  by  the  help  of  her  paramour  Orloff,  that  she  arrested  the  em- 
peror, and  procured  his  deposition  and  death.  Orloff  first  gave  him 
poisoned  brandy  to  drink,  and  then  strangled  him. 

29.  Catharine  II.,  who  was  immediately  proclaimed,  com- 
bined with  her  singular  depravation  of  principle,  a  powerful 
intellect.     As  a  woman,  she  was  a  disgrace  to  her  sex  and  to 
human  nature,  but  as  an  empress  she  was  great,  and  justly 
denominated  "  the  Semiramis  of  the  North."     Her  reign  was 
brilliant  and  long,  and  at  once  the  admiration  and  terror  of 
all  Europe.     Notwithstanding  the  great  extent  of  her  empire, 
she  sought  continually  to  enlarge  its  boundaries.     In  hei 
wars  with  Turkey,  Persia,  and  Poland,  she  secured  immense 
acquisitions  of  territory.     Her  transactions  in  regard  to  the 
dismemberment  of  Poland,  have  already  been  related.     In 
regard  to  Turkey,  her  object  appears  to  have  been  nothing 
less  than  the  possession  of  the  Ottoman  throne  in  Europe — 
an  object  which  Russia  has  ever  since  had  at  heart. 

§  One  of  the  victorious  wars  which  Catharine  carried  on  with 
Turkey,  cost  her  two  hundred  thousand  men,  and  200,000,000  rubles ; 
while  it  cost  the  latter  three  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  men,  arid 
200,000,000  piastres — a  war  scarcely  less  ruinous  than  triumphant. 
In  this  war,  Ismail  was  the  last  town  that  surrendered.  Twice 
were  the  Russians  under  Suwarrow  repulsed ;  but  at  the  third  at- 
tack, they  scaled  the  ramparts,  forced  their  way  into  the  place,  and 
put  to  the  sword  all  who  opposed  them.  Fifteen  thousand  Russians 
purchased  with  their  lives  the  bloody  laurels  of  their  leader,  who 
wrote  to  the  empress  with  his  usual  brevity,  "  The  haughty  Ismail 
is  at  your  feet." 

30.  Catharine  was  succeeded  by  her  son,  Paul  Petrowitz, 
1796,  whose  reign  was  the  reverse  of  that  of  his  mother,  and 
who  occupied  himself  with  trifles.     In  1799,  he  declared  war 
against  revolutionary  France,  and  sent  Suwarrow  into  Italy, 
who  met  with  great  success  till  he  passed  into  Switzerland, 
whence  he  was  recalled  by  his  sovereign.     In  1801,  Paul 
declared  war  against  England,  and    obliged  Sweden  and 
Denmark  to  join;  but  soon  afterwards  this  unhappy  monarch 
was  strangled,  by  some  conspirators,  who  were  officers  in 
tiis  court. 


RUSSIA.  289 

31.  Alexander  I.,  the  eldest  son  of  Paul,  was  proclaimed 
in  1801,  at  the  age  of  twenty-two.  His  name  will  descend 
with  renown  to  after  ages,  as  the  deliverer  of  enthralled 
nations.  His  reign  was  at  first  pacific,  nor  did  he  make  those 
efforts  against  France,  which  seemed  desirable  at  that  junc- 
ture. He,  however,  became  alarmed  at  length  by  the  am- 
bition of  Bonaparte,  and  in  1805,  formed  a  coalition  with 
Austria,  against  the  conqueror. 

He  was  able  to  effect  a  junction  with  only  a  remnant  of 
the  Austrian  forces,  which  had  previously  been  deserted,  and 
being  attacked  unexpectedly  at  Austerlitz,  he  experienced  a 
signal  overthrow.  He  then  withdrew  his  army  into  Russia, 
but  designing  to  assist  Prussia,  the  next  year  he  hastened  to 
the  scene  of  war ;  but  before  his  army  could  reach  it,  the 
battle  of  Jena  had  been  fought,  and  the  power  of  Prussia  half 
annihilated.  Russia  left  alone  on  the  field,  maintained  the 
contest  with  the  French  emperor  for  a  few  months,  during 
which  several  sanguinary  battles  were  fought,  without  any 
decisive  advantage  on  either  side.  At  length  the  fatal  battle 
of  Friedland,  obliged  Alexander  to  sign  the  treatjr  of  Tilsit. 

In  1808,  he  engaged  in  a  war  with  Sweden,  in  which  Fin- 
land was  conquered,  and  in  1811,  he  commenced  hostilities 
against  Turkey.  At  this  critical  time,  a  mighty  contest  was 
about  to  ensue,  which  was  to  decide  the  fate  of  a  great  part 
of  the  globe.  The  refusal  of  Alexander,  in  1812,  to  concur 
in  Bonaparte's  scheme,  of  excluding  British  commerce  from 
the  whole  European  continent,  highly  displeased  the  latter. 
Phis  circumstance,  concurring  with  the  French  emperor's  de- 
sire to  establish  an  universal  monarchy,  induced  him  to  march 
against  Russia,  with  all  the  force  of  the  territories  under  his 
dominion,  and  of  every  state  rendered  subservient  to  his 
views.  "In  that  way,"  says  Prof.  Heeren,  "a  storm  of  na- 
tions arose,  (about  twenty  were  united  under  the  standard  of 
the  conqueror,)  unparalleled  in  history,  since  the  expeditions  of 
Xerxes  and  Attila."  The  Russians  retreated  steadily  before 
the  French,  not  without  engaging  in  several  bloody  battles, 
in  which  the  French  were  victorious,  but  by  means  of  which 
they  were  continually  weakened. 

At  Borodino,  a  few  miles  in  advance  of  Moscow,  the  Rus- 
sians made  a  stand,  and  here  was  fought  one  of  the  most 
terrible  battles  ever  recorded.  The  loss  on  both  sides  wag 

25 


MODERN  HISTORY. — PERIOD  X. 

nearly  equal ;  the  Russians,  however,  retired,  and  the  French 
entered  Moscow.  But  they  entered  it  to  witness  its  confla- 
gration ;  the  Russians  had  set  it  on  fire,  and  thus  deprived 
the  French  army  of  its  expected  winter  quarters.  It  was 
obliged  to  retreat ;  and  the  animosity  of  the  Russians,  aided 
by  the  terrible  severity  of  the  weather,  contributed  almost  to 
annihilate  the  most  efficient  military  force  that  ever  invaded 
a  nation. 

§  Upon  the  invasion  of  his  dominions,  Alexander  soon  made  peace 
with  the  Turks,  and  this  on  advantageous  terms,  as  has  always  been 
the  case  in  the  wars  between  Russia  and  Turkey.  Alexander  might 
have  met  his  foe  with  an  equal  number  of  nations,  if  he  had  had 
time  to  summon  them  from  the  mountains  and  deserts  of  Asia.  All 
his  troops,  divided  into  three  armies,  by  no  means  equalled,  in  num- 
ber, those  of  the  enemy,  which  amounted  to  more  than  half  a  mil- 
lion. But  although  the  collection  of  the  Russian  force  was  only 
partially  effected,  yet  there  was  a  high  moral  preparation  in  the  spirit, 
both  of  the  prince  and  his  people.  After  one  conspiracy  in  the  be- 
ginning of  the  contest  was  detected,  and  its  authors  summarily  pun- 
ished, all  orders  of  the  people  manifested  the  most  determined  pur- 
pose to  resist  the  enemy,  submitting  to  sacrifices,  which  nothing  but 
devoted  patriotism  and  the  deadliest  hatred  of  the  invader,  could  in- 
spire. Alexander,  in  his  manifesto,  declared  that  he  would  never 
make  peace,  so  long  as  the  enemy  remained  within  his  empire.  And 
to  engage  God  and  religion  on  the  side  of  Russia,  one  entire  conse- 
cration of  the  empire  and  of  the  church,  was  made  to  the  God  ot 
armies.. 

The  constant  retiring  of  the  Russians,  without  risking  a  great  bat- 
tle, greatly  weakened  the  expectation  indulged  by  Bonaparte,  oi 
speedily  terminating  the  war,  by  penetrating  into  the  heart  of  the 
empire.  Fire  and  rapine,  by  friends  and  foes,  marked  the  course  of 
the  invading  army,  and  seemed  to  render  return  impossible.  Wilna 
was  occupied  the  28th  of  June.  The  French  advanced  with  many 
skirmishes  by  way  of  Witepsk  to  Smolensk,  where  two  of  the  Rus- 
sian armies  formed  a  junction,  August  6th,  while  the  Prussian  aux- 
iliaries besieged  Riga,  and  the  Austrians  were  maneuvering  in  Vol- 
hynia.  Smolenk  was  stormed  and  destroyed,  August  18th ;  after 
which,  Koutousoff  was  vested  with  the  chief  command.  After  the 
battle  of  Borodino,  the  solitary  capital  was  entered,  September  14th 
and  15th.  In  the  Kremlin,  the  ancient  residence  of  the  Czars,  the 
conqueror  took  up  his  head  quarters,  the  limit  of  his  expedition,  and 
the  grave  of  his  greatness. 

Moscow,  fired  by  its  own  citizens,  fell  a  victim  for  the  empire ;  for 
such  a  drama  demanded  such  a  catastrophe ;  but  in  its  pillars  of  fire 
the  first  dawn  of  freedom  shone  over  shackled  Europe  in  the  farthest 
East.  Instead  of  a  Capua,  the  army  suddenly  stood  in  a  waste. 
'  The  campaign  may  now  end,"  was  the  proposal  of  Napoleon  ;  "  the 
campaign  is  now  beginning,"  was  the  reply  of  Koutousoff.  A  spee* 


RUSSIA.  291 

dy  retreat,  before  the  beginning  of  the  winter's  cold,  might,  perhaps, 
have  saved  the  army ;  but  the  pride  of  the  conqueror  disdained  this 
measure,  till  it  was  too  late.  When  three-fourths  of  Moscow  were 
consumed  to  the  ground,  just  as  the  fatigued  and  debilitated  army  ol 
the  French  entered  it,  needing  repose  and  refreshment,  and  an  un- 
conquerable Russian  army  was  before  it,  it  was  impossible  for  Na- 
poleon to  stay  there.  Never  was  a  disappointment  more  sudden  and 
more  bitter.  The  retreat  which  he  had  declined,  he  was  obliged  to 
undertake,  and  such  a  retreat,  so  disastrous  and  terrific,  history  never 
before  recorded. 

32.  Alexander  pursued  the  enemy  beyond  the  boundaries 
of  his  empire,  and  thus  gave  the  signal  for  the  emancipation 
of  Europe.  He  first  exhorted  Prussia  to  war.  She  obeyed 
the  call,  and  others,  the  late  vassals  of  France,  sooner  or  later, 
joined  his  standard.  "From  this  time  the  storm  of  nations, 
which  had  gathered  in  the  west,  against  the  east,  was  to  be 
turned  from  the  east  against  the  west."  An  immediate  erup- 
tion was  prevented,  by  the  fortresses  and  countries  which  were 
occupied  by  the  relations  of  the  rulers,  and  the  certainty,  that 
Napoleon  had  himself  escaped.  But  in  the  nature  of  the 
case,  it  could  not  be  long  ere  the  subjugated  nations  should 
turn  upon  their  falling  master.  Austria  was  the  last  to  join 
the  alliance  ;  her  weight  in  the  scale  was  decisive. 

The  campaign  of  1813,  which  thus  began,  is  one  of  the 
most  memorable  in  history.  Never  were  more  battles  fought 
within  a  given  space  of  time,  and  never  were  greater  than 
some  of  them.  In  regard  to  the  battle  of  Leipsic,  which  fin- 
ished the  campaign.  Heeren  says,  "  If  the  mass  of  combat- 
ants, almost  half  a  million,  met  on  the  field,  makes  it  the  first 
battle  of  modern  times,  its  consequences  do  so  no  less."  The 
way  was  now  opened  to  France  itself,  in  the  signal  defeat  of 
the  French  emperor.  Accordingly,  in  the  beginning  of  the 
year  1814,  the  respective  sovereigns  entered  Paris,  dethroned 
Napoleon,  and  replaced  on  the  throne  the  house  of  Bourbon. 
The  renown  of  Alexander  was  now  complete,  as  the  provi- 
dential deliverer  of  Europe. 

§  This  prince  deceased  1st  December,  1825,  and  was  succeeded  by 
Nicholas  I. 

The  character  of  Alexander,  will  appear  with  advantage  on  the 
page  of  history,  and  his  success  in  saving  Russia  and  Europe,  from 
me  grasp  of  military  ambition,  will  consecrate  his  name  as  the  most 
fortunate  of  sovereigns.  The  circumstances  under  which  he  enter- 
ed upon  nis  reign,  were,  indeed,  calculated  fully  to  bring  into  action 
all  his  faculties.  Though  inferior  to  his  great  antagonist  in  native 


MODERN    HISTORY. PERIOD   X. 

intellectual  power,  he  was,  perhaps,  of  all  the  European  sovereigns 
the  most  fit,  by  his  indefatigable  spirit,  to  contend  with  him.  He 
appears  to  have  been  guided  mainly  by  a  principle  of  honesty ;  and 
ii  several  private  accounts  are  to  be  credited,  there  are  pleasing  in- 
dications, that  he  was  one  of  the  very  few  princes  who  can  be  called 
truly  religious.  The  most  inexplicable  part  of  his  character,  in  a 
moral  view,  was  his  suppression  of  the  Russian  Bible  Society,  which 
had,  a  few  years  before,  commenced  under  his  own  auspices. 
/'  Since  the  event,  which  we  have  mentioned  as  the  termination  of 
the  tenth  period,  the  affairs  of  the  Russians  have  been  generally  pros- 
perous. Besides  a  successful  conflict  which  they  have  maintained 
with  Persia,  they  have  rushed  into  war  recently,  with  their  old  ene- 
mies, the  Turks  j  and  although  the  present  is  the  second  campaign, 
they  have  been  met  with  so  vigorous  a  spirit,  on  the  part  of  the  lat- 
ter, under  their  Warlike  sultan,  Mahmoud  II.,  that  the  issue  of  the 
contest  seems  somewhat  doubtful.  Russia  puts  forth  her  whole 
power,  and  Turkey  fights  for  her  existence.  Russian  successes  have, 
of  late,  been  reported  ;  but  it  is  altogether  probable,  that  other  cam- 
paigns* will  be  necessary,  in  order  to  drive  the  Ottomans  into  Asia, 
should  the  other  great  powers  of  Europe  suffer  the  contest  to  con 
tiritie. 

ENGLAND. 

House  of  Brunswick. 

33.  George  I.,  Elector  of  Hanover,  had  been  proclaimed 
king,  by  the  regency,  on  the  death  of  Anne,  1714.  At  the 
commencement  of  the  present  period,  he  had,  therefore,  been 
on  the  throne  about  four  years.  Notwithstanding  the  divided 
state  of  the  kingdom,  the  accession  of  George  took  place 
without  the  least  opposition,  tumult,  or  sign  of  popular  dis- 
content. 

It  was  protestantism  that  gave  the  house  of  Brunswick  the 
throne,  and  it  was  protestantism  that  was  to  preserve  it  to 
them.  No  new  maxims,  no  new  continental  policy,  could 
therefore  become  prevalent ;  it  was  the  ancient  policy  of  Wil- 
fliam  IIT.,  modified  according  to  the  circumstances  of  the  times. 
Thus  harmony  was  established  between  the  nation  and  the 
government ;  and  fortunately  for  the  new  house,  there  was 
for  a  long  time  yet,  a  pretender,  who  did  not  permit  these 
maxims  to  be  forgotten. 

*  Since  the  above  was  penned,  a  series  of  splendid  victories  has  attended 
the  Russian  arms,  in  consequence  of  which,  a  peace  has  been  concluded  be- 
tween the  contending  powers,  on  terms  exceedingly  humiliating  to  the  Turks. 


ENGLAND.  293 

The  natural  consequence  of  this  policy  was,  the  fall  of  the 
lory  ministry,  which  had  made  itself  more  than  suspected  by 
its  conduct  towards  the  pretender,  and  the  restoration  of  the 

superiority  of  the  whigs. 

§  George  I.,  was  the  son  of  Ernest  Augustus,  elector  of  Hanover, 
and  of  Sophia,  grand-daughter  of  James  I.,  and  was  in  the  55th  year 
of  liis  age,  when  he  ascended  the  throne. 

The  Pretender,  who  was  styled  the  Chevalier  St.  George,  was  the 
son  of  James  II.  His  exclusion  from  the  throne  affected  the  public 
tranquillity,  for  a  time.  He  had  his  partisans  chiefly  among  the  to- 
ries,  and  in  Scotland  ;  but  the  several  attempts  which  they  made  in 
his  behalf,  were  ineffectual ;  his  intrigues  were  detected ;  his  forces 
were  ov<*rpowered  in  battle ;  many  of  the  leaders  among  the  rebels 
were  captured  and  executed ;  but  the  chevalier  had  the  good  fortune 
to  escape  to  France. 

34.  In  1720,  the  king  having  recommended  to  the  com- 
mons the  consideration  of  proper  means  for  lessening  the  na- 
tional debt,  this  proved  a  prelude  to  the  famous  South  Sea 
act,  which  became  so  ruinous  in  its  consequences.  In  this 
scheme,  it  was  believed  possible  speedily  to  perform  by  art, 
what  can  be  the  result  only  of  continued  exertion — the  liqui- 
dation of  the  public  debt ;  but  the  projects  of  the  South  Sea 
company  foundered,  and  thousands  were  involved  in  ruin. 
As  the  English  government,  however,  allowed  itself  no  des- 
potic steps,  its  credit  was  preserved  entire ;  and  it  found  itself 
able,  by  a  diminution  of  interest,  to  establish  a  sinking  fund, 
which  only  needed  a  better  administration,  to  effect  its  object. 

§  The  character  of  George  I.  was  that  of  a  wise  and  good  mo- 
narch, but  he  was  less  popular  than  he  might  have  been,  had  he  staid 
more  at  home,  and  manifested  less  partiality  for  his  German  domi- 
nions. 

He  died  suddenly,  of  a  paralytic  disorder,  on  the  continent,  in  the 
68th  year  of  his  age. 

34|  George  II.,  succeeded  his  father,  1727,  and,  like  him* 
favoured  the  whigs,  and  was  strongly  attached  to  his  German 
possessions.  His  character  was  that  of  an  active,  intelligent 
prince,  possessing  a  violent  temper,  and  a  love  of  war.  His 
administration  of  affairs  was  generally  equitable,  and  satisfac- 
tory to  the  people.  A  period  of  peace,  during  ten  years,  in 
the  former  part  of  his  reign,  happily  occurred  through  want 
of  a  plausible  pretence  for  embarking  in  a  war,  At  length, 
occasion  was  found  for  collision  with  Spain,  and  war  was 
declared  in  1739.  It  produced  no  important  results.  In  1744, 
England  declared  war  against  France,  and  assisted  Maria 

25* 


294  MODERN  HISTORY. PERIOD  X, 

Theresa,  of  Austria,  in  the  war  of  succession.  In  this  public 
contest,  the  principal  states  of  Europe  were  involved  ;  and 
among  others,  the  battles  of  Dettingen  and  Fontenoy  were 
fought ;  the  former  terminating  in  favour  of  the  allies,  the 
latter  in  favour  of  the  French.  The  British  king  command- 
ed, in  person,  his  army  on  the  continent. 

§  The  minister  who  guided  the  destinies  of  England,  during  this 
part  of  the  reign  of  George  II.,  as  also  during  the  principal  part  of 
the  former,  was  Sir  Robert  Walpole.  Concerning  him,  the  his- 
toric professor  of  Gottingen  says,  "  that  without  the  restless  ac- 
tivity which  is  often  called  greatness,  he  was  a  statesman  most  wor- 
thy of  respect.  He  introduced  uprightness  into  politics,  at  a  time, 
when  they  were  disgraced  by  the  profligate  Dubois,  and  the  false 
Alberoni.  But  his  maxim,  to  be  on  good  terms  with  all,  entangled 
him  in  a  web  of  negociations  and  relations ;  from  which,  only  an 
island  state,  like  England,  could  have  disengaged  itself."  Others, 
however,  speak  of  him  as  distinguished  for  the  system  of  corruption 
and  venality  which  he  practised  in  his  administration. 

35.  During  the  absence  of  the  king  on  the  continent,  the 
rebellion  in  Scotland,  1745,  took  place,  in  consequence  of  an 
effort  made  by  the  son  of  the  old  pretender,  for  the  British 
throne.  The  young  Charles  was  assisted  by  Louis  XV., 
and  having  landed  in  Scotland,  led  an  army  against  the  royal 
forces,  which  he  defeated  in  the  battles  of  Preston  Pans,  and 
Falkirk  ;  but  -in  the  subsequent  battle  of  Culloden,  he  met 
with  a  decisive  overthrow.  The  Stuart  family  made  no  more 
attempts  to  take  possession  of  the  sceptre  which  they  had  lost. 

In  1755,  war  was  renewed  between  France  and  England, 
on  account  of  encroachments  made  on  the  British  territories 
in  North  America.  The  war  was  not  at  first  very  fortunate 
to  the  British  ;  but,  at  length,  they  met  with  signal  success, 
and  the  result  of  it  was,  the  surrender  of  all  Canada,  on  the 
part  of  the  French.  It  was  in  this  war,  that  the  brave  Wolfe 
perished,  having  distinguished  himself  by  the  capture  of  the 
city  of  Quebec. 

§  In  the  expedition  against  Quebec,  the  courage  and  perseverance 
of  General  Wolfe,  surmounted  incredible  difficulties.  It  was  on  the 
Heights  of  Abraham,  which  he  succeeded  in  gaining,  that  he  fought 
and  defeated  the  French  army.  As  he  occupied  a  conspicuous 
station  in  the  front  of  the  line,  he  had  been  aimed  at  by  the  enemy's 
marksmen,  and  received  a  shot  in  the  wrist.  Wrapping  a  handker- 
chief round  his  hand,  he  gave  his  orders,  as  usual,  without  betraying 
the  least  emotion ;  and  while  he  was  advancing,  at  the  head  of  the 
grenadiers,  another  ball,  unfortunately,  pierced  the  breast  of  this 


ENGLAND.  295 

young  hero,  who  thus  fell  at  the  moment  when  victory  was  announ- 
ced.    His  death  was  mourned  as  a  national  loss. 

36.  At  this  period,  the  arras  of  Great  Britain  were  trium- 
phant in  every  quarter  of  the  globe  ;  but  in  the  midst  of  his 
successes,  the  old  king  suddenly  expired,  in  the  77th  year  of 
his  age,  and  in  the  34th  of  his  reign. 

37.  George  III.,  grandson  of  the  deceased,  succeeded  him 
in  1760.     He  was  then  in  his  eighteenth  year,  and  swayed 
the  sceptre  during  the  long  period  of  sixty  years  ;  the  longest 
reign  in  the  annals  of  Great  Britain.     It  is  distinguished  as 
a  period  of  important  events,  and  of  the  nation's  advance- 
ment in  power,   wealth,  commerce,  and  the  arts.     The  re- 
sources of  the  British,  in  their  great  contests,  during  this 
reign,  appear  to  have  been  almost  inexhaustible. 

George  III.  commenced  his  reign  at  a  favourable  period, 
when  the  arms  of  the  nation  were  triumphant,  and  when 
Chatham,  the  ablest  and  most  popular  of  the  British  minis- 
ters, administered  the  government.  His  ministry,  which  be- 
gan under  the  former  reign,  continued  from  the  20th  of  Octo- 
ber, 1756,  to  the  5th  of  October,  1761. 

§  "  What  five  years!"  says  Heeren.  "By  the  greatness  of  his 
own  character,  he  elevated  the  spirit  of  his  nation,  for  he  was  the 
first  to  breathe  into  it  a  confidence  in  itself."  Upon  the  resignation 
of  Mr.  Pitt,  violent  political  dissensions  arose,  which  were  afterwards 
increased,  upon  the  retirement  of  the  duke  of  Newcastle. 

38.  An  ill-judged  course  of  policy,  pursued  by  the  ministry 
towards  the  American  colonies,  gave  rjse  to  those  animosities, 
which  ended  in  the  separation  of  the  colonies  from  the  mother 
country.     This  colonial  war  commenced  in  1775.     The  elo- 
quence of  Chatham  was  arrayed  against  the  unjust  and  op- 
pressive measures  of  the  British  parliament.      But  his  coun- 
sels were  overruled,  and  after  a  long  and  distressing  conten- 
tion wilh  the  American  states,  Great  Britain  acknowledged 
their  independence  in  1783.     Thus  w;as  laid  the  foundation 
of  a  great  and  rising  empire  in  the  new  world,  which  bids 
fair,  in  time,  to  rival  the  most  renowned  nations  of  Europe, 
and  of  antiquity.      Antecedently  to  this  contention,  party 
spirit  had  become  general  and  violent  in  Great  Britain,  and 
produced  frequent  changes  in  public  men  and  measures. 

§  In  the  colonial  war,  France  and  Holland,  after  a  time,  formed  an 
alliance  with  the  American  government,  and  took  part  in  the  con- 
tention. Though  England  thus  lost  important  foreign  possessions 


296  MODERN  HISTORY. PERIOD  X. 

and  increased  her  public  debt,  (from  146,000,000,  to  257,000,000| 
sterling-,)  yet  she  lost  nothing  in  her  contest  with  other  powers;  her 
commerce  and  resources  were  constantly  extending,  and  her  spirit 
was  equal  to  every  effort. 

39.  Another  important  feature  of  this  reign,  was  the  ex- 
tension of  the  British  possessions  in  India.     The  British  East 
India  Company,  before  the  year  1766,  conquered,  and  took 
possession  of  the  kingdom  of  Bengal,  together  with  Bahar 
and  part  of  Orissa,  a  large  and  flourishing  country,  contain- 
ing above  10,000,000  of  people,  and  producing  an  immense 
revenue.     These  territories,  afterwards,  received  a  very  great 
addition,  as  the  fruits  of  several  wars,  which  the  Company 
had  with  the  natives.      Hyder  Ally,  and  afterwards  Tippoo, 
his  son,  distinguished  themselves  by  their  opposition  to  the 
British  encroachments,  but  they  were  obliged  to  submit  to 
superior  prowess. 

§  Tippoo  was  vanquished  by  Lord  Cornwallis,  in   1792,  and  de 
prived  of  one  half  of  his  dominions.     In  1799,  Seringapatani,  the 
capital  of  Mysore,  was  taken  by  Gen.  Harris,  and  Tippoo  was  slain. 

40.  The  Irish  rebellion,  in  1798,  and  the  subsequent  union, 
in  1800,  of  Ireland  and  Great  Britain,  were  also  important 
events  during  this  reign.     The  rebels  in  Ireland  were  princi- 
pally Romanists,  the  most  numerous  and  least  favoured  part  of 
the  Irish  population,  whom  the  spirit  of  the  French  revolution 
had  at  this  time  affected.     The  Act  of  Union  was  the  favour- 
ite object  of  Mr.  Pitt,  and  made  Ireland  an  integral  part  of 
the  British  empire.      From  the  danger  of  the  separation  of 
Ireland  from  the  British  sovereignty,  the  ministry  and  the  par- 
liament, both  had  been  urged  to  this  project  of  a  legislative 
incorporation  ;  and  in  the  anxiety  which  was  felt,  were  less 
scrupulous  as  to  the  means  of  securing  a  majority  in  both 
houses,  than  became  the  dignity  of  the  empire.  For  this  object, 
the  arts  of  corruption  were  employed.      The  effects  of  the 
union,  however,  have  been  mutually  advantageous. 

§  A  spirit  of  discontent  and  revolution,  had  been  working  for  a 
long  time,  in  the  minds  of  the  Irish  people.  This  was  inflamed,  by 
the  countenance  which  the  government  of  France  had  given  to  cer- 
tain insurrectionary  projects.  With  a  view  to  effect  a  separation 
from  England,  and  form  a  close  connexion  with  France,  several  at- 
tempts were  made  on  the  part  of  the  French,  to  land  troops  in  Ire- 
land ;  but  these  attempts  proved  abortive.  The  French  fleets  were 
either  dispersed  by  storms,  or  defeated  by  the  valour  of  the  British 
admirals,  Duncan  and  Warren. 

In  the  summer  of  1793,  the  spirit  of  revolution  had  arisen  to  such 


ENGLAND.  297 

a  height,  that  several  counties  were  in  a  state  of  insurrection.  Lord 
Cornwallis  was  now  appointed  lord  lieutenant,  and  took  command 
of  the  government's  forces.  He  engaged  the  rebels,  on  several  oc- 
casions, and  many  lives  were  lost.  Pursued  by  the  vigilance  of  the 
government,  and  despairing  of  foreign  succour,  they  at  last  submit- 
ted. Some  of  them  suffered  punishment,  others  emigrated  to 
America. 

41.  The  reign  of  George  III.,  was  particularly  distinguish- 
ed, by  the  wars  which  grew  out  of  the  French  revolution. 
This  great  event,  which  will  be  more  particularly  noticed  in 
the  history  of  France,  commenced  in  1789.  It  threatened 
in  its  consequences,  the  overthrow  of  all  established  govern- 
ments, and  deeply  convulsed  the  whole  civilized  world.  From 
the  commencement  of  the  revolution,  to  the  restoration  of  the 
Bourbons,  in  1815,  Europe  endured  more,  in  the  loss  of  lives 
and  property,  and  suffered  more  misery,  than  in  any  other 
equal  portion  of  time,  since  it  has  been  known  in  history. 

§  The  government  of  Great  Britain,  early  conceiving  a  just  alarm 
for  its  own  safety,  zealously  embarked  in  the  European  war,  with  a 
view  to  check  the  dissemination  of  disorganizing  principles,  both  at 
home  and  abroad.  All  the  Christian  states  in  Europe,  opposed  in 
their  turn,  the  tyranny  and  ambitious  views  of  France ;  but  Great 
Britain  only  pursued  the  object  with  undeviating  constancy,  and 
with  a  just  conception  of  the  character  of  the  common  enemy.  Wil- 
liam Pitt,  one  of  the  ablest  ministers  which  it  ever  had,  was  then  at 
its  head.  Under  his  auspices,  after  various  vicissitudes  of  disap- 
pointment and  success,  victory  crowned  the  efforts  and  sacrifices  of 
the  British  nation  ;  efforts  and  sacrifices,  of  which  history  does  not, 
perhaps,  record  a  second  example.  All  Europe  was  arrayed  against 
her  at  times  ;  yet,  so  far  was  she  from  being  intimidated,  or  dis- 
heartened, that  she  met  the  enemy,  whether  on  the  sea  or  land, 
wherever  he  was  to  be  found.  Her  greatest  efforts,  particularly  in 
the  former  part  of  the  war,  were  made  on  the  sea.  Here  Nelson,  the 
first  of  naval  captains,  gained  the  battles  of  the  Nile,  Copenhagen, 
and  Trafalgar,  and  almost  annihilated  the  maritime  power  of  the 
continent.  In  the  latter  part  3f  the  contention,  Wellington  conquer- 
ed the  armies  of  France,  at  Talavera,  Salamanca,  Vittoria,  and 
Waterloo. 

An  interval  of  peace  occurred  between  the  years  1801  and  1803, 
But  this  short  suspension  of  arms,  was  felt  to  be  too  long  for  the 
safety  of  the  British  government,  while  the  emperor  of  France 
seemed  to  set  no  bounds  to  his  ambition.  The  war  was  accordingly 
renewed ;  and  though,  on  the  part  of  the  French,  the  invasion  of 
England  was  threatened,  and  her  commerce  was  designed  to  be  ex- 
cluded from  the  whole  continent,  yet  one  of  the  projects  was  aban- 
doned, and  the  other  proved  fruitless. 

In  the  battle  of  the  Nile,  which  happened  August  1,  1798,  the  ma- 


298  MODERN    HISTORY. PERIOD    X. 

ritirae  fame  of  Great  Britain  was  established  beyond  all  competition 
The  French  fleet  had  every  advantage  of  situation,  but  Nelson  cap 
tured  nine  ships  of  the  line,  and  destroyed  several  others.      In  the 
battle  of  Trafalgar,  which  was  fought  on  the  21st  of  October,  1805, 
the  great  English  hero  defeated  a  powerful  fleet  of  the  enemy,  con- 
sisting o'  thirty-three  ships  of  the  line.    His  own  force  amounted 
to  twenty-seven  ships  of  the  line.    Nineteen  of  the  French  and  Span- 
ish ships  were  captured,  though  four  of  them  only  reached  port,  the 
rest  having  been  purposely  destroyed,  as  it  was  impossible  to  take 
care  of  them  on  account  of  tempestuous  weather.     Subsequently, 
the  greater  part  of  the  enemy's  ships  which  escaped,  were  either 
wrecked  or  captured.      The  day  of  this  great  triumph  to  the  Eng 
lish  admiral,  was  the  day  of  his  death.      His  person  was  much  ex 
posed  in  the  battle,  and  being  observed  by  the  enemy,  he  was  point- 
edly assailed  by  the  musketry,  and  received  a  mortal  wound. 

42.  While  the  resources  of  Great  Britain  were  called  forth 
in  the  s^reat  European  contest,  she  found,  or  made  an  enemy 
in  the  United  States  of  America.     The  long  depending  dis- 
putes between  the  two  nations,  respecting  commercial  rights, 
terminated  in  hostilities,  which  were  commenced  on  the  part 
of  the  United  States,  in  the  summer  of  1812,  by  an  attack 
on  Canada.      This  war,  though  not  very  vigorously  prosecu- 
ted, inasmuch  as  the  affairs  of  Europe  engrossed  the  attention 
of  the  British  ministers,  was,  nevertheless,  marked  by  uncom- 
mon acrimony.     It  continued  until  the  last  of  the  year  1814. 

43.  Daring  the  last  ten  years  of  the  reign  of  George  III., 
he  was  reduced  to  helplessness,  by  an  inveterate  insanity. 
In  the  meantime,  his  son,  the  prince  of  Wales,  acted  as  re- 
gent.    In  regard  to  the  great  contest,  the  latter  pursued  the 
course  which  had  been  adopted  by  his  royal  father. 

§  The  old  king  died  on  the  29th  of  January,  1820.  The  subver- 
sion of  his  intellect,  is  supposed  to  have  been  brought  on,  by  the 
sickness  and  death  of  his  youngest  daughter,  Amelia,  aided  by  the 
advance  of  age,  and  the  toils  and  anxieties  of  state.  Amelia,  when 
sensible  of  her  approaching  dissolution,  presented  to  him  a  ring,  re- 
questing him  to  wear  it  in  remembrance  of  her  affection.  This  ten- 
der incident,  created  a  sympathy  which  soon  mastered  his  faculties, 
and  he  gave  way  to  an  incurable  despondency.  He  was  a  good 
monarch,  seemed  to  be  guided  by  religious  principle,  and  was  ho- 
noured and  beloved,  as  the  father  of  his  people.  His  natural  endow- 
ments were  not  great,  though  he  possessed  good  sense,  and  a  culti- 
vated mind. 

His  successor,  the  present  king,  is  George  IV.,  who  has,  hitherto, 
generally  reigned  in  peace  and  prosperity  The  only  war  of  any 
consequence  which  has  occurred  during  his  reign,  is  that  which  was 
carried  on  a  few  years  since  in  the  East.  By  this,  the  British  pos- 


FRANCE. 

sessions  have  been  immensely  enlarged,  particularly  by  a  reduction 
of  a  considerable  part  of  the  Burrnan  empire.  To  the  above  we 
may  add,  the  single  battle  of  Navarino,  against  the  Turkish  fleet,  in 
connexion  with  the  naval  forces  of  France  and  Russia. 

FRANCE. 

House  of  Bourbon.  —  Revolution.  —  Napoleon.  —  Bourbons 

restored. 


The  successor  of  Louis  XIV.  was  a  great  grandson, 
who  ascended  the  throne  under  the  title  of  Louis  XV.,  at  the 
age  of  five  years,  1715  A.  C.  Contrary  to  the  will  of  the 
old  king,  his  nephew,  Philip  of  Orleans,  obtained  the  regency. 

§  Without  morals,  and  without  sense  of  shame,  the  duke  of  Orleans 
was  regarded  as  more  profligate  than  he  actually  was,  and  the  long 
continued  anxiety  respecting  the  life  of  the  young  king,  who  was 
sickly,  had  a  strong  influence  on  the  politics  of  the  times.  Cor- 
ruption of  manners  was  a  natural  consequence  of  such  a  regency, 
and  the  French  court  was  never  more  dissolute  than  at  this  time. 

It  was  during  this  regency,  that  France  made  an  abortive  attempt 
to  pay  off  its  debts  by  means  of  the  paper  bank  law,  and  the  Missis- 
sippi scheme,  connected  with  it.  These  were  of  no  small  conse- 
quence for  its  future  fate,  and  its  whole  influence  in  the  European 
political  system.  The  ruin  of  thousands  of  families  might  be  re- 
paired in  time,  but  it  was  the  arbitrary  money  operations  of  the  go- 
vernment, that  reduced  its  credit  to  irrevocable  ruin.  From  this 
time,  no  paper  money  could  be  issued  in  France,  under  the  old  con- 
stitution. The  French  financial  system  was  ever  after  in  an  unset- 
tled state. 

44.  The  minister  whom  Louis  chose  soon  after  he  came 
of  age,  was  cardinal  Fleury,  whose  seventeen  years'  admi- 
nistration, if  it  was  not  free  from  faults  in  the  interior,  secu- 
red tranquillity  to  France,  and  was  beneficial  to  Europe. 

The  reign  of  Louis,  which  was  fifty-nine  years,  was  too 
long  for  his  reputation  as  a  sovereign,  and  for  the  happiness 
of  his  people.  He  was  at  first  styled  well-beloved  by  them, 
but  they  had  occasion  eventually  to  lay  aside  that  flattering 
epithet. 

§  Louis  pursued  a  long  course  of  rapacity,  profusion,  and  tyran- 
ny, and  in  the  latter  part  of  his  reign,  he  became  infamously  licen- 
tious and  debauched.  He  was  the  slave  of  his  mistresses,  and  his 
govern  ment  was  a  government  of  mistresses.  The  last  epoch  of  his 
reign,  may  be  compared  to  what  has  been  mythologically  de- 
nominated the  iron  age.  He  became  insensible,  not  only  to  the 
disgrace  and  ruin  of  his  state,  but  to  the  loss  of  his  nearest  and 


300  MODERN  HISTORY. — PERIOD  X. 

dearest    relatives,    many  of   whom  deceased  during    the    latter 
part  of  his  life. 

It  is  said,  that  the  profusion  of  this  monarch,  led  him,  in  the  first 
instance,  to  undertake  the  scandalous  traffic  of  a  monopoly  of  corn, 
which,  while  it  starved  his  subjects,  enabled  him  to  support  the  ex- 
travagant claims  of  his  minions  and  mistresses.  It  is  at  least  certain, 
that  at  his  demise,  200,000,000  of  livres,  in  specie,  were  found  in  his 
private  treasury,  and  that  their  acquisition  could  be  traced  to  no  other 
source.  It  is  no  matter  of  surprise,  that  the  vices  and  errors  of  Louis, 
particularly  his  extortions,  should  have  produced  difficulties  between 
him  and  his  people.  These  were  manifested  in  the  disputes  which 
he  carried  on  with  his  parliaments,  and  in  the  opposition  which  they 
expressed  against  his  rapacious  acts.  He  conducted  the  controversy, 
on  his  part,  in  so  ill-judged  and  unjust  a  manner,  that  affairs  grew 
worse  and  worse,  and  fast  ripened  for  that  dreadful  state  of  things 
which  followed  under  his  unfortunate  successor. 

The  aggregate  of  the  reigns  of  Louis  XIV.  and  Louis  XV.,  is  one 
hundred  and  thirty-one  years,  which  is  unparalleled  in  history.  Du- 
ring so  long  a  period,  what  treasures  were  drawn  from  the  French 
people,  in  consequence  of  the  ambitious  wars  of  the  one,  and  the 
profusion  and  fiscal  mismanagement  of  the  other  !  And  is  it  to  be 
wondered  at,  that  they  felt  their  burdens  to  be  insupportable  ? 

45.  Louis  XVI.,  who  was  grandson  of  the  late  king,  as- 
cended the  throne  in  1774,  at  the  age  of  twenty  years.  His 
situation,  from  the  first,  Avas  critical  and  dangerous,  beyond 
the  common  lot  of  kings.  "With  a  temper  fitted  to  make  a 
people  happy  in  ordinary  circumstances,  he  was  ill  calculated 
for  the  evil  days  on  which  he  was  fallen,  when  his  subjects 
were  almost  maddened  by  the  oppression  of  their  former  mas- 
ter, and  now  unreasonably  jealous  of  his  successor. 

§  Louis  seemed  to  aim  at  a  prudent  and  conciliatory  course.     He 
early  made  some  removals  from  office,  that  were  designed  to  be  po- 
pular, and  sought  integrity  and  talents  in  his  ministers.     Turgot 
Necker,  and  Calonne,  were  successively  placed  at  the  head  of  the 
finances. 

After  the  efforts  made  by  France  in  favour  of  American  indepen- 
dence, and  the  consequent  great  increase  of  her  debt,  her  financial 
situation  became  alarming,  and  demanded  attention.  The  disclo- 
sures and  discussions  on  this  subject,  led  directly  to  the  great  con- 
vulsion which  followed.  There  were  other  concurrent  causes,  such 
as  the  corruption  of  religion,  and  the  abuses  which  existed  in  the 
church ;  the  despotism  and  profligacy  of  the  government ;  the  ine- 
quality, and  the  enormous  burden  of  taxation  ;  the  hauteur  and 
odious  privileges  of  the  nobility  and  clergy ;  the  notions  respectin 
liberty  and  equal  rights,  generated  by  the  revolution  in  America,  an 
especially  the  progress  of  philosophy,  freethinking,  and  atheism, 
which  the  writings  of  Voltaire,  Rousseau,  and  others,  so  effectually 
aided.  These,  and  perhaps  other  causes  combined,  threw  a  great 


FRANCE.  301 

nation  into  madness,  and  created  a  revolution  which  rocked  the 
world. 

A  state  of  things  arose  not  only  in  France,  but  among  all  civilized 
nations,  very  different  from  any  which  ever  existed  before.  "  The 
contemporary  world,  which  lived  in  this  period,"  says  professor 
Heeren,  "  calls  it  'the  revolutionary  ;  it  is  as  yet,  too  early  to  decide 
with  what  name  it  shall  be  denoted  by  posterity,  after  the  lapse  of  a 
century ;  probably,  the  constitutional ;  for  the  struggle  after  regular 
but  free  constitutions,  is  the  thread  that  guides  through  the  whole 
confusion." 

46.  Our  limits  preclude  a  minute  account  of.the  revolution 
which  was  now  about  to  burst  forth.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that 
the  operations  of  government  being  nearly  suspended  for  want 
of  supplies,  the  king  was  induced  to  convoke,  first  an  assem- 
bly of  the  notables,  next  the  parliament,  and  afterwards,  the 
parliament  and  notables  together ;  but  nothing  was  effected 
by  their  measures.  At  last,  the  convocation  of  the  states-gene- 
ral, May  5th,  1789,  was  resoited  to  ;  but  difficulties  arising 
between  the  branches  of  which  it  was  composed,  the  popular 
branch  soon  declared  themselves  the  representatives  of  the 
people,  and  constituted  the  National  Assembly.  Conciliatory 
as  the  language  of  the  king  had  been,  the  measures  of  this 
body  were  dictated  by  a  spirit  of  opposition  to  his  prerogatives, 

The  revolution,  properly  speaking,  began  with  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  ancient  prison  of  the  state,  the  Bastile,  14th  July, 
1789.  This  was  followed  by  other  excesses  on  the  part  of 
the  populace,  till  Paris  became  a  field  of  blood. 

§  The  Stales  General  consisted  of  three  orders — nobility,  clergy, 
and  the  "  tiers  etat"  or  commons.  With  the  commons,  a  small  portion 
of  the  nobility  and  clergy  united  in  calling  themselves  a  national 
assembly.  When  this  measure  was  adopted,  there  actually  remain- 
ed of  the  monarchy  only  the  name.  The  king  and  the  royal  family 
were  obliged  to  yield  to  the  popular  feeling,  which  demanded  their 
removal  from  Versailles  to  Paris.  Here,  however,  the  king  was  with 
difficulty  preserved  from  violence,  which  the  mob  seemed  inclined 
to  offer  to  his  person.  He  attempted  to  flee  at  one  time,  but  his 
flight  was  intercepted. 

The  progress  made  by  the  National  Assembly  at  its  earlier  sit- 
tings, in  the  work  of  reform,  was  manifested  by  several  important 
acts,  such  as  the  abolition  of  titles  of  nobility,  and  feudal  rights — 
the  exclusion  of  the  clergy  from  all  judicial  functions — the  suppres- 
sion of  religious  houses  and  vows — and  the  division  of  France  into 
eighty-three  departments. 

In  the  year  1790,  those  political  societies  began  to  appear,  parti- 
cularly the  Jacobin  club,  which  controlled  the  measures  of  the  As- 
sembly in  s*j  remarkable  a  degree. 

26 


MODERN   HISTORY. PfcRiUu  JL. 

47.  Although  Louis  accepted  the  new  constitution  of  1791, 
which  established  the  equality  of  all  ranks  and  was    other- 
wise  obsequious  to  the  Assembly,  yet  the  Jacobins   were 
clamorous  for  the  abolition  of  royalty ;  and   accordingly,  the 
regal  government  was  abolished,  and  France  declared  to  be  a 
republic,  on  the  21st  of  September,  1792.     This  was  done  by 
a  new  body,  called  the  National  Convention,  on  the  first  day 
of  its  meeting.     The  views  of  the  enemies  of  royalty,  were 
not  as  yet,    fully  answered.     For  the  king,  nothing  further 
was  to  remain,  than  in  the  language  of   Manuel  the  re- 
porter of  the   commune,    "  the  right  of  justifying  himself 
before  the  sovereign  people."     He  and  the  royal  family  were 
immediately  imprisoned  in  the  temple.     Soon  after,  he  was 
brought  to  the  bar  of  the  Convention,  and  being  condemned 
on  several  charges  brought  against  him,  he  was  sentenced  to 
suffer  death,  by  the  axe  of  the  guillotine,  which  took  place  on 
the  21st  January,  1793. 

The  fate  of  Louis  has  been  widely  commiserated.  His 
character  was  that  of  an  intelligent  and  inoffensive  man,  but 
he  wanted  firmness,  to  stem  the  torrent  of  faction.  In  death, 
he  displayed  a  manly  dignity  and  fortitude. 

§  Among  the  charges  alledged  against  the  king,  were,  his  having 
supplied  the  enemies  of  France  with  money  ;  his  being  the  author  of 
the  war  waged  on  the  French  territory ;  his  having  conspired  against 
the  liberty  of  the  country,  &c.  &c.  He  answered  the  accusations 
against  him,  in  a  self-possessed  and  dignified  manner. 

The  man  who  was  the  most  influential  in  procuring  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  king,  was  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  one  of  the  princes  of  the 
blood,  and  a  monster  of  wickedness. 

It  was  a  sublime  remark,  made  by  the  king's  confessor  to  him,  as 
he  mounted  the  scaffold,  on  which  he  was  executed,  "  Offspring  of 
St.  Louis,"  he  said,  "  ascend  to  heaven." 

48.  After  the  death  of  the  king,  the  "  reign  of  terror,"  as 
it  has  been  denominated,  commenced  in  France,  under  the 
revolutionary  tribunal  erected  by  Robespierre  and  his  associ- 
ates.    Factions  soon  arose  in  the  Convention,  and  their  mu- 
tual jealousy  led  to  the  most  fearful  consequences.     The  san- 
guinary excesses  of  monsters  in  human  form,  which  France 
for  a  long  time  was  doomed  to  suffer,  are  too  shocking  to  be 
described.     Besides  the  countless  massacres  of  the  rich  and 
noble,  and  generally  of  those  who  opposed  the  revolutionary 
fury,  the  parties  in  the  Convention  sought  the  destruction  of 


FRANCE.  303 

one  another.  Each  successive  faction,  as  it  triumphed,  was 
at  length  put  down,  and  made  to  answer  with  blood,  the  cruel- 
ties which  it  had  committed.  Thus  these  execrable  wretches 
became  the  instruments  of  inflicting  merited  vengeance  on 
one  another.  The  Convention,  in  its  acts,  outraged  decency, 
and  rendered  its  infamy  immortal,  by  renouncing  the  Chris- 
tian religion.  The  queen  of  France,  Maria  Antoinette, 
perished  by  the  axe,  16th  October,  1 793.  Madame  Elizabeth, 
gister  of  the  late  king,  was  beheaded  4th  February,  1794. 

§  The  human  monster  who  exercised  the  longest  and  most  terrific 
sway,  was  Robespierre,  with  his  villanous  accomplices,  at  first  Dan- 
ton  and  Marat,  and  afterwards  Collot  d'Herbois,  Billand-Varennes, 
Coulthon,  and  St.  Just.  The  party  which  was  opposed  to  Robes- 
pierre in  the  Convention,  called  the  Girondin,  fell  under  his  ruth- 
less domination.  Among  them  was  the  infamous  Orleans.  He 
smiled  at  his  condemnation,  and  made  but  one  request,  which  was, 
that  his  punishment  should  not  be  delayed  until  the  following  day. 
On  his  way  to  execution,  he  braved  the  insults  of  the  multitude, 
whose  contemptible  idol  he  had  so  long  been ;  and  perished  with- 
out the  smallest  remorse  of  conscience. 

Robespierre  and  his  party,  were  at  length  put  down,  and  of  all 
the  actors  and  victims  of  the  revolution,  he  suffered  the  most  in  the 
circumstances  of  his  death,  and  was  the  least  pitied.  In  attempting 
to  destroy  himself  with  a  pistol,  he  dreadfully  mangled  his  jaw,  and 
while  overwhelmed  with  indescribable  agony  from  the  wound,  he 
was  conveyed  to  the  place  of  execution,  surrounded  by  a  populace 
intoxicated  with  joy.  With  him  perished  eighty-three  of  his  as- 
sociates. 

49.  After  the  fall  of  Robespierre,  the  Jacobin  clubs  were 
suppressed,  and  in  the  course  of  the  succeeding  year,  1795, 
Oct.  26th,  the  Convention  closed  its  sittings,  having  been  the 
means,  in  all  probability,  of  more  human  suffering  than  any 
other  deliberative  body  that  ever  met.     Two  days  after,  the 
executive  power  was  vested  in  a  Directory  of  five,  and  the 
legislative  power  in  two  Councils. 

50.  While  these  transactions,  which  belong  to  the  internal 
history  of  the  revolution,  were  taking  place,  the  external  re- 
lations of  France  were  seriously  affected.     The  republic  had 
waged  a  desperate  war  with  the  adjoining  states,  from  nearly 
the  commencement  of  the  revolution.     These  states,  particu- 
larly Austria  and  Prussia,  took  the  part  of  Louis  and  his 
government,  from  natural  sympathy,  from  a  sense  of  danger, 
from  resentment  at  the  disorganizing  principles  which  the 
revolutionists   disseminated,  and  from  the  desire  to  restore 


304  MODERN  HISTORY. PERIOD  X. 

tranquillity,  and  reinstate  the  king  on  his  throne.  The  nu 
nierous  emigrants  also,  consisting  of  the  nobility,  clergy,  and 
rich  citizens,  who  had  been  enabled  to  escape  from  the  scene 
of  blood,  offered  encouragement  and  aid.  Accordingly,  seve- 
ral armies  marched  to  the  borders  of  France,  but  the  repub- 
lic, up  to  the  time  of  the  Directory,  not  only  sustained  itself 
against  the  efforts  of  its  enemies,  but  made  the  conquest  of 
the  Netherlands,  changed  Holland,  then  perhaps  the  richest 
country  in  Europe,  into  a  dependency  of  France,  and  inva- 
ded Germany.  Such  was  the  energy  of  the  republic,  tlutt 
alone,  without  allies,  it  had  at  command,  one  million  of  fight- 
ing men,  in  the  year  1794. 

51.  The  government  of  the  Director)7,  continued  till  1799, 
when  the  executive  power  was  vested  in  three  consuls, 
of  whom  the  iirst  was  Bonaparte,  the  second  Cambaceies, 
and  the.  third  Le  Brim.  The  Directory  had  been  in  several 
instances  unfortunate  in  the  field,  and  the  consulate  was  de 
signed  to  restore,  and,  as  we  shall  soon  see,  did  effectually  re- 
store, the  energy  of  the  government. 

The  series  of  hostile  efforts,  which  the  different  states  op- 
posed to  France  directed  against  that  country,  are  termed 
coalitions.  Including  both  republican  and  imperial  France, 
there  were  six  of  these  coalitions  with  which  she  contended  ; 
two  under  the  former  character,  and  four  under  the  latter.  In 
these  combined  efforts,  all  the  nations  of  Europe  were,  at  one 
time  or  another,  engaged. 

The  first  of  these  coalitions,  includes  the  wars  already  ad- 
verted to,  and  beginning  in  1793,  it  continued  till  nearly 
the  time  of  the  consulate.  In  this  coalition,  England,  Spain, 
and  the  Stadtholder,  were  included.  France  had  decuired 
war  against  these  powers ;  and  indeed  Portugal,  Naples, 
Tuscany,  and  the  Pope,  were  involved. 

§  William  Pitt,  was  the  founder  and  head  of  these  combinations, 
"  He  was  more  correct  than  others  in  his  estimate  of  the  danger, 
and  no  less  great  in  character  than  in  talents,  he  never  capitulated 
with  political  maxims.  Whatever  could  be  accomplished  by  gold 
and  perseverance,  he  accomplished."  This  war  was  not  merely  a 
conflict  of  arms,  but  of  clashing  elements.  An  express  decree  of 
the  Convention,  announced  the  introduction  of  the  sovereignty  of  the 
people,  in  every  country  which  its  armies  should  subdue. 

The  nature  of  the  warfare  carried  on  by  the  combined  powers, 
aroused  in  France  a  resistance  of  despair.  This  called  forth,  as  has 
already  appeared,  a  reign  of  terror,  with  all  its  cruelties,  and  all  its 


FRANCE  305 

vigour,  and  sanctioned,  at  the  same  time,  a  maxim  more  momentous 
and  fearful  than  a  series  of  victories — that  every  citizen  is  a  soldier. 

The  success  of  France  in  this  war,  was  signal.  At  length,  some 
ol  the  powers,  as  Prussia,  Spain,  and  the  grand  duke  of  Tuscany, 
withdrew  from  the  coalition,  and  made  peace  with  the  republic.  The 
coalition,  however,  was  not  entirely  dissolved.  It  was  held  together 
by  British  gold.  A  foreign  commerce,  embracing  every  quarter  of 
the  globe,  and  aided  by  an  oppressive  maritime  law,  oppressive  to 
neutrals,  supplied  Great  Britain,  at  this  critical  time,  with  wealth, 
which  no  other  nation,  ancient,  or  modern,  possessed  in  an  equal  de- 
gree. 

The  war  of  the  continent  was  carried  on  with  the  most  vigour 
against  Austria ;  but  the  fate  of  Austria  was  not  to  be  decided  in 
Germany ;  there,  the  archduke  Charles  repelled  the  armies  of  the 
republic.  It  was  to  be  reached  through  Italy.  This  country,  there- 
fore, became  the  principal  theatre  of  the  war,  in  1796,  1797.  Here, 
Napoleon  Bonaparte,  in  his  27th  year,  first  entered  on  the  splendid 
and  bloody  career  he  was  destined  to  run.  To  him  the  command  of 
the  army  of  Italy  was  intrusted,  February  23d,  1796.  One  cam- 
paign gave  him  Italy  ;  the  second,  peace.  This  was  the  peace  of 
Carapo  Formio.  Out  of  the  Austrian  and  Papal  provinces  in  Italy, 
a  new  republic  was  formed,  under  the  name  of  the  Cisalpine  Re- 
public. 

After  the  peace  of  Campo  Formio,  there  was  no  suitable  theatre 
in  Europe,  for  the  hero  of  the  day.  Egypt,  the  land  of  ancient  won- 
ders, was  invaded  and  seized  by  the  conqueror  of  Italy,  1798.  Pre- 
pared under  the  mask  of  an  expedition  against  England,  the  execu- 
tion was  yet  more  wonderful  than  the  preparation.  No  undertaking 
ever  created  such  immeasurable  anxiety  in  England.  Even  the 
great  naval  victory  at  Aboukir,  could  not  allay  it,  though  that  victo- 
ry produced  important  results.  England,  therefore,  was  determined 
not  to  rest,  till  Egypt  should  be  torn  from  France. 

52.  The  second  coalition  was  formed  in  1799,  by  means  of 
England  and  Russia.  This  was  a  consequence  of  the  victo- 
ry of  Aboukir.  Austria,  and  some  other  powers,  soon  enga- 
ged in  it,  making  it  a  more  extensive  combination  than  the 
preceding.  Prussia,  however,  maintained  its  neutrality.  Un- 
der the  mismanagement  of  the  directorial  government  of 
France,  one  campaign  gave  the  victorious  allies,  Italy,  Swit- 
zerland, and  Germany  ;  but  they  were  headed  hy  the  able 
archduke  Charles,  and  the  dreaded  Suwarrow. 

§  A  brief  account  of  the  situation  of  Switzerland  will  now  be  given, 
as  here  a  convenient  place  is  found.  That  country,  in  the  heart  of 
Europe,  had  succeeded  for  three  hundred  years  in  avoiding  all  parti- 
cipation in  those  great  disputes  in  which  the  world  had  been  involv- 
ed ;  but  it  was  destined  to  come  within  the  vortex  of  the  French  re- 
volution. This  country  became  agitated,  and  the  revolution  began 
in  the  Pays  de  Vaud,  December,  1797.  The  evils  of  the  federal  consti- 

26* 


306  MODERN  HISTORY. — PERIOD  X. 

tution  were  disclosed  ;  there  was  a  want  of  unity,  and  the  burden 
at  last  fell  almost  exclusively  on  Berne.  The  French  advanced  on 
two  sides,  with  bloody  fights  ;  Berne  was  overpowered,  March,  1798, 
and  the  other  cantons  were  conquered,  except  tiie  three  smaller. 
These  made  an  obstinate  resistance,  and  an  honourable  capkulatk  n. 
The  consequence  of  the  French  military  operations  against  Switzer- 
land was,  that  the  Helvetian  Republic  was  proclaimed,  April,  1798. 
Then  followed  five  unhappy  years  of  war  and  faction,  till  the  French 
act  of  mediation,  1803,  restored  to  the  Swiss,  their  federal,  but  alter- 
ed constitution. 

It  was  at  the  critical  period,  when  the  success  of  the  allies, 
and  their  approach  towards  the  borders  of  France,  excited  such 
alarm  for  the  fate  of  the  republic,  that  Bonaparte  returned 
from  Egypt  and  Syria,  to  Paris,  and  overthrew  the  directorial 
constitution.  The  directory  abdicated  ;  the  deputies  of  the 
people  were  driven  asunder  with  clubs,  and  Bonaparte  was 
appointed  regent,  as  first  consul.  The  most  import  ant  results 
ensued.  Factions  were  quelled  ;  internal  enemies  were  over- 
awed ;  tranquillity  was  restored;  and  new  energy  and  life  were 
infused  into  every  department  of  the  government.  From  (his 
time,  the  popular  sovereignty  was  at  an  end.  The  military 
force  of  the  nation  was  put  in  a  better  train,  and  a  scries  of 
victories  and  conquests  commenced,  which  have  no  parallel 
in  modern  history.  Before  Bonaparte  put  himself  at  the  head 
of  the  French  armies,  Russia  had  seceded  from  the  coalition, 
and  it  was  necessary  to  conquer  only  Austria,  on  the  continent, 
feebly  aided  by  Naples,  and  the  south  of  Germany.  The 
great  battles  of  Marengo  and  Kohenlinden,  besides  m; 
smaller  ones,  brought  Austria  to  terms,  and  led  the  way  to 
the  general  peace  of  Amiens,  1802.  This  peace  raised  Bona- 
parte to  the  zenith  of  his  renown.  He  was  soon  after  elected 
first  consul  for  life.  At  this  epoch,  he  might  have  ruled  Eu- 
rope, without  further  contests,  had  he  been  able  to  rule  himself. 
Absolute  sovereignty  only  could  suffice,  and  lie  was  according- 
y  proclaimed  emperor  of  France,  in  1804,  to  which,  the  next 
year,  he  added  the  title  of  king  of  Italy.  This  elevation  was 
brought  about  in  consequence  of  a  new  war,  which  had  com- 
menced the  preceding  year,  and  which  is  soon  to  be  spoken  of. 
§  The  peace  of  Amiens  was  enjoyed  throughout  Europe;  but  it 
was  enjoyed  only  for  a  short  time.  This  was  to  have  been  expected, 
when  the  object  for  which  the  war  had  been  waged  by  the  coalition- 
ists, viz.  the  freedom  of  Europe,  was  farther  than  ever  from  being 
secured.  Ever  England  desired  peace,  inasmuch  as  she  had  effected 
the  deliverance  of  Egypt.  This  was  with  her,  after  the  failure  of 


FHANCE.  307 

the  general  object,  the  turning  point.  She  never  could  consent  to 
see  Egypt  a  colony  of  France.  Egypt  was  restored  to  the  Porte,  in 
1800,  by  means  of  the  successes  of  Abercrombie,  and  others. 

From  the  conflict  which  has  been  related,  France  had  retired 
with  its  interior  well  ordered  and  tranquillized,  with  an  increase  of 
territory,  and  with  the  restoration  of  all  its  colonies.  This  seemed 
to  be  the  work  of  Napoleon,  together  with  the  rebuilding  of  the  al- 
tars, and  the  establishment  of  religious  liberty.  The  project  of  an 
universal  monarchy,  was  now  in  a  fair  way  of  being  realized. 
Such  a  project,  Napoleon  doubtless  had  formed,  but  it  was  defeated 
by  a  concurrence  of  providential  circumstances.  No  potentate  in 
Europe  ever  had  such  resources  at  command.  His  sovereignty  in  the 
inferior,  v;as  absolute.  Abroad,  France  extended  to  the  Rhine,  and 
beyond  the  Alps,  and  the  kingdom  of  Italy  fell  under  Bonaparte's 
sceptre  ;  the  rest  of  Italy,  Spain,  Holland,  Switzerland,  and  the  Ger- 
man states  on  the  Rhine,  were  kept  in  dependence  by  alliances,  or 
by  fear,  and  Hanover  was  occupied  by  a  French  army,  in  the  heart 
of  the  Prussian  monarchy. 

• 

53.  The  third  coalition  against  France,  was  formed  in  1805, 
by  England,  Austria,  Russia,  and  Sweden.  England  was 
centre.  A  general  rising  of  Europe  was,  according  to 
Pitt's  plan,  to  reduce  France  to  its  ancient  bounds,  and  the  in- 
dependence of  the  states  was  to  be  secured  by  judicious  regu- 
lations and  divisions.  England  had  been  at  war  with  France 
nearly  two  years  before  this  combination,  the  peace  of  Amiens 
having  continued  between  these  nations  scarcely  a  year.  The 
coalition  was  most  unfortunate.  The  power  of  Austria  was 
broken  at  Uhn.  and  at,  Austerlitz,  and  the  peace  of  Presburg 
Mowed,  2Cth  December,  1805.  The  expeditious  movements 
of  the  French  emperor,  overthrew  the  whole  plan  of  the 
allies. 

§  The  war  between  England  and  France  alone,  which  commenced 
in  1803,  was  brought  on  by  the  refusal  of  England  to  give  up  the 
island  of  Malta,  which  is  the  bulwark  of  Egypt,  and  with  that  island, 
the  dominion  of  the  Mediterranean.  France  would  not  concede 
these  points.  Though  these  nations  were  professedly  at  war,  there 
were  found  few  points  of  contact,  as  the  one,  at  that  time,  had  no 
power,  except  on  the  sea,  and  the  other  none  except  on  land.  Great 
Britain  swept  from  the  ocean,  all  the  enemy's  forces  that  could  be 
found  on  that  element,  and  recovered  the  colonies  that  had  been  re- 
stored to  France.  Before  the  conclusion  of  this  war,  it  was,  that 
the  famous  naval  battle  of  Trafalgar  was  fought. 

The  first  instance  of  a  royal  family  being  dethroned,  by  a  bare 
proclamation,  occurred  at  Naples ;  and  Bonaparte,  by  placing  his  el- 
der brother,  Joseph,  on  that  throne,  laid  the  foundation  of  the  do 
uiinion  of  his  family  in  Europe, 


308  MODERN  HISTORV. — PERIOD  X. 

In  this  war,  Prussia  obstinately  insisting  on  neutrality,  was  not  to 
be  gained.  And  yet,  without  the  accession  of  this  power,  it  was  im- 
possible to  make  an  efficient  attack  on  France  j  the  northern  half  of 
which,  was  protected  by  Prussia's  neutrality.  The  consequences, 
however,  of  the  peace  of  Presburgh,  revealed  to  Prussia,  as  well  as 
to  the  rest  of  Europe,  what  was  to  be  expected  from  the  gigantic 
ambition  of  Napoleon.  It  was  ascertained  that  neutrality  could  not 
be  preserved,  towards  one  who  wished  for  none.  Prussia  stood  dj- 
rectly  in  the  conqueror's  way,  and  its  neutrality  was  violated  with- 
out hesitation,  by  the  march  of  French  troops  through  one  of  its 
provinces.  That  power  began  to  make  preparations  after  the  war 
had  been  actually  decided  at  Ulm  and  Austerlitz.  When,  however, 
the  Prussian  monarch  found  that  according  to  the  treaty  of  peace, 
the  quiet  of  northern  Germany  was  to  be  purchased,  on  the  condi 
tion  that  he  was  to  cede  to  France  several  provinces,  and  occupy 
Hanover  in  return,  thereby  exposing  himself  to  a  war  with  Englanu 
and  Sweden,  his  embarrassment  was  extreme.  But  the  scales  turn- 
ed in  favour  of  a  war  with  France,  and  thus  arose  a  new  combi- 
nation, though  the  old  one  could  hardly  be  said  to  have  ceased,  since 
Russia  had  not  wholly  retired  from  the  field. 

54.  A  fourth  coalition,  as  it  may  perhaps  be  numbered, 
was  soon  matured,  1806,  which  included  Prussia,  Russia, 
Austria,  Sweden  and  England.  Prussia,  which  began  the 
war,  wras  utterly  overthrown  by  one  battle,  that  at  Jena  and 
Anerstadt.  Its  capital  was  entered,  and  here  Bonaparte  is- 
sued the  Berlin  Decree,  announcing  the  blockade  of  the  British 
islands.  The  conqueror's  army  passed  into  Poland,  and  the 
war  was  thus  transferred  from  the  banks  of  the  Soal,  to  those 
of  the  Vistula,  where  Russia  was  under  the  necessity  of  de- 
fending its  frontiers.  In  the  course  of  this  war,  were  fought 
the  obstinate  and  bloody  battles  of  Pultusk,  Eylau,  and 
Friedland,  with  the  Russians.  The  last  only  was  decisive, 
and  led  to  a  peace,  which  was  concluded  at  Tilsit,  7th  July, 
1807.  Peace  was  concluded  two  dnys  after  with  Prussia,  by 
which  about  one  half  of  the  monarchy  was  returned,  as  a 
gift  of  charity,  and  this  once  potent  nation,  was  reduced  to  a 
state  of  second  rank.  Russia  gained  a  small  accession  of 
territory,  but  both  nations  agreed  to  close  their  harbours  and 
countries  against  British  navigation  and  trade.  All  was 
now  French  law  or  influence  throughout  continental  Europe, 
and  all  was  made  to  bear  against  Britain. 

§  By  the  peace  of  Tilsit,  Russia  had  been  made  beforehand,  not 
merely  a  spectator,  but  an  active  participator  in  the  project  of  crush 
ing  Britain,  by  excluding  it  from  all  trade  and  communication  with 
the  continent.    This  was  done  by  the  secret  articles  of  the  peace. 


FRANCE.  309 

England,  however,  anticipated  the  enemy's  dependance  on  the  fleet  of 
Denmark,  and  effected  its  surrender,  by  the  bombardment  of  Copen- 
hagen. One  consequence  of  this  act  was,  a  declaration  of  war  by 
Russia  against  England,  and  another  was  an  alliance  of  Denmark 
with  France,  which  was  to  open  to  this  latter  power  the  road  to 
Sweden. 

The  Berlin  Decree  was  met  by  the  British  Orders  in  Council 
which  prohibited  every  ship  from  entering  any  French  port,  or  any 
port  under  French  influence,  under  pain  of  confiscation.  This  was 
followed  by  the  Decree  of  Warsaw,  declaring  that  all  British  com- 
modities, in  the  Hanseatic  cities,  were  confiscated,  without  respect  oi 
owners.  This  decree  was  retaliated  by  a  strict  blockade  of  the  Elbe 
and  the  Weser.  and  by  the  Order  in  Council,  declaring  in  blockade, 
ail  ports  from  which  the  British  fla{.  was  excluded,  and  that  all  ships 
proceeding  thither,  should  be  captu  ed,  unless  they  had  touched  at  a 
British  port,  and  paid  a  duty.  This  was  answered  by  the  Decree  ol 
Milan,  by  which  every  ship  which  should  submit  to  these  conditions, 
was  declared  denationalized,  and  a  lawful  prize.  Thus,  neutral  pow- 
ers could  have  no  navigation.  Afterwards,  the  mad  Decree  of  Fon- 
tainebleau,  consigned  to  the  flames,  all  British  manufactures  from 
Naples  to  Holland,  and  from  Spain  to  Germany.  But  Europe  could 
not  subsist  under  the  operation  of  such  measures.  Industry  was 
fatally  paralized. 

55.  Napoleon,  triumphant  and  powerful,  now  wished  to 
enlarge  the  dominion  of  his  family,  by  appropriating  to  his 
remaining  brothers,  the  thrones  of  Portugal  and  Spain. 
Spain  was  destined  to  receive  his  brother  Joseph,  whom  Mu- 
rat,  the  "emperor's  brother-in-law,  was  to  succeed  in  the  king- 
dom of  Naples.  Louis  Bonaparte  had  before  been  made 
king  of  Holland,  and  Jerome,  king  of  Westphalia.  His  de- 
sign on  Portugal  failed,  though  its  throne  was  prostrated.  A 
new  and  greater  throne  arose,  on  the  other  side  of  the  ocean. 
Under  a  British  convoy,  the  royal  house  of  Portugal  emi- 

•'    /  •/  O 

grated  to  Brazil.  His  design  on  Spain  succeeded  for  a  time, 
by  his  having  artfully  secured  the  person  of  the  Spanish  mon- 
arch, and  compelling  him  to  resign  his  crown,  in  favour  of 
Joseph  Bonaparte,  20th  June,  1808. 

This  act,  to  say  nothing  of  its  moral  character,  was  a  political 
fault  on  the  part  of  Napoleon ;  the  first  fatal  step  which  he  took, 
towards  his  subsequent  clownfal.  He  had  already  the  con- 
trol of  Spain,  by  his  influence.  "  It  was  done  without  a 
knowledge  of  the  country  and  nation  :  an  universal  insur- 
rection having  ensued,  it  opened  the  abyss  which  devoured 
alike,  the  French  armies,  and  the  French  finances ;  and  it 
gave  England  a  theatre  for  war.  But  it  taught  Europe  that 


310 


MODERN    HISTORY. — PERIOD    X. 


'he  people  are  more  powerful  than  mercenary  armies,  and  it 
was  destined  to  give  freedom  to  another  quarter  of  the  globe." 
The  British,  who  were  called  to  the  aid  of  Spain,  in  connex- 
ion with  the  Spanish  forces,  carried  on  the  war  from  1808, 
to  1813.  Many  battles  were  fought,  in  which  the  English- 
Spanish  troops  were  generally  victorious.  Here  "  the  Marl- 
oorough  of  the  nineteenth  century,"  began  his  brilliant  career. 
The  French  were  eventually  driven  out  of  the  country. 

56.  While  the  war  in  Spain,  employed  the  best  forces  of 
the  French  empire,  the  insatiable  conqueror  meditated  a  new, 
greater,  and  more  formidable  war.      That  was  the  war  with 
Russia,  in  1812  ;  a  war  which  decided  the  destiny  of  Europe. 
It  is  unnecessary  to  repeat  what  has  already  been  said  con- 
cerning this  terrible  conflict,  in  the  history  of  Russia. 

57.  After  Napoleon's  defeat,  he  fled  to  Paris,  and  raising 
another  army,  he  hoped  to  regain  the  dominion  which  he 
had  lost  in  the  east.     To  oppose  him,  the  Fifth  Coalition 
was  formed,  consisting  of  Russia,  Prussia,  Austria,  a  part  of 
the  Confederation  of  the  Rhine,  and  Sweden.     Of  this  con- 
flict also,  no  particular  mention  need  be  made  here,  since  the 
details  have  been  given  elsewhere.     It  may  only  be  said,  that 
the  allies  carried  the  war  into  the  heart  of  France-  -that 
after  much  and  strenuous  fighting,  they  entered  Paris,  which 
capitulated,  30th  March,  1814 — and  that  with  the  capital, 
France  was  conquered,   because  in  France,  the  capital  is 
every  thing. 

58.  The  results  of  these  successes  of  the  allied  powers, 
were  important,  and  great  changes  took  place.     The  situa- 
tion of  Napoleon  becoming  extremely  critical,  he  abdicated 
the  throne  of  France,   and  was  removed  to  the  island  of 
Elba.     His  mighty  empire,  reared  by  a  military  despotism, 
fell  into  ruins.     And  Louis  XVIII. ,  after  an  absence  of  twen- 
ty-three years  from  his  kingdom,  returned  and  took  possession 
of  his  rightful  throne. 

§  Bonaparte  had  it  in  his  power,  while  the  allies  held  a  congress 
at  Chatillon,  to  preserve  the  throne  and  empire,  had  he  been  satis- 
fied with  ancient  France.  But  it  was  fortunate  that  he  demanded 
too  much,  and  even  this,  as  an  intercepted  letter  of  his  minister, 
Maret,  afterwards  showed,  was  only  a  deception.  After  his  defeats 
in  defending  France,  the  senate,  lately  his  slave,  openly  proposed  the 
deposition  of  Bonaparte,  and  he  himself,  not  without  many  useless 
attempts  in  favour  of  his  son,  descended  from  the  falling  throne 


PRANCE.  311 

having  executed  an  unconditional  abdication  on  the  part  of  himself 
and  his  heirs,  1st  April,  1814.  He  was  soon  after  escorted  to  Elba, 
which  he  received  with  full  sovereignty,  with  a  pension  of  two  and 
a  hall"  millions  from  the  revenues  of  France,  and  with  a  body  guard 
of  four  hundred  men. 

Louis  XVIII.  had  spent  his  time  in  Italy,  Germany,  Russia,  and 
finally  England.  The  same  month  that  restored  to  France  her  king, 
beheld  three  other  princes,  who  had  been  driven  from  their  thrones, 
ascend  them  again. — Pius  VII.,  returned  to  Rome,  Ferdinand  VII. 
to  Madrid,  and  Victor  Emanuel  to  Turin. 

59.  To  restore  the  political  system  of  Europe,  which  had 
been  so  completely  subverted,  a  General  Congress  was  as- 
sembled at  Vienna,  1st  November,  1814.  Six  of  the  crowned 
heads  of  Europe  were  present,  united  in  peace  as  in  war, 
with  a  long  and  splendid  list  of  princes,  ambassadors,  and 
ministers.  While  they  were  engaged  in  their  difficult  and 
important  deliberations,  an  event  occurred  which  was  the 
cause  of  the  sixth  and  last  coalition  of  the  European  powers. 
"  The  man  of  destiny"  again  made  his  appearance  on  the 
bloody  arena  where  he  had  lately  acted  so  conspicuous  a  part, 
but  whence,  it  was  hoped,  he  had  been  excluded  forever. 
Having  escaped  from  Elba,  Bonaparte,  after  an  unparralleled 
adventure,  reached  Paris,  and  re-seated  himself  on  the  im- 
perial throne.  A  temporary  confusion  ensued,  but  the  result 
proved  that  the  army,  and  not  the  nation,  was  the  support  of 
that  throne.  The  great  day  of  Waterloo,  the  18th  June, 
1815,  buried  the  hopes  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte  in  the  dust. 

§  The  French  king,  upon  Bonaparte's  return  to  Paris,  withdrew  to 
Lille,  and  afterwards  to  Ghent.  He  came  back  to  his  capital  after 
an  absence  of  one  hundred  days,  and  was  the  second  time  seated  on 
his  throne. 

In  the  whole  career  of  Bonaparte,  nothing  was  more  extraordina- 
ry than  his  progress  through  France,  and  re-occupancy  of  the 
throne.  He  landed  at  Cannes,  March  1st,  1815,  and  in  twenty  days 
from  that  time,  accompanied  with  about  fifteen  hundred  men,  he 
reached,  though  without  opposition,  the  scene  of  his  former  triumphs. 
No  blood  was  spilt.  The  previous  conspiracy  seems  not  to  have 
been  very  extensive,  because  the  emperor  could,  and  of  course  did, 
rely  on  the  assistance' of  the  troops.  They  received  him  witli  en- 
thusiastic shouts.  The  nation  was  held  in  mute  astonishment  for  a 
time;  but  it  soon  became  evident  that  he  had  lost  in  a  measure  his 
influence  over  it.  Instead  of  ruling  the  parties  as  formerly,  he 
se^ms  to  have  been  swayed  by  them.  So  much  the  more  energetic 
were  his  warlike  preparations — he  could  now  indulge  no  hope  of 
peace. 

It  was  a  happy  circumstance  that  the  news  of  Napoleon's  return, 


312  MODERN  HISTORY.— PERIOD  JL. 

reached  the  congress  of  Vienna,  while  still  in  session.  .  The  most 
prompt  and  decisive  measures  were  adopted.  By  a  special  act,  he 
was  declared  the  enemy  of  the  nations,  and  to  have  forfeited  tlu- 
protection  of  the  laws.  Almost  every  nation  in  Europe,  small  and 
great,  combined  against  the  usurper.  The  sum  of  all  the  contin- 
gents to  be  furnished,  amounted  to  1,057,400  fighting  men.  A  Bri- 
tish-German and  a  Prussian  army  were  assembled  with  the  utmost 
speed,  under  Wellington  and  Blucher.  Napoleon  was  equally  active, 
and  pressed  forward  across  the  boundaries  with  170,000  men,  15th 
June,  1815.  lie  first  met  "the  gray  hero"  (Blucher,)  at  Ligny, 
who,  after  a  bold  resistance  was  forced  back  to  Wavre.  Meanwhile 
the  army  of  Wellington  was  drawn  up  at  Waterloo.  Napoleon 
commenced  the  attack  at  noon,  of  the  18th  June,  with  a  great  su- 
periority. After  an  awful  conflict,  the  victory  was  fluctuating  at 
evening,  when  Blucher  appeared  with  his  auxiliaries,  at  the  right 
crisis,  and  decided  the  battle. 

Bonaparte  fled  to  Paris,  abdicated  anew  in  favour  of  his  son,  ana 
after  fruitless  attempts  to  escape  to  America,  he  surrendered  himselt 
to  a  British  ship  of  the  line ;  but  instead  of  being  permitted  to  land 
in  England,  as  he  wished,  he  was  transported  to  the  island  of  St 
Helena,  Oct.  16th,  and  was  detained  as  a  prisoner  of  war  till  his 
death,  which  happened  5th  May,  1821. 

Thus  "  on  an  island  rock  in  the  midst  of  the  ocean,  died,  almost 
unnoticed,  the  man,  whose  name  but'  a  short  space  before,  had  filled 
the  world.  His  plans  were  wrecked  ;  from  the  thraldom,  which  he 
was  preparing  for  the  nations,  there  sprang  liberty  in  more  than 
one  quarter  of  the  globe.  Unknown  to  himself,  he  was  but  the  in- 
strument of  a  higher  power;  for  his- objects  were  not  its  objects. 
Whatever  judgement  posterity  may  pass  on  him,  universal  his 
tcry  can  view  him  only  from  this  point."  He  was  the  author  of 
several  valuable  institutions,  and  effected  some  propitious,  changes, 
not  only  in  France,  but  in  the  rest  of  Europe ;  yet  they  were  pur- 
chased at  too  dear  a  price— infinitely  dearer  than  if  he  had  taken 
Washington,  and  not  Caesar,  as  his  model.  Like  other  great  con- 
querors, he  sacrificed  the  repose,  liberty,  and  happiness  of  millions 
to  his  insatiable  ambition. 

France,  having  been  conquered  the  second  time,  by  the  second 
taking  of  its  capital,  was  required  to  indemnify  the  allies  for  their 
expenses  and  sacrifices.  She  was  left  a  great  and  a  powerful  nation, 
little  less  diminished  in  territory  than  after  the  first  pacification, 
which  fixed  her  limits  nearly  as  they  were  in  1789.  The  indemnity 
which  the  allies  received,  consisted  chiefly  in  money,  and  in  the 
occupancy  of  eighteen  fortresses,  by  a  portion  of  their  troops,  to  be 
supported"  at  the  cost  of  France.  These  troops,  however,  were  all 
withdrawn  long  before  the  term  agreed  on,  which  was  five  years. 

Louis  XVIII.,  whose  reign  was  that  of  a  prudent,  though  ineffi- 
cient monarch,  died  in  1824,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  brother,  the 
Count  d'  Artois,  under  the  appellation  of. Charles  X.  "he  prnu-i- 
pal  cv-'tit  of  the  reign  of  Louis,  was  the  invasion  of  Spain,  in  1823, 


SPAIN. 

by  a  French  army  under  the  Duke  d'  Angouleme,  but  without  a 
declaration  of  war,  in  consequence  of  the  decisions  of  the  congress 
of  Verona,  in  1822.  This  unjustifiable  act  resulted  in  the  overthrow 
of  the  Cortes ;  and  the  despotism  of  absolute  royalty  was  immedi- 
ately re-established. 

ITALIAN  STATES. 

60.  In  the  history  of  ITALY,  during  modern  ages,  nothing 
important  occurred  till  the  late  convulsions,  occasioned  by  the 
French  revolution.  The  Italian  states  shared  deeply  in  them, 
as  has  already  appeared.     It  may  be  only  added,  that  the 
Congress  of  Vienna,  in  1815,  decreed  the  subdivision  of  Ita- 
ly, between  the  house  of  Austria,   the  king  of  Sardinia,  the 
Pope,  and  the  king  of  Naples.     The  free  republics  of  Venice, 
Genoa,  and  Lucca,  have,  in  consequence,  been  amalgamated 
with  arbitrary  sovereignties  ;  and  Austria  is  become  the  pre- 
ponderating power  of  Italy. 

SPAIN. 

61.  Philip  V.,  the  monarch  of  SPAIN,  at  the  commence- 
ment of  this  period,  reigned  till  the  year  1746.     During  his 
long  rule,   the  nation  degenerated  as  before,  from  the  opera- 
tion of  a  despotic  government,  a  superstitious  and  cruel  reli- 
gion, aided  by  the  natural  indolence  of  the  people. 

§  In  1717,  the  Spaniards  took  Sardinia;  but  the  next  year  invaded 
Sicily,  without  success. 

62.  Philip  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Ferdinand  VI.,  1746, 
who  was  a  mild  and  pacific  prince,  but  whose  reign  is  barren 
of  those  events   which  usually  furnish   matter  for  history. 
The  indolent  and  effeminate  Charles  III.,  brother  of  Ferdi- 
nand, succeeded  him,  in  1759,  who  reigned  till  the  year  1788. 
The  principal  events  of  his  reign  were,  the  formation  of  the 
family  compact,  between  France  and  Spain  ;  the  union  of 
these  nations  against  England,  in  the  American  war;  and 
their  unsuccessful  siege  of  Gibraltar. 

§  In  the  siege  of  Gibraltar,  twelve  thousand  pieces  of  heavy  ordi- 
nance were  accumulated  before  the  place,  for  the  numerous  intended 
attacks  by  sea  and  land  ;  there  were,  also,  in  proportion,  gun-boats> 
bomb-vessels,  battering  ships,  military  stores,  and  ammunition.  In- 
deed, nearly  all  the  frigates  and  smaller  armed  vessels  of  the  king- 
dom, were  assembled  to  afford  requisite  assistance,  and  the  combined 
fleets  of  France  and  Spain,  amounting  to  about  fifty  ships  of  the  lino, 

27  ' 


314 


MODERN  HISTORY. — PERIOD  X. 


were  to  cover  and  support  the  attack.  But  all  this  formidable  force 
was  employed  in  vain,  from  the  almost  impregnable  situation  of  the 
'brt.  and  the  valour  of  its  defenders.  It  seemed  as  if  so  many  can- 
non and  other  means  of  destruction,  playing  upon  the  rock,  would 
have  annihilated  it — all  looked  like  a  mass  of  fire  in  and  around  it, 
but  the  loss  sustained  by  the  besieged  was  much  less  than  might 
have  been  expected,  while  that  of  the  Spanish  and  French  was  im- 
mense. The  mortification  which  the  Spaniards  always  have  felt,  ever 
since  this  fortress  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  English,  was  greatly  in- 
creased by  the  unsuccessful  issue  of  this  celebrated  siege. 

63.  Charles  IV.  possessed  the  crown  upon  the  death  of  his 
father,  1788.  He  was  an  inefficient  and  unfortunate  mo- 
narch. In  1792,  he  entered  into  a  league  against  the  French 
republic,  but  being  defeated,  he  united  with  France  against 
Great  Britain.  After  the  rupture  of  the  treaty  of  Amiens, 
Spain  professed  to  be  neutral,  till  the  capture  of  several  of 
her  treasure  ships,  by  a  British  squadron,  after  which,  the 
weakness  of  the  government  led  to  an  insurrection,  and  Fer- 
dinand VII.  dethroned  his  father. 

The  father  and  son,  under  the  influence  of  French  intrigue, 
afterwards  appealed  to  Napoleon',  to  whom  the  father  formal- 
ly surrendered  his  kingdom,  at  Bayonne,  for  the  purpose  of 
defeating  the  claims  of  his  son ;  who,  after  being  also  obliged 
to  sign  a  renunciation  of  the  throne,  was  then  treacherously 
detained  a  state  prisoner,  at  Compeigne,  in  France.  From 
this  period,  the  situation  of  Spain,  appears  in  the  account  al- 
ready given  concerning  France. 

§  Since  the  restoration  of  the  general  peace,  Spain  has  been  more 
unfortunate  than  any  other  of  the  European  communities.  Abroad, 
she  has  lost  her  colonies  in  South  America ;  at  home,  the  horrors  of. 
anarchy  and  internal  war,  and,  at  length,  of  despotism  and  the  In- 
quisition, she  has  been  doomed  to  bear. 

Portugal  has  experienced  scarcely  a  milder  fate  than  Spain.  Its 
situation  since  the  emigration  of  the  royal  family  to  Brazil,  has  been 
singular,  and  at  the  present  time,  is  deplorable.  A  monarch  residing 
in  a  colony,  and  governing  the  parent  state,  is  altogether  a  novelty 
in  the  history  of  the  world ;  yet  such  has  been  the  fact  in  regard  to 
the  emperor  of  Brazil.  At  this  moment,  the  despotism  of  the  usurp- 
er, Don  Miguel,  is  producing  consternation  and  distress  among  the 
adherents  of  the  regular  government. 

The  history  of  Portugal,  from  the  time  of  its  independence  under 
John,  duke  of  Braganza,  in  1664,  to  the  time  of  the  French  revolu- 
tion, is  of  so  little  consequence,  that  it  has  been  omitted  altogether. 
Since  the  latter  period,  the  incidental  notices  which  have  been  given 
of  its  affairs,  must  suffice.  It  may  be  remarked,  that  the  Portuguese 


THE  NETHERLANDS.  316 

are  still  rich  in  colonial  possessions,  notwithstanding  they  have  lost 
most  of  what  they  used  to  hold  in  Asia. 

THE  NETHERLANDS. 

64.  The  history  of  the  Netherlands,  under  the  name  of 
Holland,  was  briefly  sketched  in  the  period  preceding  the 
last.     Holland,  as  including  seven  united  provinces,  and  as 
constituting  an  independent  nation,  was  the  most  important 
portion  of  the  Low  Countries.     The  character  of  its  inhabi- 
tants, as  an  eminently  enterprising  and  industrious  people, 
also  placed  them  at  the  head  of  these  countries.     In  the  ages 
preceding  the  French  re  volution,  their  commerce  was  exceed- 
ed by  that  of  no  nation,  and  wealth  from  this  source  poured 
in  upon  them  apace.    Their  maritime  force  was  consequently 
extensive,  and  they  had  numerous  collisions  with  their  great 
rivals,  the  British,  who  were  destined,  at  last,  far  to  surpass 
them  in  riches  and  naval  power. 

Towards  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  it  was 
apparent,  that  the  Dutch  were  falling  from  their  high  eleva- 
tion. Indolence,  luxury,  and  avarice,  the  consequence  of 
wealth,  had,  in  a  degree,  affected  this  excellent  people  ;  and 
their  spirit,  which  would  otherwise  have  been  invincible, 
yielded  to  French  intrigue  and  military  enthusiasm,  at  the 
era  of  the  revolution. 

The  ten  provinces,  called  Belgium,  or  Flanders,  since 
they  were  freed  from  the  Spanish  yoke,  have  been  usually 
divided  into  Austrian,  French,  and  Dutch  Netherlands. 
Prussia,  also,  has  shared  in  them  ;  and,  indeed,  they  have 
often  changed  masters.  They  were  swallowed  up  eventually 
in  the  great  political  vortex,  to  which  reference  has  been  so 
frequently  made. 

§  No  space  remains  for  an  account  of  the  stadtholders  of  Holland, 
since  the  time  of  Maurice,  who  was  mentioned  in  the  eighth  period. 
Nor  is  their  history  very  important,  as  the  stadtholdership  was  seve- 
ral times  abolished.  During  the  separate  times  of  its  existence,  it 
has  been  held  by  the  princes  of  the  house  of  Orange. 

65.  After  the   United  Netherlands  were  overrun  by  the 
French,  in  1795,  and  the  stadtholder  and  his  family  were 
obliged  to  flee  to  England,  the  whole  country  was  oppressed 
and  plundered  by  the  French,  and  the  melancholy  spectacle 
was  presented,  of  ruined  commerce  and  civil  discord,  with  an 


316  MODERN    HISTORY. PERIOD  X. 

incredible  mass  of  public  and  individual  suffering.  Besides 
misery  at  home,  there  was  loss  abroad ;  and  Holland,  rich  in 
colonies,  was  stripped  of  most  of  them,  by  means  of  the  re- 
volutionary wars,  in  which  she  was  involved. 

«/  / 

In  1814,  the  prince  of  Orange  was  recalled,  and  Flanders 
being  annexed  to  Holland,  and  forming  one  kingdom,  he  as 
eumed  the  title  of  king  of  the  Netherlands. 

§  The  restoration  of  the  state  of  the  Netherlands,  was  one  of  the 
principal  points  in  the  restoration  ot  the  political  system  of  Europe, 
effected  by  the  congress  at  Vienna.  That  its  fate  was  connected 
with  the  fate  of  the  Belgic,  no  less  than  the  Batavian  provinces,  ap- 
peared from  the  fact,  that  Belgium,  in  the  hands  of  France,  first 
opened  the  avenue  to  universal  dominion.  It  was  felt  to  be  necessa- 
ry, to  found  there  a  powerful  state,  which,  at  least  in  alliance  with 
Prussia,  should  be  strong  enough  for  its  own  defence  ;  and  the  union 
of  all  the  Netherlands  into  one  kingdom,  was  resolved  on  by  the 
Congress.  The  sovereign  of  the  house  of  Orange  adopted  tha 
royal  title,  and  gave  them  a  free  constitution. 

TURKISH  EMPIRE. 

66.  In  the  history  of  TURKEY,  we  perceive  the  evidences 
of  a  rapid  decline,  from  about  the  commencement  of  the 
present  period.  The  people  have  been  extremely  depressed, 
and  the  nature  of  their  institutions  is  such  as  to  preclude,  in 
a  great  measure,  the  improvements  common  to  the  rest  of 
Europe.  Some  changes  have  very  recently  been  effected. 
The  discipline  of  the  army  has  been  improved,  and  the  an- 
cient body  of  the  Janizaries,  so  formidable  to  the  government 
and  its  master,  has  been  broken  up  by  the  present  energetic 
Sultan.  Yat  the  empire,  as  it  respects  European  dominions, 
is  now  on  the  brink  of  destruction,*  from  the  victorious  ca- 
reer of  the  Russians.  From  its  conflicts  with  that  people,  it 
has  generally  retired,  shorn  of  some  portion  of  its  territories, 
and  with  diminished  strength  and  resources.  With  Persia, 
also,  it  has  often  fought,  but  on  more  equal  terms. 

At  the  commencement  of  this  period,  Achmet  III.  was  the 
reigning  Sultan.  He  was  deposed  in  1730,  since  which  time, 

*  By  the  late  treaty  of  peace,  which  the  Sultan  ratified,  on  the  20th  Septem- 
ber, 1829,  European  Turkey  is  nominally  preserved  in  independence  ;  but  the 
terms  of  pacification  were  so  lavouraoie  to  Kuoom,  that  the  latter  enjoys  almost 
every  advantage  which  would  accrue  from  the  actual  possession  of  the 
country. 


TURKISH    EMPIRE.  317 

there  have  been  seven  sultans,  viz.  Mahomet  V.,  Osman  TIL, 
Mustapha  III.,  Achmet  IV.,  Selim  III.,  Mustapha  IV.,  and 
Mahmoud  II.,  the  present  sultan. 

§  Under  Mustapha  III.,  Turkey  and  Russia  engaged  in  a  furious 
and  bloody  war,  which  lasted  from  1769,  to  1774.  By  means  of  a 
fleet  which  sailed  to  the  Archipelago,  the  Russians  seized  a  part  of 
the  Morea,  whose  inhabitants  soon  rose  in  a 'general  revolt,  and  de- 
clared in  favour  of  Russia.  But  the  sultan  sent  an  army  to  th 
Peninsula,  and  quelled  the  revolt,  inflicting  the  severest  punishment 
on  many  of  the  unhappy  Greeks.  This  war  was  disastrous  to  the 
Turks.  " 

The  war  was  renewed  by  Achmet  IV.,  in  1787,  and  concluded  not 
until  1792,  under  Selim  III.  Important  concessions  were  made  to 
Russia.  Koutousoff  greatly  distinguished  himself  in  this  war,  as 
did  also  Suwarrow.  It  was  during  the  reign  of  Selim,  that  Bona- 
parte invaded  Egypt,  and  the  transactions  took  place  in  regard  to 
that  country,  which  have  been  related  in  the  history  of  France. 
Achmet,  and  also  his  successor,  Mustapha  IV.,  were  deposed  and 
murdered  by  the  Janizaries. 

The  Porte  had  kept  itself  remote  from  the  convulsions  connected 
with  the  French  revolution,  with  the  exception  of  the  war  with  Rus- 
sia, from  1809  to  1812,  which  cost  it  Bessarabia,  and  a  part  of  Mol- 
davia. Assisted  by  the  powerful  Bashaw  of  Egypt,  the  Porte  was 
more  active  in  Arabia,  against  the  Wechabites.  than  in  Europe,  the 
tranquillity  of  which  it  is  not  for  its  interest  to  disturb,  if  it  be  itself 
left  in  quiet.  This,  however,  has  not  been  suffered  to  be  the  case, 
since  the  year  1821.  Since  that  time,  it  has  had  an  almost  inces- 
sant struggle  with  the  Greeks,  and  lately  it  has  been  involved  in  a 
ruinous  war  with  Russia. 

The  inhabitants  of  Greece,  oppressed  beyond  endurance  by  the 
barbarous  Turk,  and  recalling  to  remembrance  their  ancient  freedom, 
and  their  ancient  renown,  have  asserted  their  rights  by  arms.  An 
insurrection  broke  out  simultaneously,  in  almost  every  section  of  the 
territory,  and  has  been  pursued  on  both  sides,  on  the  mainland,  and 
on  the  sea,  with  a  furious  rancour.  After  eight  years  of  unprecedent- 
ed suffering,  Greece  has  become  effectively  free,  by  its  own  heroism^ 
and  the  interference  01  Russia,  France  and  England. 

The  insurrection,  which  has  thus  terminated  in  securing  the  liber- 
ties of  Greece,  broke  out  in  the  month  of  April,  1821,  in  Moldavia, 
and  almost  at  the  same  time,  in  the  Morea,  as  well  as  on  most  of  the 
islands  of  the  Archipelago.  Of  these  islands,  the  naval  force  was 
generally  superior  to  the  Turkish.  At  the  end  of  the  year  1821, 
the  Turks  were  driven  from  the  Morea  and  the  islands,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  garrisons  of  several  strong  fortresses.  But  these  por- 
tions of  Greece,  have  since  been  repeatedly  harrassed  by  the  vindic- 
tive Turks,  till  lately,  their  contest  with  Russia,  for  their  own  exis- 
tence, has  absorbed  every  other  interest. 

27* 


318  MODERN  HISTORY. PERIOD  X. 


CHINA. 

67.  At  the  commencement  of  this  period,  Yong-Tching^ 
of  the  twenty-second  dynasty,  occupied  the  throne  of  CHINA. 
Two  emperors  of  this  dynasty,  which  is  that  of  the  Tartars, 
had  preceded  him,  viz.  Chun-tsi,  and  Kang-hi.  A  revolution 
in  China,  which  commenced  in  1641,  brought  the  Tartars  a 
second  time  into  power  ;  hut  they  were  not  considered  as  set- 
tled, till  1649,  which  is  properly  the  date  of  the  twenty- 
second,  or  the  present  dynasty.  The  successors  of  Yong- 
Tching,  have  been  men-Long,  and  Kia-Khing.  The  name 
of  the  present  emperor  is  not  known  to  the  author  of  this 
work. 

§  In  the  reign  of  Yong-Tching,  the  Jesuits,  who  first  penetra- 
ted into  the  empire,  in  1683,  were  banished,  and  the  Christians  were 
persecuted,  not  excepting  those  of  the  imperial  family.  In  the  reign 
pf  the  same  prince,  also,  an  earthquake  took  place,  at  Pekin  and  its 
environs,  such  as  had  never  before  been  felt  in  China.  The  first 
shocks  were  so  sudden  and  violent,  that  in  less  than  a  minute,  above 
100.000  inhabitants  were  buried  in  the  ruins  of  houses,  and  a  still 
greater  number  in  the  surrounding  country,  where  whole  villages 
and  towns  were  destroyed. 

Kien-Long  died  in  1795,  in  the  ninetieth  year  of  his  age,  and  in 
the  sixty-second  year  of  his  reign.  It  is  said  to  have  been  a 
peaceful  and  happy,  as  well  as  long  reign.  In  1793,  the  celebrated 
British  embassy,  under  Lord  Macartney,  arrived  in  China,  with  a 
view  to  the  establishment  of  a  commercial  intercourse  between  the 
two  countries.  An  account  of  this  embassy,  has  been  written  by 
Sir  George  Staunton.  In  the  estimation  of  Europe,  Kien-Long  stood 
at  the  head  of  the  sovereigns  of  half  civilized  nations. 

Kia-Khing  died  in  1819,  at  the  time  when  the  famous  Russian 
mission,  under  Timkowski,  was  approaching  the  celestial  empire. 
He  was  the  seventeenth  son  of  Kien-Long,  and  reigned  happily. 
The  Russian  mission,  took  notice  that  the  buttons,  which  are  so  con- 
spicuous in  the  Chinese  official  costume,  disappeared  from  all  the 
caps  of  the  loyal  Chinese  and  Mongul  officers,  and  that  they,  as 
well  as  their  countrymen,  adopted  a  white  dress.  This,  among  them, 
is  the  mourning  colour,  for  as  good  a  reason,  doubtless,  as  black 
among  the  Europeans,  blue  among  the  Persians,  and  violet  among 
the  Turks. 

PERSIA. 

68.  Soon  after  the  beginning  of  the  present  period,  PERSIA, 
which  was  governed  for  a  time  by  the  posterity  of  Tamer- 
lane, and  afterwards  hy  the  Sophis,  had  the  famous  Kouli 


PERSIA.  319 

Khan,  or  Nadir  Shah,  for  its  sovereign.  He  had  been  the 
general  of  Abbas  III.,  his  predecessor,  whom  it  is  supposed 
he  poisoned,  and  thus  supplanted  the  Sophia  family.  In 
1739,  he  invaded  India,  and  conquered  the  Mogul  empire, 
taking  Delhi,  acquiring  immense  wealth,  and  committing  the 
most  horrible  massacres.  This  monster  then  took  the  title 
of  Emperor  of  the  Indies,  and  returning  into  Persia,  attempt- 
ed to  change  the  religion,  and  strangled  all  the  priests,  after 
which,  in  self  defence,  he  was  murdered  in  his  tent,  by  his 
own  officer. 

After  his  death,  Persia  was  desolated  by  civil  wars,  be- 
tween various  rivals  for  the  throne  ;  but  the  country,  after 
being  exhausted  by  these  events,  settled  itself  under  Kerim 
.Khan,  an  able  prince,  of  obscure  birth,  who  died  in  1779. 
On  his  death',  Persia  again  fell  into  confusion,  till  the  last  of 
his  family  was  overthrown,  and  the  sovereignty  regained  by 
Aga  Mahomed  Khan,  in  1794.  He  delegated  the  govern- 
ment to  his  sons. 

§  The  origin  of  the  Sophis,  is  connected  with  a  revolution  on  ac- 
count of  religion,  in  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century.  Hadar,  or 
Sophi,  a  religious  enthusiast,  restored  or  established  the  sect  of  Ali 
in  Persia,  whom  he  considered  to  be  the  successor  of  Mahomet,  rather 
than  Omar.  The  Persians  liking  a  doctrine  that  distinguished  them 
from  their  enemies,  the  Turks,  and  being  at  the  same  time  exempted 
from  the  obligation  of  performing  pilgrimages  to  Mecca,  embraced 
it  in  great  numbers ;  and  Ishmael,  the  son  of  Sophi,  following  the 
example  of  Mahomet,  enforced  his  opinions  by  the  sword.  All  Per- 
sia and  Armenia  submitted  to  his  arms.  His  descendants  ruled  till 
Ihe  time  of  Kouli  Khan. 

Persia  has  been  often  conquered,  yet  the  form  of  its  government, 
and  the  state  of  society,  have  continued  nearly  the  same  through 
almost  two  thousand  years.  In  a  late  war  with  Russia,  it  has  lost 
Considerable  territory. 

INDIA. 

69.  The  vast  and  populous  country  under  the  name  of 
INDIA,  makes  but  an  inconsiderable  figure  in  history.  Doubt- 
less, many  subjects  of  an  interesting  nature  might  be  found, 
could  the  modern  historian  have  a  fair  opportunity  of  research ; 
but  few  have,  as  yet,  appeared,  and  these  in  so  detached  a 
manner,  that  a  regular  account  cannot  easily  be  given  of  the 
events  in  Indian  history.  The  mention  of  this  country,  sepa- 
rately from  others,  has  accordingly  been  omitted  till  the  pre- 


320 


MODERN  HISTORY.- — PERIOD   X. 


sent  period.  Indeed,  it  has  little  claim  on  our  attention,  in  an 
outline  of  general  history,  till  very  modern  times.  The  few 
details  that  can  be  afforded,  both  of  its  earlier  and  later  histo- 
ry, will  appear  below.  Like  most  other  Asiatic  countries,  it 
has  been  often  and  easily  conquered,  but  without  materially 
affecting  the  form  of  its  government,  or  its  manners  and  cus- 
toms. Successive  dynasties  have  ruled  over  most  of  the  ori- 
ental nations,  but  they  have  left  the  latter  where  they  found 
them.  So  far  back  as  authentic  records  carry  us,  we  find 
among  the  people,  little  or  no  advances  made  in  civilization, 
refinement,  or  knowledge.  They  are  the  same  in  indolence, 
effeminacy,  and  luxury,  that  they  were  two  thousand  years 
ago ;  not  ignorant,  yet  without  a  spirit  of  enterprise ;  accom- 
plished in  certain  arts,  yet  incapable  of  learning  others. 

§  India  was  but  little  known  to  the  ancients.  Alexander  the  Great, 
first  invaded,  though  he  did  not  conquer  it,  except  in  part.  The 
country  was  afterwards  visited  by  Seleucus,  to  whose  share  it  fell 
in  the  partition  of  Alexander's  empire ;  and  Antiochus  the  Great, 
two  hundred  years  subsequently,  made  a  short  expedition  thither. 

The  Arabians  penetrated  into  Hindoostan,  about  710,  and  founded 
an  empire  extending  to  the  Ganges,  which,  in  1155,  was  usurped  by 
the  Persians.  After  this,  followed  the  march  of  Genghis  Khan, 
who  is  said  to  have  given  the  name  of  Mogul,  to  India ;  and  subse- 
quently, the  conquering  career  of  Tamerlane,  both  of  which  have 
been  elsewhere  mentioned.  The  descendants  of  Tamerlane  enjoy- 
ed no  more  than  the  northern  parts,  till  after  1498,  when  sultan  Ba- 
ber  subdued  almost  all  the  country,  except  the  Deccan,  Grezerat, 
and  Bengal. 

Aureng  Zeeb,  who  reigned  between  1660  and  1707,  conquered 
Bengal,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  Deccan.  At  his  death,  he  left 
an  empire  of  great  extent,  and  producing  a  revenue  of  more  than 
£35,000,000  sterling.  But  a  succession  of  weak  princes  and  wicked 
iriinisters  reduced  this  vast  empire,  in  the  course  of  fifty  years,  to  in- 
significance. In  1739,  Hindoostan  was  invaded  by  Kouli-Khan,  wh( 
annihilated  the  Mogul  empire.  It  was,  however,  afterwards  reviv- 
ed, for  a  time,  but  soon  fell  into  decay,  and  can  now  be  scarcely  sah~ 
to  exist. 

The  British  are  now  the  principal  possessors  of  India.    Their  d( 
minions  in  India  have  been  created,  first,  by  the  establishment  of 
factories  for  trade ;  2d,  by  wars  made  upon  the  natives  by  the  resi- 
dents of  those  factories ;  and  lastly,  by  the  capture  of  the  Portuguese, 
Dutch,  and  French  colonies  in  India. 

The  British  Indian  dominions,  which  were  extensive  before,  and 
which  began  as  early  as  1757,  have  been  greatly  increased  withh 
the  last  thirty  or  thirty-five  years.    A  statement,  somewhat  recent 
makes  the  number  of  square  miles  of  territory,  under  British  jurhr 
diction  or  influence,  776,000,  and  the  population  not  less  than  eight] 


UNITED  STATES.  321 

six  millions.  To  the  above  it  must  be  added,  that  their  Indian  do- 
minions have  been  lately  increased  by  a  portion  of  the  Burman  em- 
pire, in  -consequence  of  a  war  with  the  latter. 

The  government  of  this  immense  country,  is  vested  in  a  Governor 
General,  and  a  council  of  four,  appointed  by  the  British  crown,  who 
reside  at  Calcutta. 

THE  UNITED  STATES. 

70.  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA,  which,  at  the  be- 
ginning of  this  period,  were  in  a  colonial  condition,  assumed 
before  the  conclusion  of  it,  their  separate  and  equal  station 
among  the  nations  of  the  earth.     It  was  with  them  an  era 
of  great  events,  and  the  change  from  colonies  to  a  state  of 
independence,  though  it  lay  in  the  natural  course  of  things^ 
was  equally  unexpected  and  instructive  to  the  world. 

The  colonies  enjoyed  a  degree  of  tranquillity  from  the 
peace  of  Utrecht,  to  the  year  1744.  In  that  year,  a  war 
breaking  out  between  Great  Britain  and  France,  America  was 
involved  in  it,  the  result  of  which  was  the  capture  of  Louis- 
burgh,  on  the  island  of  Cape  Breton,  a  place  of  great  strength. 
This  conquest  was  effected  principally  by  the  troops  of  Mas- 
sachusetts. A  small  proportion  of  the  soldiers  was  furnished 
by  the  other  New  England  states.  The  place,  however,  was 
restored  to  France,  by  the  peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  in  1748. 

After  the  peace  of  Utrecht,  the  French  had  built  Louisburgh,  as  a 
security  to  their  navigation  and  fishery,  and  had  fortified  it  at  a  vast 
expense.  Twenty-five  years  had  been  spent  upon  the  fortifications, 
and  though  not  entirely  completed,  they  were  considered  the  strong- 
est in  America.  It  was  deemed  indispensable  to  take  this  fortress,  as 
it  aiforded  a  convenient  resort  to  such  privateers  as  disturbed  the  New 
England  fisheries.  Accordingly,  efforts  were  made  to  engage  the  co- 
lonies in  the  enterprise,  and  circulars  were  addressed  by  the  govern- 
ment of  Massachusetts  to  the  colonies  as  far  south  as  Pennsylvania 
for  their  assistance.  But  New  England  alone  undertook  the  expedi- 
tion. Massachusetts  furnished  nearly  three  fourths  of  the  troops,  who 
were  placed  under  the  command  of  General  Pepperell. 

Their  success  was  peculiar  and  almost  unexpected.  With  some  as- 
sistance from  an  English  fleet,  they  brought  the  French  to  the  neces- 
sity of  surrendering  the  city  of  Louisburgh  and  the  island  of  Cape 
Breton  tc  the  British  king,  after  a  siege  of  forty-nine  days. 

71.  In  1746,  a  powerful  French  armament  was  sent  against 
America  with  a  view  to  revenge  the  loss  of  Louisburgh ;  but 
by  means  of  shipwrecks,  sickness,  and  other  disasters,  it  pro- 
videntially failed  of  its  object.    The  peace  of  Aix-la-Cha- 


822  MODERN  HISTORY. — PERIOD  X. 

pelle  now  took  place,  which  lasted  eight  years,  or  until  1756 
For  several  succeeding  years,  powerful  efforts  were  made  on 
the  part  of  the  Americans  and  British,  against  the  places  and 
forts  occupied  by  the  French,  particularly  Louisburgh,  Ti- 
conderoga,  Crown  Point,  Fort  du  Quesne,  (Pittsburgh,)  and 
Niagara.  This  war,  which  commenced  in  1756,  and  ended 
in  1763,  is  commonly  called  the  French  and  Indian  war. 
Success  eventually  attended  the  Americans  and  British,  and 
by  the  peace  of  Paris,  in  1763,  all  the  Canadas,  together  with 
Nova  Scotia,  and  the  island  of  Cape  Breton,  were  confirmed 
to  Great  Britain.  George  Washington,  the  future  deliverer 
of  America,  first  came  into  public  notice  during  these  con- 
tests. 

The  French  armament  consisted  of  forty  ships  of  war,  fifty-six 
transports,  with  three  thousand  five  hundred  men,  and  forty  thousand 
stands  of  arms,  for  the  use  of  the  French  and  Indians  in  Canada. 
The  consternation  of  the  colonies,  as  might  be  expected,  was  great ; 
but  Providence,  by  the  means  above  mentioned,  dispelled  their  fears, 
and  blasted  the  hopes  of  their  enemies. 

The  peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  in  1748,  which  followed  this  attempt, 
left  the  respective  parties,  as  to  their  rights  and  possessions,  the  same 
as  they  were  at  the  commencement  of  the  war.  Great  losses,  how- 
ever, had  been  sustained  by  the  colonies  in  their  commerce,  and  their 
pecuniary  concerns  were  in  a  very  embarrassed  state.  The  return  ot 
this  peace,  and  its  continuance  through  eight  short  years,  altered  the 
aspect  of  the  colonies  much  for  the  better.  Commerce  again  flourished, 
population  increased,  settlements  were  extended,  and  public  credit  re- 
vived. 

The  French  and  Indian  war  was  occasioned  by  the  alleged  en- 
croachments of  the  French  upon  the  frontiers  of  the  colonies  in  Ame- 
rica, belonging  to  the  British  crown.  Besides  the  encroachments  that 
were  made  on  Nova  Scotia,  in  the  north  and  west  they  were  settling 
and  fortifying  Crown  Point,  and  in  the  west,  were  not  only  attempt- 
ing to  complete  a  line  of  forts  from  the  head  of  St.  Lawrence  to  the 
Mississippi,  but  were  intrenching  far  on  Virginia. 

By  an  understanding  between  England  and  the  colonies,  hostili- 
ties were  carried  on  between  the  latter  and  the  French  during  two 
years,  without  any  formal  proclamation  of  war.  The  Virginians, 
who  were  particularly  concerned  in  the  beginning  of  these  hostilities, 
entrusted  to  George  Washington  the  difficult  and  dangerous  service 
of  going  to  the  French  commandant  on  the  Ohio,  a  distance  of 
geveral  hundred  miles,  through  a  wilderness,  to  demand  of  him  tne 
reasons  of  his  hostile  conduct,  and  to  summon  the  French  to  evacu 
ate  their  forts  at  the  west.  He  was  then  but  twenty-one  years  of 
age,  and  at  that  early  period  stepped  forth  the  champion  of  his  coun- 
try's rights.  He  executed  his  errand,  but  the  result  showed  the  ne- 
of  force,  which  w;  s  accoxdin^ly  resorted  to  under  the  com- 


UNITED    STATES.  323 

mand  ol  Washington.  He  met  with  partial  success,  bat  the  superior 
number  of  the  enemy  obliged  him  at  length,  after  surrendering  a 
.ibrt  he  had  taken,  to  retire  to  Virginia. 

This  was  as  early  as  1754,  but  in  the  spring  of  1755  more  vigorous 
exertions  were  made  by  the  colonies  against  the  enemy.  Four  ex- 
peditions were  planned — one  against  the  French  in  Nova  Scotia  ;  a 
second  against  the  French  on  the  Ohio ;  a  third  against  Crown  Point ; 
and  a  fourth  against  Niagara.  The  expedition  against  Nova  Scotia, 
which  consisted  of  three  thousand  men,  chiefly  from  Massachusetts, 
met  with  entire  success.  •  The  expedition  against  the  French  on  the 
Ohio  was  disastrous  in  the  extreme.  It  was  led  bv  Gen.  Braddock, 
a  British  officer,  at  the  head  of  two  thousand  men.  His  rashness, 
hauteur,  and  ignorance  of  the  mode  of  Indian  warfare,  cost  him  his 
own  life,  and  that  of  hundreds  of  his  brave  companions.  Refusing 
to  take  counsel  of  Washington,  he  suffered  himself  to  be  ambuscaded 
by  a  body  of  French  and  Indians,  who  would  have  destroyed  his 
whole  army,  had  it  not  been  saved  by  the  skill  and  intrepidity  of 
Washington,  his  aid  on  that  occasion.  The  expedition  against  Crown 
Point,  though  it  failed  as  to  its  main  object,  yet  its  results  were 
cheering  to  the  colonies  after  the  gloom  occasioned  by  Braddock's 
defeat.  A  body  of  the  enemy  which  had  landed  at  Southbay,  now 
Whitehall,  and  which  were  marching  towards  Fort  Edward  to  de- 
stroy the  provisions  and  military  stores  there,  were  signally  defeated 
by  the  Americans  under  the  command  of  Gen.  William  Johnson. 
The  expedition  against  Niagara -was  eventually  abandoned,  on  ac- 
count of  the  lateness  of  the  season  and  other  unfavorable  circum- 
stances. 

After  hostilities  had  been  conducted  in  this  manner  for  two  years, 
war  was  declared  in  1756  by  Great  Britain  against  France,  and  soon 
after  by  France  against  Great  Britain,  in  turn.  The  operations  of 
the  British  till  the  year  1758  were  singularly  unsuccessful,  through 
the  indecision  of  the  commander-in-chief,  the  earl  of  Loudon ;  but 
a  change  in  the  English  ministry  that  year,  which  placed  Lord  Chat- 
ham at  the  head  of  the  administration,  materially  altered  the  aspect 
of  affairs.  Of  three  expeditions  which  were  planned  and  carried 
into  effect  in  the  course  of  the  year,  two,  viz.  those  against  Louis- 
burgh  and  Fort  du  Q,uesne,  succeeded.  That  against  Ticonderoga 
failed. 

The  campaign  of  1759  had  for  its  object,  the  entire  conquest  of 
Canada.  Accordingly,  it  was  determined  on  the  part  of  the  English 
and  the  colonists  to  attack  all  the  strong  holds  of  the  French  in  that 
country — viz.  Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point,  Niagara  and  Quebec. 
These  were  taken  in  due  time,  three  armies  having  entered  Canada 
by  different  routes,  nearly  at  once.  The  conquest  of  Quebec  was 
the  most  important  and  difficult  enterprise  undertaken  during  this 
war,  and  has  been  greatly  celebrated  through  the  heroism  and  death 
of  each  of  the  opposing  commanders-in-chief,  Wolfe  and  Montcalm. 
Wolfe  died  in  the  field  before  the  battle  was  ended,  but  he  lived  long 
enough  to  know  that  the  victory  was  his.  The  words  "  they  fly " 
caught  his  ear,  as  he  was  sinking  in  the  agonies  of  death.  "  Who 


324  MODERN    HISTORY. — PERIOD    X. 

fly,"  the  hero  asked.  «  The  French,"  was  the  reply.  «  Then,"  said  he, 
"  I  die  happy."  Montcalm,  in  talents,  in  military  skill,  and  in  personal 
Talour,  was  not  inferior  to  Wolfe.  He  lived,  after  receiving  a  mortal 
wound,  to  be  carried  to  the  city,  where  his  last  moments  were  employ 
ed  in  writing,  with  his  own  hand,  a  letter  to  the  English  general, 
recommending  the  French  prisoners  to  his  care  and  humanity. 

72.  We  come  now  to  the  most  important  period  of  the 
American  history,  that  of  the  Revolution,  when  the  colonies 
passed  from  a  state  of  dependence  on  the  Britisli  Crown, 
into  free  and    independent   communities.     The  long   che- 
rished democratic  principles  realized  by  the  constitutions  of 
most  of  the  provinces,  a  consequent  weaker  political  connex- 
ion with  the  mother  country,  and  the  feeling  of  growing 
strength,  already  tried  in  the  seven  years'  war,  were  among 
the   causes   of  the   struggle   after  independence.     Nothing 
was  wanting  but  an  occasion  for  a  breach,  arid  that  could 
not  long  be  wanting. 

73.  The  origin  of  the  dispute  was  not  so  much  in  any 
sensible  oppression,   as  in   a  question  of  right.     Had  the 
British  parliament  a  right  to  tax  the  colonies  ?     Parliament 
maintained  the  affirmative  ;  the  colonies  denied  it,  on  the 
ground  that  they  were  not  represented.     Representation  and 
taxation,  according  to  their  views,  were  inseparable.     If  their 
property  could  be  taken  without  their  consent,  they  had  no 
safety. 

74.  Tlie  dispute  arose  as  early  as  1764,  occasioned  by  an 
act,  the  avowed  purpose  of  which  was  to  raise  a  revenue 
in   America  without  her  consent.     The  famous  stamp  act 
followed,  March  22d,  1765.     This  act  was  peculiarly  ob- 
noxious in  its  character,  aside  from  the  principle  which  it 
involved,  as  a  revenue   measure.     The  immediate  conse- 
quence was  a  great  commotion  in  all  the  colonies,  especially 
in  Massachusetts  and  Virginia,  and  a  congress  was  convened 
at  New  York  in  October,  which  published  a  declaration  oi 
the  people's  rights.     The  stamp  act  was  repealed  March  19, 
1766 ;  but  the  principle  was  at  the  same  time  confirmed,  by 
the  bill,  declaring  the  supremacy  of  the  parliament  in  all 
cases  whatever. 

The  stamp  act  came  into  operation  on  the  first  of  November,  1765. 
In  Boston  and  Portsmouth,  the  day  was  ushered  in  by  a  funeral 
tolling  of  the  bells.  In  the  latter  place,  in  the  course  of  the  day,  a 
coffin,  with  appropriate  decorations,  and  inscribed  with  the  word 
Liberty,  was  carried  to  the  grave.  During  the  movement  of  the 
mourniDg  procession,  rriinvte  guns  were  fired  j  and  an  oration  \\as 


UNITED   STATES.  325 

pronounced  in  favour  of  the  deceased.  Similar  expression*  of  griet 
and  indignation,  occurred  in  many  parts  of  the  land.  In  so«ie  places, 
the  stamp  officers  were  obliged  to  resign,  or  to  secrete  themselves,  to 
escape  the  vengeance  of  the  people.  Stamps  were  not  permitted  to 
be  landed,  and  ausiness  in  many  places  was  conducted  without  them. 
At  the  same  time,  numerous  associations  were  formed  by  merchants 
not  to  import  goods  until  this  odious  act  was  repealed.  In  this 
measure  they  were  sustained  by  the  people,  who  submitted  with  the 
utmost  cheerfulness  to  the  necessary  self-denial. 

75.  In  agreement  with  the  British  doctrine,  the  ministry 
soon  after  attempted  to  effect  its  object  by  means  of  indirect 
duties.     These  were  laid  on  tea,  paper,  glass,  and  colours,  by 
the  revenue  act,  June,  1767.     The  proceeds  of  these  duties 
were  to  form  a  civil  list  for  America,  which  should  be  wholly 
at  the  disposition  of  the  ministers,  for  conferring  remunera- 
tions, pensions,  (fee.     The  opposition  to  this  form  of  taxation, 
and  to  every  form,  being  renewed,  especially  in  Boston, 
which  was  the  centre  of  the  resistance,  Lord  North  abrogated 
these  duties,  except  the  one  on  tea,  in  1770.     By  this  reser- 
vation the  right  of  taxation  was  explicitly  asserted ;  but  as 
the  Americans,  by  voluntary  agreement,  would  make  use  ot 
no  British  commodities,  the  tea  which  was  brought  to  thij 
country  could  not  be  sold.     The  East  India  Company  conse- 
quently became  embarrassed ;  and  after  the  repeal  of  the  ex- 
port tax  in  England,  attempted  to  gain  the  Americans  by  a 
cheaper  price.     But,  nevertheless,  measures  were  adopted  to 
prevent  the  importation  of  tea,  and  a  cargo  of  it  was  forcibly 
seized  and  thrown  into  the  harbour  in  Boston,  Dec.  26,  1773. 

76.  The  measures  adopted  by  the  Americans,  impelled  Eng- 
land to  resort  to  severer  acts.     These  consisted  not  only  in 
shutting  the  harbour  of  Boston,  but  in  regulations  by  which 
the  charter  of  Massachusetts  was  annihilated.     It  was  these 
regulations  which   created  -the  general  insurrection,  since 
each  colony  now  saw  no  security  for  its  former  constitution. 
The  Boston  port  bill  was  passed,  March  25th,  1774.     The 
town  was  soon  occupied  by  the  British  troops. 

By  the  "  Boston  port  bill,"  that  town  was  precluded  from  the  privi- 
lege of  landing  and  discharging,  or  of  loading  and  shipping  goods, 
wares,  and  merchandise.  The  bill  which  destroyed  the  charter  of 
Massachusetts,  made  the  appointment  of  the  council,  justices,  judges, 
&c.  dependent  on  the  crown,  or  its  agent.  Another  bill  was  after- 
wards passed,  authorizing  and  directing  the  governor  to  send  any 
person  indicted  for  murder,  or  any  other  capital  offence,  to  another 
colony,  or  to  Great  Britain,  for  trial.  The  indignation  occasioned  by 
these  acts  was  extreme.  As  an  expression  of  their  sympathy  with 
28 


MODERN  HISTORY. — PERIOD  X. 

the  people  of  Boston  in  their  distress,  the  house  of  burgesses  in  Vir- 
ginia ordered,  that  the  day  on  which  the  Boston  port  bill  was  to 
take  effect,  should  be  observed  as  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer. 

77.  Great  harmony  prevailed  among  the  provinces,  and  a 
Congress,  consisting  of  deputies  from  eleven  of  them,  was 
opened  at  Philadelphia,  Sept.  5th,  1774,  which  resolved  to 
suspend  all  commercial  intercourse  with  England,  expressing 
at  the  same  time  all  dutifulness  to  the  crown.     England  was 
thus  brought  to  the  alternative  of  making  concessions  or  a 
civil  war.     It  chose  the  latter  ;  and,  notwithstanding  the  elo- 
quence even  of  Chatham  and  Burke,  parliament  proclaimed 
the  provincials  rebels. 

The  name  by  which  this  congress  is  generally  known,  is  "  The 
Continental  Congress."  After  the  arrival  of  the  delegates  from 
North  Carolina,  twelve  colonies  were  represented.  Although  the 
power  of  this  congress  was  only  advisory,  their  resolutions  were  ap- 
proved, not  only  by  the  people,  but  also  by  the  authorities,  whether 
established  or  provincial ;  and  exerted  a  commanding  influence  in 
consummating  that  union  among  the  colonies,  which  had  been  in- 
creasing for  a  number  of  years.  This  congress  finished  their  busi- 
ness, and  dissolved  themselves  in  less  than  eight  weeks.  It  was  re- 
commended by  them,  that  another  congress  should  be  assembled  in 
case  of  necessity. 

78.  Hostilities  began  by  the  battle  of  Lexington,   19th 
April,  1775.     New  troops  arrived  from  England  in  May.    It 
was  Jioped  that  a  few  regiments  would  be  sufficient  to  put 
down  opposition — so   profoundly  ignorant  was  the  British 
ministry  of  the  spirit  which  had  been  aroused  in  America. 

The  battle  of  Lexington  commenced  by  an  unprovoked  attack, 
from  a  detachment  of  British  soldiers,  who  had  been  sent  to  destroy 
the  American  military  stores  at  Concord,  on  a  few  militia  who  were 
assembled  at  Lexington,  on  account  of  the  alarm  occasioned  by  this 
movement.  Eight  of  these  were  killed,  and  several  wounded.  The 
detachment  after  this  went  forward,  and  effected  their  object ;  but  the 
news  of  the  occurrence  at  Lexington,  spreading  with  the  utmost  ra- 
pidity from  place  to  place,  brought  together  the  militia  in  considera- 
ble numbers,  who  revenged  the  deaths  of  their  countrymen,  by  firing 
upon  the  British,  from  behind  walls,  hedges,  and  buildings.  The 
enemy,  who  lost  nearly  three  hundred  men,  was  astonished  and  mor- 
tified by  the  resistance  it  met  with  from  the  Americans,  while  the 
latter  were  greatly  encouraged  in  their  opposition  to  tyranny.  The 
intelligence  of  this  battle  kindled  the  spirit  of  war  through  the  length 
and  breadth  of  the  land. 

79.  The  war,  thus  rapidly  commenced  on  the  part  of  th< 
colonies,  was  soon  signalized  by  the  surrender  of  Ticondero- 
ga  and  Crown  Point,  and  by  the  memorable  battle  of  Bun 
ker's  Hill     An  expedition  led  by  Arnold  and  Montgome 


CNITED  STATES.  327 

against  Canada,  in  Oct.  1775,  which  was  at  first  successful, 
at  length  proved  fruitless,  and  the  forts  which  had  been  taken, 
in  the  progress  of  the  invading  army,  were,  one  after  another, 
given  up  and  lost.  The  war,  in  general,  necessarily  became, 
From  its  nature,  a  defensive  war  ;  and  who  but  the  modern 
Fabius,  was  capable  of  waging  it  ?  "  The  greatness  of 
Washington  was  not  founded  on  splendid  talents,  but  on  la- 
borious years — not  on  quick  success,  but  on  enduring  perse- 
verance." 

The  battle  of  Bunker's  Hill,  although  the  Americans  were  obliged 
to  retire  from  the  redoubt  they  had  hastily  thrown  up,  had  all  the  ef- 
fect of  a  victory.  It  showed  that  America  was  invincible.  It  taught 
the  people  the  importance  of  stricter  discipline,  and  greater  prepara- 
tions. This  battle  was  fought  the  17th  of  June,  1775,  and  cost  the 
British,  in  killed  and  wounded,  one  thousand  and  fifty-four  men.  The 
Americans  lost,  in  the  whole,  four  hundred  and  fifty-three  men. 

As  military  opposition  to  Great  Britain  was  resolved  upon,  it  be- 
came necessary  to  select  a  leader.  This  was  done  by  the  second 
continental  congress,  which  met  at  Philadelphia  the  10th  of  May. 
The  choice  unanimously  fell  on  George  Washington,  who  was  at 
that  time  a  member  of  the  body.  Several  major-generals  and  brig- 
adier-generals, were  then  likewise  appointed.  The  arrival  of  Wash- 
ington at  Cambridge,  to  take  command  of  the  American  army,  dif- 
fused through  it  universal  joy.  He  soon  introduced  order  and  system 
into  the  army,  and  manifested,  in  all  his  military  operations,  that 
wisdom  and  that  caution,  which  were  more  important  to  America, 
than  his  known  personal  bravery. 

In  the  northern  expedition,  the  attack  on  Quebec  was  unsuccess- 
ful; and,  to  the  great  loss  and  grief  of  the,  colonies,  fatal  to  the  brave 
Montgomery.  Incredible  hardships  and  difficulties  had  been  previ- 
ously encountered  by  the  army  which  Washington  had  despatched, 
under  the  command  of  Arnold.  In  the  same  year,  1775,  Lord  Dun- 
more,  the  royal  governor  of  Virginia,  obliged  to  retire  from  the  soil 
by  fear  of  the  provincials,  proceeded  with  an  armed  naval  force  to  re- 
duce the  town  of  Norfolk  to  ashes.  The  loss  of  property  to  the  in- 
habitants was  great.  Royal  government  generally  terminated  this 
year  throughout  the  country. 

In  consequence  of  Washington's  operations,  in  taking  possession  of 
and  fortifying  Dorchester  heights,  which  commanded  the  harbour  of 
Boston  and  the  British  shipping,  the  enemy  suddenly  evacuated  the 
place.  This  gratifying  event  happened  on  the  17th  of  March,  1776. 
Washington  and  his  army  entered  Boston  immediately,  with  every 
form  of  victory  and  triumph. 

The  same  year,  in  the  south,  an  unsuccessful  attempt  was  made  by 
Gen.  Clinton,  and  Sir  Peter  Parker,  to  destroy  the  fort  on  Sullivan's 
Island,  near  Charleston,  S.  C.  After  an  action  of  upwards  of  ten 
hours,  the  British  were  obliged  to  retire,  having  their  ships  greatly 
shattered,  and  with  a  loss  of  two  hundred  men  killed  and  wounded. 


$28  MODERN  HISTORY.-  -PERIOD  X. 

80.  It  was  not  long  before  the  idea  of  an  entire  separation 
from  England,  suggested  by  the  vindictive  measures  which 
that  country  had  employed,  found  every  where  a  hearty  re- 
ception in  America.  In  that  event  only,  was  aid  to  be  hoped 
for  in  Europe.  Accordingly,  the  thirteen  United  States  were 
declared  independent,  4th  July,  1776.  After  this  decisive 
step,  but  one  happy  blow  was  wanting  to  give  the  colonies 
allies  in  Europe.  That  was  realized  by  the  capture  of  Bur  • 
goyne  and  his  troops,  on  the  16th  Oct.  1777.  This  joyful 
event  had  been  preceded  by  a  period  of  gloom  and  disaster  in 
the  middle  states,  while  Washington*  with  the  shadow  of  an 
army,  enfeebled,  dispirited,  and  destitute  almost  of  clothing 
and  necessaries,  was  closely  pursued  by  a  powerful  British 
force  through  the  Jerseys — while  the  enemy  had  come  in 
possession  of  the  city  of  New- York,  Long  Island,  Staten  Isl- 
and, and  Rhode  Island — and  while  the  inauspicious  opera- 
tions at  Brandywine  and  Germantown,  rilled  every  American 
with  terror.  This  sad  picture,  however,  was  relieved  by  the 
firmness  of  Congress — by  the  uniform,  cautious  valour^ and 
steady  perseverance,  of  the  commander-in-chief — and  by  his 
successes  at  Trenton  and  Princeton.  Upon  the  capture  of 
Burgoyne,  the  French  court  acknowledged  the  independence 
of  the  United  States,  and  declared  war  against  England. 
France  had  Spain  and  Holland  for  its  allies  ;  and  the  war 
on  their  part  became  at  first  a  contest  for  the  dominion  of 
the  ocean.  On  this  element  the  French  contended  with 
more  glory  than  usual.  But  the  fate  of  America,  as  the 
event  has  proved,  was  to  be  decided  on  the  continent. 

The  idea  of  independence  had  not  been  long  broached  among  the 
people  before  the  way,  in  some  degree,  was  prepared  to  bring  the 
subject  before  Congress.  Accordingly,  on  the  8th  of  June,  1776, 
Richard  Henry  Lee,  of  Virginia,  made  a  motion  before  that  body,  to 
declare  America  free  and  independent.  Some  reasons  existed  for 
delaying  the  subject  for  a  few  weeks,  at  the  expiration  of  which,  viz. 
on  the  4th  of  July,  upon  the  report  of  a  committee  of  which  Thomas 
Jefferson  was  the  head,  -the  thirteen  confederate  colonies,  by  their 
delegates,  dissolved  their  allegiance  to  the  British  Crown,  and  de- 
clared themselves  Free  and  Independent,  under  the  name  of  the 
Thirteen  United  States  of  America.  This  was  a  decisive  and  bold 
step,  and  constitutes  an  era  in  history.  It  has  been  the  means,  in 
connexion  with  the  eventual  success  of  the  struggle,  of  giving  to 
several  other  nations  liberty  and  independence.  Mexico,  and  most 
of  the  states  of  South  America,  have  followed  this  example. 

The  period  of  disaster  and  gloom  which  followed  in  respect  to 
American  affairs,  deserves  a  summary  notice.    Washington,  in  anti- 


UNITED    STATES.  329 

sipation  of  the  movements  of  the  British,  left  Boston  with  his  army, 
and  proceeded  to  New-York,  with  a  view  to  occupy  the  latter  place. 
Here  his  army  amounted  to  between  seventeen  thousand  and  eighteen 
thousand  men,  a  part  of  whom  were  encamped  near  Brooklyn,  on 
Long  Island.  The  enemyxsoon  after  arrived  by  sea,  with  a  superior 
force,  and  on  the  27th  of  August  attacked,  with  success,  that  part  of  the 
American  army  which  was  encamped  near  Brooklyn.  The  loss  of  a 
thousand  of  his  best  troops  was  most  sensibly  felt  by  the  commander  - 
in-chief.  He  soon  after  evacuated  the  city,  upon  which,  on  the  12th 
of  October,  the  British  army  entered  it.  At  White  Plains,  whither 
Washington  had  retired,  he  was  attacked  on  the  28th  of  September,  by 
Generals  Clinton  and  Heister.  The  loss  here  was  several  hundreds, 
and  about  equal  on  both  sides. 

It  is  to  be  remarked,  that  previously  to  these  recent  battles,  many 
of  the  Americans,  in  this  region,  deserted  the  cause  of  their  country, 
in  consequence  of  offers  or  threats  held  out  by  his  majesty's  govern- 
ment, in  several  proclamations  which  were  issued  at  mis  period. 
These  occurrences  produced  a  disheartening  effect  on  the  people. 

The  strong  places  in  the  vicinity  of  New-York  were  now  taken  by 
or  given  up  to  the  enemy,  among  which  was  Fort  Washington,  which 
surrendered  with  nearly  three  thousand  men,  after  nearly  a  day's  se- 
vere contest.  The  American  army,  now  greatly  reduced  by  the 
return  of  the  militia,  (for  it  was  composed  of  the  militia  or  troops  en- 
listed for  a  year  only,)  by  sickness,  and  other  casualties  of  war, 
crossed  the  North  River  into  New- Jersey.  On  the  22d  November, 
the  whole  force  under  the  command  of  Washington,  did  not  exceed 
three  thousand  five  hundred.  With  this  small  number,  the  American 
general  tied  before  a  superior  force,  under  Lord  Cornwallis  ;  and 
even  this  remnant  of  an  army  was  diminished  on  its  march  to  the 
Delaware  by  the  expiration  of  the  term  of  enlistment  of  the  Jersey 
and  Maryland  brigades.  On  crossing  the  Delaware  in  the  early  part 
of  December,  General  Washington  had  only  about  seventeen  hundred 
men. 

Notwithstanding  the  general  aspect  of  affairs,  on  the  part  of  Ame- 
rica, was  thus  forbidding  and  gloomy,  the  continental  Congress,  so  far 
from  betray  ing  symptoms  of  despair,  manifested  more  confidence  than 
ever  in  the  cause  of  their  country ;  as  a  proof  of  which,  we  may  notice 
the  fact,  that  at  this  time  they  were  calmly  occupied  in  drawing  up 
various  articles  of  confederation,  and  perpetual  union,  among  the 
states.  These  were  adopted  on  the  4th  of  October.  At  the  same 
time,  also,  the  great  mass  of  the  American  people  remained  firm  and 
determined  in  the  cause  of  independence.  Congress  having  become 
sensible  of  the  impolicy  of  short  enlistments,  and  a  reliance  on  the 
irregular  services  of  the  militia,  determined  by  bounties  of  ready 
money,  and  promises  of  land,  to  raise  eighty-eight  battalions,  to  serve 
during  the  war. 

Washington,  now  aware  of  the  necessity  of  some  immediate  favoura- 
ble turn  in  his  military  operations,  not  only  to  save  Philadelphia,  which 
the  enemy  evidently  intended  to  possess,  but  to  arouse  the  spirit  of  the 
nation,  and  to  secure  an  army  for  the  succeeding  campaign,  boldly 
28* 


330 


MODERN    HI* 


'. — PERIOD    X. 


resolved,  even  with  his  shadow  of  an  army,  to  attempt  a  surprise  ot  a 
Dody  of  Hessians,  encamped  at  Trenton.  This  he  completely  effected 
on  the  morning  of  the  26th  of  December,  after  suffering  great  hard- 
ships in  his  march,  and  in  crossing  the  Delaware,  in  a  cold  stormy 
winter  night.  Many  of  the  Hessians  were  killed,  and  more  than  nine 
hundred  taken  prisoners.  Having  secured  these  prisoners  on  the  Penn- 
sylvania side  of  the  Delaware,  and  re-crossed  to  Trenton,  where  he 
was  met  by  a  superior  force  under  Cornwallis,  he  escaped  by  a  won- 
derful stratagem,  marched  to  Princeton,  and  attacked  a  party  of  the 
British,  of  whom  he  killed  sixty,  and  took  three  hundred  prisoners. 
These  successes  alleviated  the  gloom  which  had  settled  upon  the 
public  mind. 

Notwithstanding  all  the  exertions  that  had  been  made,  the  Ameri- 
can army  amounted  to  little  more  than  seven  thousand  at  the  opening 
of  the  campaign  of  1777.  The  British,  after  an  indecisive  course, 
some  time  in  the  month  of  August  took  up  their  march  to  Philadel- 
phia, from  the  South,  having  sailed  around  into  the  Chesapeake.  At 
Brandy  wine,  on  the  llth  of  September,  the  Americans  met  them,  but 
were  unsuccessful,  having  lost  probably  more  than  a  thousand  men 
in  killed,  wounded,  and  prisoners.  On  the  26th,  the  British  entered 
Philadelphia  without  molestation.  As,  however,  a  part  of  their  army 
was  stationed  at  Germantown,  six  miles  from  that  city,  a  battle 
occurred  there  on  the  4th  of  October,  but  with  defeat  again  on  the 
part  of  the  Americans.  The  plan  of  attack  by  Washington  was 
judicious,  and  the  commencement  of  the  battle  favourable,  but  failure 
finally  ensued  from  the  inexperience  of  a  part  of  the  troops,  and  the 
occurrence  of  a  fog,  which  increased  the  darkness  of  the  night. 

The  capture  of  Burgoyne's  army  had  a  most  important  effect  on  the 
destiny  of  America.  A  part  of  his  force,  in  pursuance  of  the  plan  of 
operations,  which  was  to  invade  the  states  from  the  north,  having 
been  detached  to  seize  a  magazine  of  stores  at  Bennington,  Vermont, 
was  gallantly  met  and  totally  defeated,  by  a  party  of  Vermont  troops 
and  some  New-Hampshire  militia.  This  loss  seriously  embarrassed 
the  British  commander  :  he  resolved,  however,  to  proceed,  and  meet- 
ing the  American  army  under  the  command  of  General  Gates,  at  Sa- 
ratoga, after  a  succession  of  contests,  he  was  obliged  to  capitulate  with 
his  whole  army,  consisting  of  five  thousand  and  seven  effective  men. 
This  event  increasing  the  probability  that  the  American  arms  would 
finally  triumph,  decided  France  to  espouse  the  cause  of  the  United 
States,  and  to  declare  war  against  Great  Britain,  as  already  stated. 

81.  The  countenance  and  aid  which  France  offered  to  the 
cause  of  liberty,  filled  America  with  rejoicing ;  but  Washing- 
ton, however  much  assisted  by  the  French  auxiliaries  under 
Rochambeau,  and  La  Fayette's  generous  enthusiasm,  has  the 
glory  of  having  struck  the  decisive  blow.  He  surrounded 
Cornwallis  at  Yorktown,  who  was  forced  to  capitulate,  Oct. 
19,  1781,  with  more  than  seven  thousand  prisoners  of  war. 
This  event  had  been  preceded  by  considerable  fighting  du 


UNITED  STATES.  331 

ring  two  or  three  years,  though  no  very  vigorous  fueasures 
had  been  taken  on  the  part  of  the  Americans,  and  also  by 
numerous  depredations  on  the  part  of  the  enemy.  The 
financial  state  of  the  country  had  also  been,  in  the  meantime, 
peculiarly  distressing.  After  the  capture  of  Burgoyne,  Eng- 
land could  entertain  no  more  hope  of  reducing  America,  and 
it  required  only  a  change  of  ministers  to  produce  a  peace, 
which  was  accordingly  done.  The  independence  of  the 
United  States  was  acknowledged  by  Great  Britain,  and  pre- 
liminaries of  peace  were  signed  Nov.  30,  1782,  which  were 
changed  into  a  definitive  peace,  Sept.  3, 1783. 

On  the  alliance  of  America  with  France,  it  was  resolved  in  Great 
Britain  immediately  to  evacuate  Philadelphia,  and  to  concentrate  the 
royal  force  in  the  city  of  New  York,  which  was  accordingly  executed. 
Washington,  penetrating  the  enemy's  design,  marched  in  pursuit  of  the 
retreating  army.  On  the  28th  of  June,  the  two  armies  engaged  at  Mon- 
mouth,  and  after  a  severe  contest,  in  which  the  Americans,  upon  the 
whole,  obtained  the  advantage,  were  separated  only  by  the  night.  In 
the  morning,  it  was  found  that  the  British  general  had  left  the  field 
for  New  York. 

Hitherto  the  conquest  of  the  states  had  been  attempted  by  proceed- 
ing from  north  to  south :  but  before  the  close  of  the  year  1778  that 
arrangement  was  changed,  and  the  southern  states  became  the  prin- 
cipal theatre  of  the  enemy's  operations.  Savannah,  and  with  it  the 
state  of  Georgia  itself,  soon  fell  into  the  power  of  the  English  under 
Col.  Campbell,  who  was  sent  thither  at  the  head  of  two  thousand 
men.  Nothing  decisive  occurred  during  the  campaign  of  1779,  on 
either  side.  Actuated  by  motives  of  plunder,  the  British  fitted  out 
an  expedition  from  New  York  to  Virginia,  which  took  possession  of 
large  naval  stores,  magazines  of  provisions,  and  great  quantities  of 
tobacco.  A  similar  expedition,  under  the  command  of  Gov.  Tryon, 
was  projected  against  several  sea-port  towns  of  Connecticut.  New 
Haven  suffered  from  pillage ;  and  East  Haven,  Fairfield,  Norvvalk, 
and  Green  Farms,  were  wantonly  burned. 

During  this  campaign  there  was  scarcely  an  important  expedition 
attempted  by  the  Americans  against  the  English.  Two  only  need  be 
named,  viz.  one  under  Gen.  Wayne,  against  Stony  Point,  on  the 
Hudson,  and  the  other  under  Gen.  Sullivan,  against  the  Six  Nations, 
both  of.  which  were  successful.  The  deficiency  of  exertion  on  the 
part  of  America  during  this  campaign,  was  owing  principally  to  two 
causes.  One  was,  the  failure  of  the  French  fleet  in  every  scheme  un 
dertaken  in  behalf  of  the  Americans.  This  operated  by  way  of  dis- 
couragement, since  much  had  been  expected  from  that  quarter.  Ano- 
ther cause,  still  more  strongly  operating,  was  the  daily  depreciation 
of  American  money,  consisting  of  bills  of  credit.  It  has  commonly 
been  called  "  continental  currency."  From  the  state  of  public  finan 
ces,  Congress  seemed  to  be  under  the  necessity  of  adopting  some 
such  expedient,  and  accordingly  emitted  bills  of  credit,  representing 


332  MODERN  HISTORY. — PERIOD  X. 

specie,  under  an  engagement  of  the  country  ultimately  to  redeem 
them,  by  an  exchange  of  gold  and  silver.  These,  in  the  course  of 
five  years,  or  up  to  the  year  1780,  amounted  to  the  immense  sum  of 
two  hundred  millions.  But  long  before  they  had  reached  that 
amount,  they  had  begun  to  depreciate,  till  finally  they  became  of  little 
or  no  value.  Under  these  circumstances,  it  was  with  the  greatest 
difficulty  that  an  army  could  be  raised,  and  necessaries  provided  for 
its  subsistence.  This  system  produced  many  other  evils,  but  they 
cannot  here  be  enumerated. 

In  1780,  Charleston,  the  capital  of  South  Carolina,  after  a  gallant 
resistance,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  The  state  was,  in  a 
measure,  overawed  by  the  British  force  .which  was  kept  there  in  dif- 
ferent garrisons,  but  the  spirit  of  liberty  often  broke  forth  in  attacks 
upon  the  enemy.  After  there  was  a  sufficient  concentration  of  force, 
by  the  arrival  of  Gen.  Gates  and  his  army  at  ihe  south,  the  Ameri- 
cans ventured  a  general  battle  with  the  enemy,  but  were  repulsed 
through  the  unpardonable  failure  of  the  militia.  This  occurred  at 
Camden  on  the  16th  of  Aug.  1780. 

While  the  campaign  of  1780  was  thus  filled  with  important  events 
in  the  southern  department,  it  passed  away  in  the  north  in  a  series 
of  disappointments  and  distress.  The  treachery  of  Arnold  had  at 
one  time  nearly  proved  fatal  to  his  country.  He  himself  escaped, 
but  the  victim  of  his  measures,  Major  Andre,  a  British  spy,  who  was 
engaged  in  the  negotiation  between  Arnold  and  the  enemy,  expiated 
his  crime  on  the  gallows. 

General  Greene  having  succeeded  Gen.  Gates  in  the  southern  army, 
soon  after  his  appointment  despatched  Gen.  Morgan  against  Tarle- 
ton,  in  South  Carolina,  between  whom  was  fought  the  memorable 
battle  of  Cowpens,  in  which  the  Americans  obtained  a  signal  victory. 
This  occurred  on  the  17th  of  Jan.  1781.  On  the  8th  of  March  fol- 
lowing, General  Greene  and  Lord  Cornwallis  joined  battle  at  Guilford 
Court  House,  in  which  the  Americans  were  repulsed.  Several  othe 
battles  took  place  in  the  south,  in  which,  although  the  Americans  were 
generally  defeated,  the  force  of  the  enemy  was  so  weakened,  that  it 
retired  to  Charleston,  leaving  the  rest  of  South  Carolina  in  the 
hands  of  the  Americans. 

Lord  Cornwallis  had  now  directed  his  march  towards  Virginia, 
and  having  received  considerable  reinforcements,  the  expectation  was 
indulged  that  this  state  would  soon  yield  to  his  arms.  The  Marquis 
de  la  Fayette  having  been  previously  despatched  to  Virginia,  to  co- 
operate with  a  French  fleet  within  the  waters  of  that  state,  in  the 
capture  of  Arnold  ,who  was  committing  depredations  there,  was  soon 
called  to  oppose  Cornwallis.  Prudence  forbade  him  from  risking  an 
engagement  with  the  superior  force  of  the  enemy,  and  Cornwallis, 
after  having  in  vain  sought  to  give  him  battle,  retired  to  Yorktown, 
near  the  mouth  of  York  river. 

It  was  at  Yorktown  where  the  scene  of  the  revolution  was  substan- 
tially closed.  Washington,  joined  by  Count  de  Rochambeau,  drew 
off  his  forces  from  New  York,  where  he  had  at  first  designed  to  at- 
tack Clinton,  and  marched  towards  Virginia.  Here  he  was  joined  bv 


UNITED  STATES.  333 

the  troops  under  La  Fayette,  and  a  French  fleet  commanded  by  Count 
de  Grasse,  and  being  in  sufficient  force  to  attempt  the  siege  of  York- 
town,  on  the  6th  of  October  it  was  commenced  in  form.  The  French 
fleet  had  proceeded  up  to  the  mouth  of  York  river,  to  prevent  Corn- 
wallis  either  from  retreating  or  receiving  assistance.  Seldom,  if 
ever,  during  the  revolutionary  struggle,  did  Washington  or  his  troops 
appear  before  the  enemy  with  more  cool  determination,  or  pursue  him 
with  more  persevering  ardour,  than  at  the  siege  of  this  place.  The 
result  we  have  already  mentioned.  Upon  this  event  the  Americans 
indulged  in  the  most  enthusiastic  joy,  and  the  names  of  Washington 
Rochambeau,  De  Grasse,  and  La  Fayette,  rang  through  the  land. 

On  the  3d  of  Nov.  1783,  a  little  more  than  two  years  after  the  bat- 
tle at  Yorktown,  the  American  army  was  disbanded,  and  the  great 
Washington  bid  a  final  adieu  to  the  partners  of  his  toils  and  his  vic- 
tories. The  gratitude  of  America  to  her  providential  deliverer  knew 
no  bounds. 

82.  The  new  republic  at  first  languished  under  its  liberty. 
The  first  constitution,  which  was  formed  during  the  war,  cre- 
ated a  federal  government  without  strength  and  without 
credit.  But  the  constitution  of  1789,  which  is  the  present 
form  of  government,  gave  it  a  very  desirable  degree  of  soli- 
dity, and  based  the  public  credit  on  a  system  of  finances  for 
the  union.  Under  this  constitution  Washington  was  chosen 
the  first  president,  in  which  character  he  was  no  less  essen- 
tial to  the  welfare  of  the  country,  than  in  that  of  a  general 
"  The  Union  can,  perhaps,  be  preserved  only  by  having  great 
men  in  the  first  offices."  This  is  the  judgment  of  the  liberal 
and  learned  historian,  Heeren.  Commerce  felt  the  first  great 
influence  of  the  new  republic,  and  almost  all  the  maritime 
nations  hastened  to  form  treaties  with  it.  The  consequence 
was,  that  wealth  and  prosperity  poured  in  upon  the  country 
apace.  Seldom  can  a  nation  so  increase,  because  it  is  seldom 
so  favoured  by  circumstances.  America,  preserving  its  neu- 
trality during  most  of  the  European  maritime  wars,  had  such 
a  vast  carrying  trade,  especially  between  the  West  Indies 
and  Europe,  that  its  commercial  navigation  was  hardly  sur- 
passed by  that  of  the  British. 

The  evils  existing  under  the  early  confederacy,  after  the  termina- 
tion of  the  revolutionary  struggle,  were  so  great,  that  there  was  im- 
minent danger  of  losing  all  that  had  been  gained.  The  powers  of 
the  government  were  in  general  small,  and  in  respect  to  so  vital  a 
point  as  the  payment  of  the  public  debt,  contracted  during  the  war, 
Congress  could  only  recommend  to  the  individual  states  to  raise 
money  for  that  purpose.  In  this  and  in  other  things  there  was  by  no 
means  entire  union  among  the  states,  and  especially  owing  to  mutual 
jealousies  and  the  want  of  power,  were  they  obliged  to  suffer  from 


MODERN    HISTORY. — PERIOD    X. 


ie  regulations  of  foreign  governments  in  respect  to  trade.  Tnis 
condition  of  things  led  to  the  consideration  of  a  stronger  bond  of  union, 
imong  these  independent  communities. 

That  bond  was  found  in  the  Federal  Constitution,  which  was 
resented  to  Congress  on  the  17th  of  September,  1787,  who  shortly 
ifter  sent  it  to  the  several  states  for  their  consideration.  It  had  been 
Irawn  up  by  commissioners  from  the  states,  who  on  the  19th  of 

tay  assembled  at  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  with  Washington  at  their 

lead.  By  the  terms  of  the  instrument,  it  was  to  be  carried  into  ope- 
ration by  Congress,  as  soon  as  nine  states  should  have  ratified  it.  Its 
fate  was  at  length  settled  by  the  adoption  of  it,  on  the  part  of  eleven 
states.  From  this  time  the  attention  of  all  classes  of  people,  Fede- 
ralists and  anti-Federalists,  (those  in  favour,  and  those  against  the  new 
Constitution,)  was  directed  to  Washington,  as  their  first  president. 

te  was  accordingly  elected  to  that  office  on  March  3d.  1789. 

The  acts  of  his  administration  were,  as  it  might  be  expected,  emi- 
nently wise  ;  though  some  of  them  were  carried  through,  not  without 
difficulty,  owing  to  the  spirit  of  party  that  had  begun  to  arise.  He 
rvas  subjected  at  times  to  unjust  censure,  though  the  event  proved, 
that  the  vast  majority  of  his  fellow  citizens  could  not  forget  their 
obligations  to  so  distinguished  a  benefactor  of  his  country.  After  the  , 
first  term  of  his  office  expired,  he  was  unanimously  elected  president 
of  the  nation  for  a  succeeding  term,  notwithstanding  his  wishes  for 
retirement.  Among  the  more  important  events  that  occurred  during 
Washington's  administration,  we  may  summarily  name  the  following, 
viz.  the  disturbances  between  the  Indians  and  the  whites  on  our  fron- 
tiers— the  difficulties  growing  out  of  the  mission  of  Genet,  the  French 
envoy,  who  sought  to  entangle  America  into  an  alliance  with  the 
French  republic — the  suppression  of  the  slave  trade  in  American 
ports — the  admission  of  three  states  into  the  union,  Vermont,  Ken- 
tucky, and  Tennessee — the  negotiation  of  Mr.  Jay's  treaty,  by  which 


the  frontiers  were  secured  against  the  remorseless  savage — and  the 
insurrection  in  Pennsylvania,  occasioned  by  duties  laid  on  home- 
made spirits. 

83.  John  Adams,  of  Massachusetts,  was  chosen  the  suc- 
cessor of  Washington  in  1797.  He  retained  the  presidency 
during  only  one  term.  Some  of  the  measures  of  his  admi- 
nistration were  peculiarly  offensive  to  those  who  had  been  op- 
posed to  the  policy  of  Washington,  and  the  federal  party ; 
and  the  political  strife  which  had  been  for  some  time  begun, 
greatly  increased,  until  Mr.  Jefferson,  the  opponent  of  Mr. 
Adams,  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  government.  This 
took  place  in  1801.  Under  Adams's  administration,  the  ag- 
gressions of  the  French  republic  were  repelled  with  spirit- 
preparations  were  made  for  war — but,  happily,  at  the  very 
crisis,  a  treaty  of  peace  was  concluded  at  Paris,  September 
30th,  1800,  under  the  auspices  of  Bonaparte.  Mr.  Jefferson, 


i 

y         T^ 


UNITED 

after  nis  .first  term  of  office  had  expired, 
for  another  term.  The  times  of  peace  and  prosperity,  which, 
with  few  abatements,  were  enjoyed  under  the  former  admi- 
nistrations, continued  till  nearly  the  close  of  his. 

It  was  perhaps  impossible  for  the  United  States  always  to 
continue  on  terms  of  amity  with  the  belligerent  powers  of 
Europe.  Disputes  arose  both  with  France  and  England,  es- 
pecially with  the  latter,  who  saw  in  America  a  formidable 
rival.  These  disputes  finally  impelled  the  states  to  have  re- 
course to  the  unexampled  resolution  of  a  voluntary  suspension 
of  their  own  commerce.  On  the  22d  of  December,  1807, 
Congress  passed  an  act  laying  an  embargo  on  all  vessels 
within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States.  This  was  fol- 
lowed, March  1st,  1808,  by  an  act  interdicting  commercial 
intercourse  with  France  and  Great  Britain.  This  restrictive 
plan  continued,  in  respect  to  France,  until  the  2d  of  Novem- 
ber, 1810,  and  in  respect  to  Great  Britain,  with  one  short 
suspension,  until  April  4th,  1812,  when  an  embargo  was  laid 
on  all  American  vessels,  preparatory  to  a  war  with  the  latter 
power.  It  was  hoped,  on  the  part  of  the  American  govern  - 
ment,  that  a  suspension  of  all  commercial  relations  with  the 
belligerents,  would  induce  them  to  rescind  those  edicts  by 
which  they  had  annihilated  neutral  rights  on  the  ocean  ;  but 
this  failing  ultimately  in  respect  to  Great  Britain,  war  ensued 
between  that  power  and  the  United  States — a  declaration  of 
which  was  made  by  Congress  on  the  18th  of  June,  1812.  In 
this  contest,  the  young  American  navy  gained  a  glorious 
distinction,  the  army  did  less,  the  capital  itself  became  the 
spoils  of  the  English,  but  New  Orleans  was  defended  with 
courage  and  success.  The  negotiations  at  Ghent  led,  in  a 
happy  hour,  to  a  much  needed  peace,  14th  December,  1814 
The  war  took  place  during  the  presidency  of  Mr.  Madison, 
who  was  inducted  into  the  office  in  1809.  Mr.  Madison,  like 
Mr.  Jefferson  before  him,  served  through  two  terms  of  the 
presidential  office,  retiring  in  1817,  when  he  was  succeeded- 
by  James  Monroe.  The  principal  events  that  marked  the 
administrations  of  Jefferson  and  Madison,  besides  those  above 
noticed,  were,  under  Mr.  Jefferson — the  admission  of  Ohio 
into  the  Union,  the  conclusion  of  the  war  with  Tripoli,  the 
revolutionary  projects  of  Col.  Burr,  and  the  purchase  of  Loui- 
siana; and,  under  Mr.  Madison — the  establishment  of  the  Bank 


336  MODERN    HISTORY. — PERIOD   X. 

of  the  United  States,  and  the  admission  of  Louisiana  and  In  • 
diana  into  the  Union. 

A  few  details  only  can  be  given  respecting  the  war  with  Great 
Britain.  The  principal  grounds  of  war,  as  set  forth  in  the  presi- 
dent's message,  were — -the  impressment  of  American  seamen  by  the 
British — the  blockade  of  her  enemy's  ports,  supported  by  no  adequate 
force,  in  consequence  of  which  the  American  commerce  had  been 
plundered  in  every  sea,  and  the  great  staples  of  the  country  cut  off 
from  their  legitimate  markets — and  the  British  orders  in  council. 
Both  Congress  and  the  country,  during  the  whole  period  of  the  con- 
tention, were  very  much  divided  respecting  both  the  justice  and  the 
expediency  of  it.  The  nation  was  not  well  prepared  for  the  under- 
taking, and  especially  was  the  want  of  officers  at  first  severely  felt. 

The  commencement  of  the  war,  in  the  operations  against  Canada, 
was  marked  by  disaster.  General  Hull,  who  had  been  sent  at  the 
head  of  two  thousand  and  five  hundred  men  to  Detroit,  with  a  view 
to  putting  an  end  to  Indian  hostilities  in  that  country,  surrendered  his 
whole  army  to  General  Brock,  without  a  battle,  and  with  it  the  Fort 
at  Detroit.  This  event  occurred  on  the  16th  of  August.  The  battle 
of  dueenstown,  which  soon  followed,  was  bravely  fought,  and  ap- 
peared at  first  to  be  successful,  but  by  successive  reinforcements  the 
enemy  at  length  gamed  the  day.  The  brave  British  commander, 
General  Brock,  was,  however,  killed  during  the  engagement.  This 
battle  was  fought  on  the  13th  of  October,  1812. 

But  while  disaster  attended  the  operations  of  the  Americans  on 
land,  victory  crowned  the  efforts  of  their  infant  navy.  The  charm 
of  British  invincibility  on  the  ocean,  was  almost,  for  the  first  time, 
broken.  Capt.  Isaac  Hull,  of  the  frigate  Constitution,  obtained  the 
first  triumph  over  the  enemy  on  his  own  peculiar  element,  in  the 
capture  of  the  British  frigate  Guerriere.  This  occurred  about  the 
middle  of  August,  1812.  On  the  17th  of  October  another  victory  was 
obtained  by  Capt.  Jones,  of  the  sloop  of  war  Wasp  over  the  Fro- 
lick.  Before  the  expiration  of  the  month,  Commodore  Decatur,  of 
the  frigate  United  States,  captured  the  Macedonian,  a  frigate  of  the 
largest  class,  mounting  forty-nine  guns,  and  manned  with  three  hun- 
dred men.  And.  finally,  just  at  the  close  of  the  year,  a  second  victo- 
ry was  achieved  by  the  Constitution,  then  commanded  by  Com. 
Bainbridge,  over  the  Java,  a  frigate  of  thirty-eight  guns,  but  carrying 
forty-nine. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  year  1813,  a  battle  was  fought  at  the 
t  river  Raisin,  between  a  detachment  of  the  north-western  army  un- 
der Gen.  Winchester,  and  a  superior  force  of  British  and  Indians 
under  Gen.  Proctor,  the  result  of  which  was  fatal  to  the  Americans, 
since,  upon  their  surrender  as  prisoners  of  war,  nearly  all  of  them 
were  inhumanly  massacred  by  the  Indians. 

During  the  winter,  another  naval  victory  was  obtained  by  the 
Americans,  in  the  capture  of  the  sloop  of  war  Peacock,  by  the  Hor- 
net, under  Capt.  Lawrence.  This,  however,  was  followed  on  the  1st 
of  June,  by  the  loss  of  the  Chesapeake,  under  the  same  officer,  who 
had  been  promoted  to  the  command  of  it,  in  an  engagement  with  the 


•  UNITED  STATES.  337 

Shannon,  off  Boston  harbour.  The  Argus,  also,  was  soon  after  cap- 
tured by  a  British  ship  of  war.  This,  however,  was  but  a  temporary 
ill  success  of  the  American  navy.  No  other  considerable  vessel,  ex- 
cept the  Essex,  under  the  command  of  Com.  Porter,  after  this,  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  enemy  ;  while  on  the  part  of  the  Americans, 
beside  victories  in  single  ships,  two  several  fleet  engagements  ended 
in  the  complete  triumph  of  the  American  navy.  These  occurred, 
the  one  on  Lake  Erie,  under  Com.  Perry,  and  the  other  on  Lake 
Clmrnplain,  under  Com.  Macdonough. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  spring  of  1813,  a  successful  attack  was 
made  by  the  Americans  upon  York,  the  capital  of  Upper  Canada, 
which  fell  into  their  hands.  In  this  battle,  the  brave  Gen.  Pike  per- 
ished. On  the  sea-board,  during  this  year,  the  British  shipping  in 
our  waters  blockaded  several  important  places,  and  made  a  number 
of  predatory  excursions,  in  which  much  property  was  plundered  and 
destroyed.  In  the  north-west,  success  attended  the  Americans  un- 
der Gen.  Harrison,  and  Detroit  fell  into  his  hands.  This  event  gave 
security  to  the  frontiers.  A  more  extended  plan  of  attack  on  Cana- 
da was  now  formed  by  the  American  army  under  Gen.  Wilkinson  ; 
but,  from  various  causes,  very  little  was  effected.  During  the  re- 
mainder of  the  year,  several  events  of  importance  occurred — as  the 
capture  of  Washington,  and  the  destruction  of  the  public  buildings 
of  the  place,  and  the  defence  of  Baltimore.  But  we  can  give  no 
more  details  respecting  this  war,  except  to  add,  that  the  battle  of  New 
Orleans,  tinder  Gen.  Jackson,  occurred  on  the  8th  of  Jan.  the  succeed- 
ing year,  after  negotiations  for  peace  had  been  set  on  foot  with  the 
promise  of  success. 

84.  The  war  with  England  failed  of  its  immediate  object, 
but  it  showed  us  our  strength  and  our  weakness,  and  perhaps 
tended  to  consolidate  our  union.  It  caused  us  to  feel  the  ne- 
cessity of  a  navy,  and,  connected  with  the  previous  prohibi- 
tions of  commerce,  gave  an  impulse  to  our  manufacturing 
industry.  With  the  return  of  peace,  our  trade  was  diffused 
over  every  sea.  The  presidency  of  Monroe  continued  through 
two  terms,  and  was  an  era  of  good  feelings.  Five  states  were 
added  to  the  union  during  his  administration.  But  the  period 
of  internal  concord  and  good  will  soon  came  to  a  close.  Party 
altercations  arose  in  the  choice  of  Mr.  Monroe's  successor, 
John  Q.  Adams,  in  1825,  and  have  continued  with  more  01 
less  violence,  under  the  administration  of  President  Jackson, 
who  was  elected  to  the  high  office  in  1829.  The  measures, 
however,  of  these  officers  have  been  approved  by  respectable 
majorities  of  the  American  people.  It  may  be  remarked,  gene- 
rally, that  amidst  unexampled  prosperity,  party  spirit  has  too 
often  raged;  not  without  danger  to  the  republic,  but  love  of 
country  has  in  the  end  prevailed.  Thus,  we  trust,  it  ever  will 
29 


MODERN  HISTORY. — PERIOD  x. 


be,  through  the  favoring  providence  of  God.  He  has  been 
better  to  us  as  a  nation,  than  either  cur  deserts  or  fears  would 
have  led  us  to  expect. 

Soon  after  the  conclusion  of  the  war,  the  attention  of  congress  was 
turned  towards  the  establishment  of  a  national  bank.  The  subject 
presented  great  difficulties  at  ttie  time ;  but  the  measure  was  carried, 
and  a  bill,  incorporating  the  "Bank  of  the  United  States,"  received 
the  signature  of  President  Madison  on  the  10th  of  April,  1816.  The 
capital  of  the  bank  was  fixed  at  thirty-five  millions  of  dollars,  and  its 
duration,  twenty  years.  Great  efforts  have  lately  been  made  to  obtain 
a  recharter  of  the  institution,  but  they  have  all  hitherto  failed. 

Soon  after  the  accession  of  President  Monroe,  he  made  a  tour 
through  the  northern  and  middle  states,  which,  besides  the  great  pub- 
lic objects  he  had  in  view,  in  respect  to  the  defence  of  the  Atlantic 
board,  served  very  much  to  conciliate  the  affections  of  all  classes  of 
his  fellow-citizens. 

Early  in  the  presidency  of  Monroe,  an  expedition,  which  had  been 
set  on  foot  by  a  number  of  adventurers  from  different  countries,  against 
East  and  West  Florida,  was  terminated  by  the  troops  of  the  United 
States.  These  adventurers  claimed  to  be  acting  under  the  authority 
of  some  of  the  South  American  colonies,  and  had  formed  an  establish- 
ment at  Amelia  Island,  a  Spanish  province,  then  the  subject  of  nego- 
tiation between  the  United  States  and  Spain.  Their  avow7ed  object 
being  an  invasion  of  the  Floridas,  and  of  course  an  invasion  of  a  part 
of  the  United  States,  the  American  government  deemed  itself  autho- 
rized, without  designing  any  hostility  to  Spain,  to  take  possession 
of  Amelia  Island,  their  head  quarters.  Accordingly,  a  naval  force, 
with  the  necessary  troops,  was  despatched  under  the  command  of 
Captains  Henley  and  Bunkhead,  to  whom  Amelia  Island  was  surren- 
dered on  the  24th  of  December,  without  the  effusion  of  blood.  The 
suppression  of  Galvezton,  a  similar  establishment  on  an  island  off 
the  coast  of  Texas,  followed  soon  after.* 

The  states  which  were  admitted  into  the  union  during  the  adminis- 
tration of  Monroe,  were  Mississippi,  Illinois,  Alabama,  Maine,  and 
Missouri.  Mississippi  was  received  in  Dec.  1817.  Some  parts  of 
it  had  been  early  visited  and  settled  by  the  French.  They  claimed 
the  countiy  until  the  treaty  of  1763,  when  they  ceded  their  posses 
sions  east  of  the  river  to  the  English.  Illinois  adopted  a  state  cor 
stitution  in  1818,  and  in  the  same  year  was  admitted  as  a  member  of 
the  union.  The  first  settlements  in  Illinois  were  made  by  the  French, 
and  for  a  time,  they  were  in  a  flourishing  condition.  Afterwards, 
however,  they  fell  into  decay.  In  1762,  all  the  country  to  the  east  of 
the  Mississippi  was  ceded  to  the  British ;  Illinois  of  course  passed 
with  the  rest.  After  the  war  of  the  revolution,  Virginia  and  some 
other  states  claimed  the  whole  country  north  and  west  of  the  Ohio, 
but  they  saw  fit  at  length  to  relinquish  their  claims  to  the  general 
government.  Alabama  was  admitted  into  the  union  in  the  latter  parl 
of  the  year  1819.  This  country  continued  the  hunting  ground  ol 
*  Goodrich's  History  of  the  United  States 


UNITED    STATES.  33* 

savages,  until  some  time  after  the  American  revolution.  In  1817  the 
eastern  portion  of  the  Mississippi  territory,  which  included  wha- 
are  now  the  states  of  Mississippi  and  Alabama,  was  formed  into  a 
territorial  government,  and  received  the  latter  name.  Maine  was 
admitted  as  an  independent  state  into  the  union,  in  the  year  1820.  It 
had  been  a  part  of  Massachusetts,  and  after  several  ineffectual  at- 
tempts to  obtain  a  majority  of  its  people  in  favor  of  a  separation,  the 
object  was  accomplished  in  the  year  1819.  The  separation  took  place 
amicably.  Missouri  was  declared  by  the  president's  proclamation, 
to  be  an  independent  state,  and  a  member  of  the  federal  union,  in  the 
year  1821.  Missouri  with  Louisiana  remained  in  the  possession  of 
Spain  through  the  war  of  the  revolution,  until  the  cession  of  the  whole 
country  to  France  in  1801,  by  which  latter  power  it  was  ceded  to  the 
United  States  in  1803.  The  admission  of  Missouri  into  the  union 
was  attended  with  some  difficulty,  on  account  of  a  bill  which  was  in- 
troduced into  congress,  providing  for  the  interdiction  of  slavery  in 
that  state.  Warm  debates  arose,  and  the  matter  was  settled  only 
through  a  compromise,  by  which  slavery  was  tolerated  in  Missouri, 
and  forbidden  in  all  that  part  of  original  Louisiana  lying  north  ol 
36°  30'  north  latitude,  and  beyond  the  limits  of  the  state. 

An  Indian  war  of  some  importance  was  carried  on  in  1818,  under 
the  presidency  of  Monroe.  It  is  called  the  Seminole  war,  as  a  tribe  of 
Indians  of  that  name  were  principally  concerned  in  it.  It  ended  in  their 
complete  discomfiture.  They  consisted  originally  of  fugitives  from 
the  northern  tribes,  resident  within  the  southern  states,  and  were  then 
living  partly  on  the  borders  of  Florida,  but  mostly  within  the  bounda- 
ries of  that  country.  They  had  made  aggressions  on  the  white  habi- 
tants of  the  United  States,  and  had  been  guilty  of  repeated  murders. 
This  state  of  things  determined  the  government  of  the  country  to 
inilict  an  exemplary  chastisement  on  the  barbarous  offenders.  An 
armed  force  was  sent  for  this  purpose,  and  after  pursuing  the  enemy 
into  Florida,  and  taking  possession  of  several  Spanish  forts,  the  dif- 
ficulty was  terminated  by  their  complete  dispersion.  Gen.  Jackson 
was  the  leader  in  this  war.  He  rendered  a  signal  service  to  his 
country,  but  some  parts  of  his  conduct  were  deemed  highly  excep- 
tionable, by  a  portion  of  the  community.  His  appeal  to  the  people  of 
West  Tennessee,  calling  for  volunteers  instead  of  applying  to  the 
governor  for  a  draft  of  the  militia — his  course  in  relation  to  the  trial 
and  execution  of  Arbuthnot  and  Ambrister,  two  Englishmen,  who 
were  charged  with  giving  encouragement  and  aid  to  the  Indians — 
and  his  occupation  of  St.  Marks  and  Pensacola — were  subjects  much 
commented  upon  in  the  public  prints,  and  eloquently  debated  in  the 
American  congress.  The  general  escaped  the  censure  of  that  body, 
notwithstanding  the  efforts  that  were  made  to  cast  a  stigma  upon  his 
conduct. 

In  the  year  1819,  a  convention  was  concluded  between  Great  Bri- 
tain and  the  United  States,  some  of  the  articles  of  which  were,  that 
the  citizens  of  the  United  States  have  liberty,  in  common  with  the 
subjects  of  Great  Britain,  to  take  fish,  on  the  southern,  western,  and 
northern  coast  of  Newfoundland,  &c. — that  the  northern  boundaiies 


340 


MODERN  HISTORY. PERIOD  X 


of  the  United  States  should  extend  from  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  u 
the  Stony  Mountains — and  that  the  commercial  convention  betweei 
the  two  countries  concluded  at  London,  in  1815,  should  be  continue* 
for  the  term  of  ten  years. 

In  the  year  above  named,  (1819,)  Spain,  by  its  minister  at  Wash- 
ington, ceded  to  the  United  States,  East  and  West  Florida,  with  al 
the  islands  adjacent.  This  country,  which  was  discovered  as  earb 
as  1497  by  Cabot,  was  held  first  by  the  Spaniards,  next  by  the  En- 
glish, and  then  by  the  Spaniards  again.  Its  cession  to  the  Unitet 
States  was  accompanied  not  without  vexatious  delays  on  the  part  oi 
the  Spanish  government.  It  was  not  until  a  forcible  execution  of  the 
treaty  which  had  been  made,  but  not  ratified,  was  about  to  be  pro- 
posed by  the  United  States,  that  the  treaty  was  ratified  by  his  Catho- 
lic Majesty.  As  an  indemnity  to  the  citizens  of  the  United  States, 
on  account  of  Spanish  spoliations  and  injuries,  a  sum  not  exceeding 
five  millions  of  dollars  was  to  be  paid  by  the  American  government, 
out  of  the  proceeds  of  sales  of  lands  in  Florida,  or  in  stock,  or  money. 

During  the  administration  of  President  Monroe,  a  territorial  go- 
vernment was  formed  for  the  Arkansas,  and  for  Florida,  the  former 
in  1819  and  the  latter  in  1822.  The  Arkansas  was  the  southern  part 
of  what  in  1812  constituted  the  Territory  of  Missouri.  A  division 
of  the  territory  was  made  in  1819,  the  northern  district  being  called 
Missouri,  and  the  southern  formed  into  a  territorial  government  by  the 
name  of  Arkansas. 

In  the  second  session  of  the  seventeenth  congress.  President  Monroe 
introduced  to  the  notice  of  congress,  the  subject  of  the  piracy  prac- 
tised in  the  West  Indies  upon  American  seamen,  and  recommended 
the  immediate  organization  of  an  efficient  force  to  suppress  it.  Mea- 
sures were  soon  adopted  by  the  government  to  put  a  stop  to  this  in- 
famous business,  and  the  object  was  promptly  effected  under  Commo- 
dore Porter,  who  sailed  with  a  competent  naval  force  to  the  scene  of 
the  depredations. 

The  year  1824  was  signalized  by  the  visit  of  the  Marquis  L 
Fayette  to  this  country.  He  was  accompanied  by  his  son,  and  M.  L 
Vasseur,  his  secretary.  Landing  at  New  York,  he  was  receivec 
with  the  most  enthusiastic  feelings  of  admiration  and  gratitude.  Du- 
ring his  stay  in  this  country,  he  visited  almost  every  important  part 
of  it,  and  in  every  place  he  was  welcomed,  as  emphatically  the  na- 
tion's guest.  The  important  services  which  he  rendered  to  the  Unitec 
States  in  the  war  of  the  revolution,  were  thus  rewarded  with  the  he 
mage  of  a  great  people ;  while  the  American  congress  responded  tc 
the  public  demonstrations  of  respect,  by  voting  him  two  hundrec 
thousand  dollars,  and  a  township  of  land,  as  a  compensation  for  his 
services  and  expenditures.  In  the  autumn  of  1825  he  took  passage  ii 
the  ship  Brandy  wine  for  France,  where  he  has  since  figured  in  man] 


interesting  scenes. 


The  presidency  of  John  Q,.  Adams,  which  commenced  in  1825, 
and  continued  for  one  term  only,  encountered  a  bitter  storm  of  oppo- 
sition from  the  beginning.     Party  spirit  too  far  gained  the  ascendancy 
to  allow  full  justice  to  the  measures  of  his  administration.     This  may 


UNITED  STATES.  341 

6r»  sougnt  partly  from  the  circumstances  under  which  he  came  into 
office.  The  choice  of  president  not  being  settled  by  the  electoral  vole, 
devolved  on  the  house  of  representatives.  Mr.  Adams  was  chosen  by 
this  body,  but  inasmuch  as  Gen.  Jackson  had  a  plurality  of  votes  in 
the  electoral  college,  many  conceived  that  injustice  was  done  to  the 
general,  and  to  the  expectations  of  the  country,  and  that  the  election 
of  Mr.  Adams  was  effected  by  bribery  and  corruption.  Notwithstand- 
ing the  difficulty  of  his  situation,  he  secured  a  large  share  of  respect, 
not  only  personally,  but  as  an  executive  officer.  The  agitating  sub- 
ject of  the  tariff  of  duties  on  imports,  was  extensively  discussed  du- 
ring the  term  of  his  administration,  and  some  of  its  principles  were 
settled,  at  least,  for  a  time. 

Andrew  Jackson  took  the  oath  of  office  as  president  of  the  United 
States,  on  the  fourth  of  March,  1829.  The  country  was  at  that  time 
in  a  flourishing  condition,  peace  was  enjoyed  abroad,  and  the  national 
debt  had  been  greatly  diminished.  He  entered  upon  the  performance 
of  his  duties  with  energy  and  decision  ;  but  the  causes  of  collision  and 
oarty  alienation  which  had  sprung  up  in  connection  with  the  election 
)f  his  predecessor,  have  continued  at  woik  to  the  present  time,  and 
^resented  serious  obstacles  to  the  execution  o-f  his  plans.  The  cha- 
/acter  of  his  admin  istraiion  hitherto  has  been  strongly  marked,  and 
tie  seems  destined  to  achieve  most  of  the  objects  which  he  has  had  at 
heart. 

President  Jackson's  cabinet  consisted  of  Martin  Van  Buren  as 
secretary  of  state,  John  D.  Ingham  as  secretary  of  the  treasury,  John 
H.  Eaton  as  secretary  of  war,  John  Branch  as  secretary  of  the  navy, 
and  John  M'Pherson  Berrien  as  attorney-general.  This  cabinet  con- 
tinued but  a  little  more  than  two  years,  when  it  was  dissolved  in  a 
manner  that  occasioned  great  surprise  throughout  the  country. 

A  favorite  measure  with  President  Jackson,  has  been  the  removal 
of  the  Indians  in  the  southern  states,  beyond  the  limits  of  the  republic, 
to  be  congregated  into  a  community  by  themselves,  under  the  care  of 
the  general  government.  In  the  contests  which  the  state  of  Georgia 
has  had  with  the  tribe  "of  Cherokees  within  her  borders,  and  with  the 
United  States,  on  the  subject,  Gen.  Jackson  has  ever  favored  the  pre- 
tensions of  that  state.  On  the  24th  May,  1830,  a  bill  for  removing 
the  Indians  passed  the  house  of  representatives,  by  a  vote  of  102  to  97. 
Arising  out  of  this  controversy,  history  has  to  record  the  surprising 
fact,  that  three  Christian  missionaries,  Messrs.  Butler,  Trott,  and 
Worcester  were  sentenced  by  the  superior  court  of  Georgia  at  Law- 
renceville,  to  four  years  imprisonment  at  hard  labor,  in  the  peniten- 
'iary,  for  residing  in  the  territory  occupied  by  the  Cherokees,  Avithout 
taking  an  oath  to  support  the  constitution  and  laws  of  Georgia.  It  is 
consoling,  however,  to  know,  and  it  will  appear  on  the  page  of  history 
to  the  latest  time,  that  the  supreme  court  of  the  United  States  decided 
in  the  case  of  these  missionaries,  that  the  law  of  Georgia  under  which 
they  were  imprisoned,  and  by  which  the  state  assumed  jurisdiction 
over  the  Indian  territory,  is  contrary  to  the  laws  and  treaties  of  the 
United  States,  and  therefore  null  and  void. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  year  1831,  a  treaty  was  made  between  the 
29* 


342  MODERN    HISTORY. — PERIOD    X. 

United  States  and  the  Creek  Indians,  by  which  the  latter 
the  United  States,  all  their  lands  east  of  the  Mississippi  river.  In 
the  same  year,  the  ratification  of  the  treaties  of  commerce,  navigation, 
and  of  the  limits  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico,  was  ex- 
changed at  Washington.  In  June,  of  the  same  year,  a  bill  for  the 
further  relief  of  the  surviving  offices  and  soldiers  of  the  American 
revolution,  having  passed  both  houses  of  Congress,  received  the  sig- 
nature of  the  president.  The  same  year  was  further  signalized  by  the 
new  tariff  act,  which  passed  the  senate  by  a  vote  of  thirty-two  to 
sixteen,  and  also  by  the  act  which  extended  the  charter  of  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States,  but  which,  though  passed  by  the  senate,  by  a  vote 
of  28  to  20,  and  the  house  of  representatives,  by  a  vote  of  105  to  83, 
was  returned  by  President  Jackson  to  the  senate  with  his  objections 
to  signing  it;  and  less  than  two  thirds  voting  for  its  passage,  was  re- 
jected. 

On  account  of  the  laws  respecting  the  tariff,  difficulties  of  a  serious 
nature  arose  between  the  general  government  and  some  parts  of  the 
union,  particularly  South  Carolina.  In  the  month  of  October,  1832, 
an  act  passed  in  the  legislature  of  that  state,  requiring  "  a  convention 
of  delegates  of  the  people  of  that  state  to  assemble  at  Columbia,  on 
the  3d  Monday  of  November,  then  and  there  to  take  into  considera- 
tion the  several  acts  of  congress  of  the  United  States,  imposing  duties 
on  foreign  imports  for  the  protection  of  domestic  manufactures,  or  for 
other  unauthorized  objects;  to  determine  on  the  character  thereof, 
and  to  devise  the  means  of  redress ;  and  further  in  like  manner  to  take 
into  consideration  such  of  the  acts  of  said  congress,  laying  duties  on 
imports,  as  may  be  passed  in  amendment  of,  or  substitution  for,  the 
act  or  acts  aforesaid,  and  all  other  laws  and  acts  of  the  government 
of  the  United  States,  which  shall  be  passed  or  done  for  the  purpose 
of  more  effectually  executing  and  enforcing  the  same." 

The  convention  of  delegates  of  the  state  of  South  Carolina  thus 
assembled  at  Columbia,  passed  an  Ordinance,  (unless  the  acts  of 
congress  imposing  duties  on  imports  should  be  repealed.)  declaring 
and  ordaining  "  that  the  several  acts  and  parts  of  acts  of  the  congress 
of  the  United  States,  purporting  to  be  laws  for  the  imposing  of  duties 
and  imposts  on  the  importation  of  foreign  commodities,  and  now 
having  actual  operation  and  effect  within  the  United  States,  and  more 
especially,  'An  act  entitled  an  act,  in  alteration  of  the  several  acts 
imposing  duties  on  imports,  approved  on  the  19th  of  May,  '1S2S,  arid 
also  an  act  entitled  an  act,  to  alter  and  amend  the  several  acts  im- 
posing duties  on  imports,  approved  on  the  14th  of  July,  1832,'  are 
unauthorized  by  the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  violate 
the  true  meaning  and  intent  thereof,  and  are  null  and  void,  and  no 
law,  nor  binding  upon  this  state,  its  officers  or  citizens-  and  all  pro- 
mises, contracts,  and  obligations,  made  and  entered  into,  or  to  be  made 
and  entered  into,  with  the  purpose  to  secure  the  duties  imposed  by 
the  said  acts,  and  all  judicial  proceedings  which  shaH  be  hereafter 
had  in  affirmance  thereof,  are  and  shall  be  held  utterly  null  and  void." 

Soon  after  the  meeting  of  congress  on  that  year,  President  Jackson 
issued  his  proclamation,  stating  his  views  of  the  constitution  and  laws 


applicable  to  tae  measures  adopted  by  the  convention  of  South  Caro- 
'ina,  and  to  the  reasons  put  forth  to  sustain  them,  declaring  the  course 
which  duty  would  require  him  to  pursue,  and  warning  the  people  of 
South  Carolina  of  the  consequences  which  must  result  from  the  ob- 
servance of  the  dictates  of  the  convention. 

This  document  was  well  received  in  most  parts  of  the  United 
States,  as  it  addressed  itself  to  the  patriotism  of  the  people,  and 
gave  a  correct  exposition  of  the  principles  of  the  constitution.  The 
president  soon  after  communicated  a  message  to  congress,  laying 
before  it  the  acts  and  proceedings  of  South  Carolina,  giving  informa- 
tion respecting  the  measures  which  he  had  already  taken  for  the 
collection  of  the  revenue,  and  suggesting  such  further  measures  as 
he  deemed  necessary.  Following  this  communication,  a  bill  for  col- 
lecting the  revenue,  called  the  "  enforcing  bill,"  passed  in  the  house 
of  representatives,  after  an  animated  debate  of  several  weeks.  This 
occurred  on  the  first  of  March.  1833,  and  on  the  eleventh  of  the  same 
month,  the  state  convention  of  South  Carolina  assembled,  and  in  the 
course  of  a  fewr  days  passed  two  ordinances.  The  first  repealed  the 
nullification  ordinance  of  the  .preceding  year,  and  most  of  the  laws 
passed  by  the  legislature,  in  pursuance  thereof.  The  other  was  an 
ordinance  to  nullify  the  late  act  of  congress,  further  providing  for  the 
collection  of  the  national  revenue. 


SOUTH  AMERICA. 

85.  The  provinces  of  SOUTH  AMERICA,  which  were  colo- 
nized by  Europeans,  continued,  with  little  variations  in  their 
circumstances,  from  the  time  of  their  settlement,  to  the  con- 
vulsions attending  the  French  revolution.  Those  convul- 
sions, inasmuch  as  they  affected  the  parent  countries,  also 
reached  them.  Within  the  present  century  they  have  be 
come  independent  sovereign  states,  generally  with  republican 
governments,  resembling  that  of  North  America.  Brazil, 
belonging  to  the  Portuguese,  having  ceased  to  be  a  colony,  is 
styled  by  its  ruler,  an  empire.  The  Spanish  provinces  had 
a  long  struggle  for  liberty  and  independence,  which  they 
have  attained,  so  far  as  concerns  the  interference  of  the 
mother  country.  If  our  information  be  correct,  all  of 
them  have  not  yet  agreed  on  permanent  forms  of  govern- 
ment. Seven  states  are  already  enumerated  among  the 
free  governments  of  the  South,  viz.,  1.  Colombia  ;  2.  La 
Plata ;  3.  Chili ;  4.  Mexico ;  5.  Peru  ;  6.  The  Capitania  of 
G  uatimala  ;  7.  Bolivia,  formed  out  of  the  provinces  of  Upper 
Peru. 

§  The  struggle  for  freedom  in  the  Spanish  provinces,  did  not  origi 


344 


MODERN    HISTORY. — PERIOD  X. 


nate  in  the  intention  of  an  entire  separation  from  the  Spanish  throne, 
but  from  resistance  to  the  usurpation  of  Napoleon  and  his  brother. 
The  insurgents  were,  therefore,  no  more  rebels,  than  the  Spaniards 
themselves.  But  they  were  as  unwilling  to  be  ruled  by  Spanish 
Juntas,  as  by  their  viceroys,  in  whom  they  could  not  confide.  Like 
the  Spanish,  they  established  Juntas  of  their  own,  during  the  im- 
prisonment of  their  lawful  king.  Meanwhile,  after  the  erection  of 
the  regency  in  the  mother  country,  and  after  its  refusal  to  comply 
with  their  just  demands,  they  would  not  recognize  its  authority,  nor 
that  of  the  Cortez  assembled  by  it ;  upon  this  they  were  declared 
rebels.  After  the  accession  of  Ferdinand  VII.,  they  had  gone  toe 
far  to  retreat.  His  violence  and  insincerity  finished  the  rest. 

Distinguished  Characters  in  Period  X. 

1.  Addison,  an  elegant  English  essayist  and  poet. 

2.  Newton,  a  most  profound  mathematician  and  philosopher. 

3.  Boerhaave,  a  skilful  and  learned  Dutch  physician. 

4.  Pope,  an  eminent  English  poet. 

5.  Swift,  distinguished  as  a  wit,  poet,  and  prose  writer. 

6.  Montesquieu,  a  Frenchman,  a  great  political  philosopher. 

7.  Edwards,  an  illustrious  American  metaphysician  and 
divine. 

8.  Hume,  a  Scotchman,  an  able  historian,  and  an  acute 
and  skeptical  writer. 

9.  Voltaire,  a  French  poet  and  writer  of  great  celebrity. 

10.  Linnaeus,  a  Swede,  the  father  of  botany. 

11.  Rousseau,  a  renowned  Swiss  philosopher,  and  fine  writer. 

12.  Pitt,  a  distinguished  statesman  and  orator. 

1 3.  Metastasio,  the  most  illustrious  poet  of  modern  Itaty. 

14.  Euler,  a  renowned  Swiss  mathematician. 

15.  Johnson,  an  eminent  lexicographer,  critic,  and  essayist 

16.  Franklin,  an  American,  a.  distinguished  philosopher 
and  discoverer  of  electricity. 

17.  Gibbon,  an  eminent  English  historian. 

18.  Burns,  a  Scotch  poet,  a  great  untaught  genius. 

19.  Burke,  an  Irishman  distinguished  for  eloquence  and 
political  knowledge. 

20.  Washington,  an  eminent  statesman  and  warrior,  am 
father  of  the  American  republic. 

21.  Cowper,  a  celebrated  English  poet. 

22.  Klopstock,  a  German  poet  of  great  repute. 

22   Heyne,  an  eminent  German  critic  and  scholar. 


DISTINGUISHED    CHARACTERS.  345 

24.  M.  de  Stael,  a  learned  and  accomplished  French  female 
writer. 

25.  'Dvvight,  a  celebrated  American  divine  and  belles-lettres 
scholar. 

26.  Buonaparte,  a  renowned  warrior,  conqueror,  and  states- 
man. 

1.  Addison,  (Joseph,)  "  so  great  in  prose,  so  little  in  poetry,"*  was 
the  son  of  a  clergyman,  and  born  in  1672.     He  was  educated  at  Ox- 
ford, where  he  so  cultivated  and  improved  his  mind,  by  the  compo- 
sition of  Latin  verses,  that  he  acquired  an  uncommon  correctness 
of  style,  and  elegance  of  diction.     His  merits,  as  a  writer,  procured 
for  him  public  employment,  and  he  even  became,  in  1717,  secretary 
of  state ;  a  place,  however,  to  which  he  was  unequal,  as  he  possessed 
neither  boldness  nor  eloquence.      He  was  unable  to  defend  the 
measures  of  government  in  the  House  of  Commons,  and  only  wasted 
away  his  time  in  his  office,  in  quest  of  fine  expressions. 

Late  in  life,  he  married  the  countess  dowager  of  Warwick  and 
Holland ;  but  if  this  event  added  to  his  elevation,  it  diminished  his 
happiness,  for  she  ever  remembered  her  rank,  and  treated  him  with 
very  little  ceremony  ;  an  emphatic  warning  against  ambitious  love. 
He  died  at  the  age  of  fifty-seven. 

The  Spectator,  of  which  the  most  admired  pieces  came  from  the 
pen  of  Addison,  has  immortalized  his  name.  In  that  work,  and  in 
most  of  his  other  prose  productions,  he  is  remarkable  for  a  delicate 
and  gentle  humour,  and  an  entertaining  seriousness.  His  style  is 
admirable,  for  purity  and  ease ;  and  the  idiomatic  excellence  of  the 
English  language,  is  seen  in  his  pages,  to  the  greatest  advantage. 
Some  have  thought  well  of  his  poetry  ;  and  his  tragedy  of  Cato,  ac- 
cording to  the  French  notions,  would  be  pronounced  one  of  the  best 
in  the  English  drama.  But  others  have  a  very  different  opinion  of 
Addison's  poetry,  and  at  the  present  day,  it  certainly  does  not  stand 
very  high  in  public  esteem. 

2.  Newton,  (Sir  Isaac,)  the  most  illustrious  philosopher  and  ma- 
thematician that  ever  lived,  was  born  in  1642,  and  died  in  1727. 
The  place  of  his  nativity,  was  Woolstrope,  in  Lincolnshire.     Particu- 
lar care  was  bestowed  on  his  education  by  his  mother,  for  he  early 
lost  his  father.     At  the  age  of  eighteen,  he  entered  Trinity  College, 
Cambridge,  and  there  he  began  to  show  the  astonishing  strength  of 
his  mind  in  the  mathematics.    At  the  age  of  twenty-two,  he  discov- 
ered the  method  of  fluxions,  which  he  afterwards  greatly  improved. 
His  next  pursuit  was  the  grinding  of  optical  glasses,  for  the  improve- 
ment of  telescopes,  and  soon  after,  connected  with  his  investigation 
of  the  prism,  followed  his  new  theory  of  light  and  colours.    His  great- 
est discovery,  and  the  greatest  that  the  world  ever  saw,  viz.,  the  prin 
ciple  of  gravitation,  next  succeeded.     His  immortal  work,  the  Prin 
cipia,  was  published  in  1687.    The  friendship  of  the  earl  of  Halifax, 

*  Edin.  Review 


346  MODERN    HISTORY PERIOD  X. 

now  procured  for  him  a  very  lucrative  employment,  in  being  made 
master  of  the  mint.  His  reputation  extended  with  every  effort  of 
his  genius,  and  he  enjoyed  numerous  honours,  and  the  favour  oi 
princes. 

He  began  to  be  affected  with  disease,  about  the  age  of  eighty.  An 
incontinence  of  urine,  and  the  excruciating  pains  of  a  stone  in  the 
bladder,  were  the  melancholy  presages  of  approaching  dissolution. 
He,  however,  lived  about  five  years  from  this  time.  For  a  few  weeks 
before  his  death,  the  agonies  which  he  suffered  were  very  great  yet 
he  bore  them  with  exemplary  patience,  and  though,  from  the  severe 
paroxysms  which  he  endured,  large  drops  of  sweat  ran  down  his 
cheeks,  he  preserved  his  usual  smile  of  cheerfulness  and  serenity. 

The  character  of  Newton,  is  represented  as  being  amiable,  and 
adorned  with  the  virtues  of  a  Christian.  Irreverence  towards  the 
Deity,  or  the  holy  scriptures,  always  drew  from  him  the  severest 
censure.  The  bible  he  made  his  favourite  study.  His  person  was 
of  a  middle  stature,  and  his  countenance,  though  venerable  and 
pleasant,  did  not  indicate  that  transcendant  sagacity,  which  he  is 
known  to  have  possessed. 

It  is  superfluous  to  comment  on  his  intellectual  superiority.  A 
celebrated  \\  riter  has  observed,  that  if  the  literati  of  all  ages  and  na- 
tions could  meet  in  one  assembly,  they  would  choose  Sir  Isaac  New- 
ton for  their  president.  In  his  researches,  he  proceeded  on  the 
method  laid  down  by  Bacon,  but  with  a  clearness  and  strength  of 
comprehension  in  abstruse  studies,  even  exceeding  the  father  of  ex- 
perimental philosophy. 

3.  Boerhaave,  (Herman,)  was  born  near  Leyden,  in  1C68.      He 
was  intended  for  the  ministry  by  his  father,  but  the  circumstance, 
that  in.his  twelfth  year  only,  he  cured  a  distressing  complaint  with 
which  he  was  afflicted,  and  which  baffled  all  the  powers  of  his  sur- 
geon, turned  his  thoughts  to  the  medical  profession.     Still,  however, 
he  studied  theology  in  connection  with  it.     He  stood  at  the  head  of 
his  profession,  and  as  a  lecturer  on  physic  and  botany,  he  became 
renowned,  not  only  in  his  own  country,  but  throughout  Europe,  so 
that  students  resorted  to  him  from  all  quarters.     His  powers  of  mind 
were  vast,  and  his  learning  extended  to  almost  every  subject  of  hu- 
man investigation.     He  was  a  great  and  good  man.      His  valuable 
works  are  in  Latin,  and  all  on  medical,  botanical,  and  chemical  sub- 
jects.    His  death  occurred  in  1738. 

4.  Pope,  (Alexander,)  who  died  in  1774,  aged  fifty-six  years,  was 
a  native  of  Condon.     After  having  been  at  school  a  few  years,  he 
went,  at  the  age  of  twelve,  to  live  with  his  parents  at  Binfield,  in 
Windsor  forest,  and  first  discovered,  or  rather  improved  his  taste  for 
poetry,  by  reading  the  translated  works  of  Virgil  and  Ovid;  but  es- 
pecially the  poems  of  Spenser,  Waller  and  Dryden.      He  early  be- 
gan to  try  his  strength  in  poetry,  and  so  early,  that  'to  use  his  own 
expression,  he  "  lisped  in  numbers."     His  first  regular  composition 
seems,  however,  to  have  been  his  Ode  on  Solitude,  written  when  he 
was  about  twelve  years  old.     Four  years  after  this,  when  he  began 
his  pastorals,  his  merit  introduced  him  into  the  society  of  the  wits  of  thft 


DISTINGUISHED    CHARACTERS.  317 

age ;  and  he  became  the  wonder  of  the  literary  world,  when,  at  less 
than  the  age  of  twenty,  he  published  his  Essay  on  Criticism.  This  is, 
perhaps,  as  faultless  a  piece  of  composition,  as  the  history  of  youth- 
ful genius  has  ever  recorded.  It  evinces  all  the  mature  reflection) 
and  developed  capacities  of  age.  But  the  fame  of  the  Essay  was 
soon  surpassed  by  the  Rape  of  the  Lock,  which  he  produced  at  the 
age  of  twenty-four.  The  Temple  of  Fame,  next  engaged  the  pub- 
lic attention.  His  next  great  effort,  was  the  translation  of  Homer's 
Iliad,  from  which  he  realized  a  fortune,  receiving  £6000.  from  his 
subscribers,  and  £12,000,  from  his  bookseller.  After  this,  he  wrote 
several  other  works,  particularly  the  Dunciad,  a  work  of  the  keen- 
est satire,  and  the  Essay  on  Man,  which,  though  beautiful  in  language, 
and  elaborate  in  disquisition,  shews  the  writer  to  have  been  skeptical, 
as  to  religion. 

Pope  was  bred  a  Roman  catholic,  but,  in  the  latter  part  of  his  life, 
he  attended  the  service  of  the  English  church.  In  his  person,  he 
was  diminutive,  and  somewhat  crooked — when  tauntingly  reminded 
of  it,  he  would  say,  "  God  mend  me."  In  disposition,  he  was  fretful 
and  easily  displeased,  and,  to  his  no  small  reproach,  it  must  be  said, 
that  he  was  capricious  in  his  friendships.  His  manners  were  easy, 
and  his  wit  fascinating.  Many  of  the  great  and  noble  were  his  ad- 
mirers, but  he  made  them  feel,  that  he  did  not  servilely  adore  supe- 
riority of  rank. 

Puny  and  delicate  as  the  constitution  of  this  poet  was,  his  life  was 
prolonged  to  his  fifty-sixth  year,  by  means  of  peculiar  care  and  tem- 
perance. 

5.  Swift,  (Jonathan,)  was  born  in  Ireland,  in  1667.  He  was  de- 
scended, however,  from  an  ancient  English  family.  In  early  life,  lie 
was  poor,  but  his  relatives  furnished  him  with  the  means  of  pro- 
curing his  education.  So  indifferent  a  scholar  was  he  at  the  univer- 
sity, that  he  obtained  his  first  degree  only  by  special  favour.  This 
mortification  of  his  feelings,  had  a  most  propitious  effect  on  his  lite- 
rary progress,  for  it  stimulated  him  to  a  methodical  and  diligent  ap- 
plication to  his  books,  during  several  succeeding  years.  Swift,  un- 
der the  auspices  of  Sir  William  Temple,  with  whom  he  had  formed 
an  intimacy,  might  have  risen  in  civil  or  military  life,  as  the  king, 
in  one  instance,  offered  to  make  him  captain  of  horse;  but  his 
thoughts  were  directed  to  the  church.  A  little  after  the  year  1694, 
he  took  orders,  and  engaged  in  the  duties  of  a  parish  priest.  His 
hopes  of  preferment  were,  from  time  to  time,  disappointed.  He  had 
expected  some  fat  benefice  in  the  English  church,  and  even  looked 
to  a  bishoprick ;  but  he  attained  only  the  deanery  of  St.  Patrick,  Dub- 
lin. After  the  accession  cf  queen  Anne,  he  became  deeply  engaged 
in  political  controversy,  and  wrote  some  able  political  works.  He 
died  in  a  state  of  alienation  and  weakness,  in  1745. 

The  works  of  Swift  are  numerous,  and  highly  respectable  for  the 
ability  they  display.  He  wrote  in  a  pure  and  plain  style,  and  had, 
as  Johnson  says,  "  an  equable  tenor  Of  easy  language,  which  rather 
trickles  than  flows."  The  effects  of  his  writings  were  very  decisive, 
nt  the  time,  and  some  of  them  are  still  read  with  great  pleasure.  His 


MODERN  HISTORY. — PERIOD  X. 


Gulliver's  Travels,  and  his  Tale  of  a  Tub.  have  lost  nothing  of  theii 
popularity. 

Swift  was  an  eccentric  being-,  and  little  better  than  a  madman. 
He  delighted  to  differ  from  all  other  men,  on  those  subjects,  or  in  re- 
gard to  those  interests,  in  which  all  other  men  are  agreed.  Though 
married,  he  was  never  known  to  be  in  company  with  his  wife,  ex- 
cept in  the  presence  of  a  third  person.  lie  was  strongly  attached  to 
her,  and  yet  his  strange  cruelty  broke  her  heart.  Like  some  men, 
however,  he  was  avaricious.  "  He  made  a  rule  to  himself,  to  give 
but  one  piece  at  a  time,  and  therefore  always  stored  his  pocket  with 
coins  of  different  value."  But  what  he  did  give,  was  graced  neither 
with  tenderness  nor  civility.  "When  his  friends,  of  either  sex, 
came  to  him,  in  expectation  of  a  dinner,  his  custom  was  to  give 
every  one  a  shilling,  that  they  night  please  themselves  with  pro- 
vision. At  last,  his  avarice  grew  too  powerful  for  his  kindness ;  he 
would  refuse  a  bottle  of  wine  ;  ana,  in  Ireland,  no  man  visits  where 
he  cannot  drink."  Whether  he  really  believed  in  the  truth  of  Chris- 
tianity, is,  to  say  the  least,  doubtful.  His  professed  dread  of  hypo- 
crisy, might  rather  be  termed  the  fear  of  man,  or  indifference  to  re- 
ligion, when  it  induced  him  to  read  prayers  to  his  servant,  every 
morning,  with  such  dexterous  secresy,  that  Dr.  Delany  was  six 
months  in  his  house  before  he  knew  it. 

6.  Montesquieu  (Charles  de  Sccondat)  was  born  at  Brede,  near 
Bordeaux,  1689,  of  a  noble  family.      He  devoted  himself  early  to 
literature,  and  first  displayed  strong  powers  cf  mind  in  his  Per- 
sian Letters.     His  great  work,  that  which  has  conferred  on  him  an 
immortal  name,  is,  his  Spirit  of  Law?.     In  this  production,  he  dis- 
plays astonishing  depth  of  thought,  vigour  of  imagination,  and  so- 
lidity of  judgment,  and  deserves  tire  honourable  appellation  of  ihr 
Legislator  of  the  Human  Race.     While  he  was  engaged  in  thai 
work,  he  visited   several  countries  for  information,  as  Germany, 
Hungary,  Italy,  Switzerland,  Holland,  and  England.    In  the  last  he 
resided  -two  years,  where  he  wars  greatly  honoured.     It  was  an  ob- 
servation of  his,  "that  England  was  the  country  where  to  think,  and 
France  where  to  live." 

7.  Edwards,  (Jonathan,)  so  advantageously  known  at  home  and 
abroad,  for  the  power  of  his  intellect,  and  the  usefulness  of  his  wri- 
tings, was  a  native  of  Windsor,  Connecticut.     He  was  born  in  1703, 
graduated  at  Yale  College,  in  1720,  where  lie  spent  two  years,  as  a 
tutor;  settled  in  the  ministry  at  Northampton,  1727,  whence  he  was 
removed  j  appointed  missionary  to  the  Indians,  at  Stockbridge,  In 
1751 ;  and  called  to  the  presidency  of  Nassau  Hall,  in  1758.     He  had 
scarcely  entered  on  the  duties  of  that  station,  when  he  fell  a  victim 
to  the  small  pox,  in  the  fifty-sixth  year  of  his  age. 

President  Edwards  was  one  of  the  greatest  and  best  men  of  mo- 
dern times.  He  possessed  an  acute  metaphysical  turn  of  mind, 
which  he  most  usefully  employed  in  the  investigation  of  divine 
truth.  His  treatise  on  the  Will,  is  deservedly  ranked  as  one  of  the 
ablest  productions  of  the  human  mind.  This  work  did  that  for  the 
moral  nature  of  man,  which  Locke's  Essay  on  the  Understanding 


DISTINGUISHED   CHARACTERS.  349 

did  for  man's  intellectual  nature.  It  settled  several  controverted 
subjects,  which  had  perplexed  the  divines  and  philosophers,  who 
went  before  him.  Edwards,  as  a  metaphysician,  stands  by  the  side 
of  Locke,  Bacon,  and  Aristotle ;  while,  as  a  Christian,  he  was  pre- 
eminent in  conscientiousness,  humility,  fear  of  God,  and  faithfulness 
to  the  spiritual  interests  of  men.  There  is  ah  awful  power  in  his 
sermons.  His  Treatise  on  the  Affections,  is  an  invaluable  book, 
which  no  Christian,  probably,  ever  read  without  profit. 

8.  Hume  (David)  was  designed,  by  his  family,  for  the  law,  but 
the  turn  of  his  mind  led  him  to  literary  pursuits.    For  this  purpose, 
he  retired  to  France,  and,  though  he  possessed  slender  means,  he 
was  able,  by  the  most  rigid  economy,  to  pursue  his  studies  in  that 
country.    Here  he  wrote  his  treatise  of  Human  Nature.     In  1742, 
the  first  part  of  his  Essays  appeared.     His  Political  Discourses,  and 
his  Inquiries  concerning  the  Principles  of  Morals,  followed,  in  1752, 
At  different  periods  afterwards,  the  several  portions  of  his  English 
History  were  given  to  the  public.     These  works  were  little  noticed 
at  first,  unless  his  History  be  excepted,  but  some  of  then?  gradually 
grew  into  reputation,  and  he  realized,  from  the  latter  works  particu- 
larly, a  handsome  reward.    This,  together  with  the  avails  of  other 
employments,  made  him,  in  his  own  view,  very  opulent,  as  he  pos- 
sessed a  revenue  of  £1000  a  year.     He  was  born  at  Edinburgh,  171 1> 
and  died  at  the  same  place,  1776. 

Hume,  doubtless,  is  an  able  writer,  ingenious,  subtile,  and  acute ; 
but  the  sophistry  of  his  arguments,  on  the  subject  of  morals  and  re- 
ligion, is  unworthy  of  a  man  of  his  penetration.  He  knew  better 
than  to  use  the  fallacious  language  with  which  he  has  often  clothed 
his  thoughts,  and  by  means  of  which  he  has  confounded  truth  with 
error,  and  right  with  wrong. 

9.  Voltaire  (Marie  Francis  Arouet  de)  was  a  Parisian  by  birth. 
He  died  in  1778,  at  the  age  of  eighty-four.     For  a  long  period,  he 
was  a  sort  of  dictator  in  the  republic  of  letters  on  the  continent. 
By  his  free  remarks  on  government  and  religion,  he   contributed^ 
perhaps  more  than  any  other  man,  to  lay  the  foundation  of  that 
state  of  things  which  afterwards  existed  in  France,  known  under  the 
name  of  the  Revolution. 

In  early  life,  he  evinced  superior  powers  of  mind,  and  especially 
a  sprightly  imagination.  He  wrote  verses,  he  says,  before  he  left 
his  cradle.  His  fondness  for  satire,  directed  against  the  government, 
procured  his  imprisonment  in  the  bastile,  till  he  was  liberated  by 
the  interference  of  the  duke  of  Orleans.  After  this  event,  he  devoted 
himself  more  entirely  to  the  composition  of  poetry.  His  principal 
efforts  were  directed  towards  the  drama ;  and  his  Alzire,  Mahomet, 
and  Merope,  placed  him  at  the  head  of  the  dramatic  poets  of  France. 
His  Henriade,  an  epic  poem,  he  had  previously  published  in  Eng- 
land. Encouraged  by  the  Prussian  monarch,  he  spent  some  time  at 
the  court  of  Berlin ;  but  he  at  last  fixed  his  residence  in  a  village  on 
the  borders  of  France,  named  Ferney.  The  boldness  and  effrontery 
of  his  muse,  had  rendered  a  residence  in  the  French  capital  vexa- 
tious, and  even  dangerous  to  him,  and  hence  he  willingly  left  h:s 
30 


350  MODERN  HISTORY. PERIOD  X. 

country  at  different  times,  and  at  last  retired  to  a  remote  corner 
of  it,  so  that  he  might  pursue  his  studies  in  quiet.  Here  he  con- 
tinued long  to  direct  the  taste  and  literature  of  the  age.  He  died  at 
Paris,  while  visiting  that  city ;  and  according  to  some  accounts,  he 
departed  in  great  horror,  from  reflections  on  the  irreligious  tenden- 
cy of  his  writings.  The  blasphemous  atheist  often,  indeed,  ap- 
peared in  his  works. 

The  following  particulars  respecting  Voltaire,  are  given  from  a 
contemporaneous  account.  Many  others  might  be  added.  "  The 
most  piercing  eyes  I  ever  beheld,"  says  Dr.  Moore,  "  are  those  of 
Voltaire,  now  in  his  eightieth  year.  His  whole  countenance  is  ex- 
pressive of  genius,  observation,  and  extreme  sensibility.  In  the 
morning,  he  has  a  look  of  anxiety  and  discontent,  which  gradually 
wears  off,  and  after  dinner,  he  seems  cheerful ;  yet,  an  air  of  irony 
never  entirely  forsakes  his  face,  but  may  always  be  observed  lurking 
in  his  features,  whether  he  frowns  or  smiles.  By  far  the  greater  part 
of  his  time  is  spent  in  his  study,  and  whether  he  reads  himself,  or 
listens  to  another,  he  always  has  a  pen  in  his  hands  to  take  notes,  or 
make  remarks." 

10.  Linnreus  (Charles  Von)  was  the  son  of  a  Swedish  clergyman, 
born  in  the  province  of  Smaland,   1707.     He  practised  physic  with 
such  popularity  and  success,  that  at  the  age  of  thirty-four,  he  was 
nominated  professor  of  physic  and  botany  in  the  university  of  Up- 
sal,  where  he  had  been  educated.     His  sovereign  duly  noticed  his 
services,  and  besides  other  favours,  conferred  on  him  the  honour 
of  nobility.     With  an  unparalleled  ardour  after  knowledge,  Linnaeus 
undertook  to  explore  the  inhospitable  deserts  of  Lapland,  and  through 
ten  degrees  of  latitude,  he  exposed  himself,  generally  on  foot,  to  every 
sort  of  fatigue.     He  afterwards  visited  other  countries.     He  died  in 
1778,  having  been  seized  with  an  apoplexy  two  years  before. 

To  his  sagacity  and  discernment,  science  is  indebted  for  the  useful 
and  familiar  division  of  plants,  of  animals,  &c.  into  classes.  To  the 
most  extensive  knowledge,  he  united  the  most  indefatigable  industry, 
and  before  his  publication  of  his  Genera  Plantarum,  he  most  minute- 
ly examined  the  characters  of  more  than  eight  hundred  plants. 

11.  Rousseau  (Johrf  James)  was  born  in  Geneva,  in  1712.    He 
was  of  a  weakly  constitution,  but  his  mind  was  strong  and  active, 
and  the  early  reading  of  Plutarch  and  Tacitus  expanded  his  ideas, 
and  inspired  him  with  courage.     His  life  was  somewhat  eventful, 
though  we  cannot  dwell  on  the  particulars.    The  strangeness  and 
inconstancy  of  his  character,  subjected  him  to  no  inconsiderable  ca- 
lamities ;  and,  while  by  nature  he  was  formed  to  enjoy  the  pleasures 
of  the  world  in  perfection,  he  endured  self-inflicted  tortures  to  such 
an  extent,  as  to  leave  the  balance  of  pleasure  very  little,  if  at  all,  in 
his  favour.    He  had  a  perpetual  hankering  after  some  unattainable 
state  of  voluptuous  virtue.    Though  equally  skeptical  with  Hume 
and  Voltaire,  he  quarrelled  with  the  one,  who  was  his  protector  in 
England,  and  he  incurred  the  persecution  of  the  other,  for  maintain- 
ing the  immoral  tendency  of  the  stage.     (Strange  to  tell,  he  had 
written  for  the  stage  himself  j  but  he  was  a  creature  of  inconsistency.) 


DISTINGUISHED  CHARACTERS.  351 

% 

Some  of  his  opinions  were  so  obnoxious,  that  the  popular  indigna- 
tion was  aroused  against  him,  and  he  was  obliged  to  flee  from  place 
to  place  on  the  continent,  and,  in  fact,  he  found  no  asylum  till  he 
reached  England.  At  length,  however,  he  returned  to  Geneva,  and 
spent  the  last  years  of  his  life  in  the  company  of  a  few  friends,  and 
resigned  himself  to  peaceful  studies.  He  died  of  an  apoplexy,  in 
1778,  aged  sixty-six  years. 

His  works  show  him  to  have  been  a  man  of  transcendent  genius, 
but  convict  him  of  the  utmost  eccentricity,  joined  with  licentious- 
ness and  skepticism.  He  may  be  called  the  Diogenes  of  modem 
times.  His  literary  career  commenced  at  the  age  of  thirty-eight, 
by  a  prize  essay,  in  which  he  maintained  the  superiority  of  savage 
nature  to  the  comforts  of  domestic  and  social  life.  This  opinion  he 
defended,  for  a  long  time,  against  all  Europe.  His  New  Heloise,  and 
his  Emilius,  moral  romances,  attained  to  a  great  celebrity.  His  Con- 
fessions, a  work  published  after  his  death,  is  one  of  the  most  singu- 
lar productions  of  the  human  mind. 

12.  Pitt  (William)  was  earl  of  Chatham,  and  is  commonly  known 
by  that  name.     He  was  born  in  1708.     At  the  age  of  twenty-seven, 
he  was  elected  a  member  of  parliament,  and  soon  began  to  distin- 
guish himself  as  an  eloquent  and  well-informed  speaker.    He  enlist- 
ed early  in  the  ranks  of  opposition,  and  in  his  speeches  displayed 
such  acuteness,  vehemence,  and  depth  of  argumentation,  as  asto- 
nished the  house,  and  marked  him  as  worthy  of  the  highest  offices 
of  the  state.     Wealth  now  poured  in  upon  him,  from  private  bene- 
factions, and  from  his  public  employments.     In  1756,  he  received 
the  seals  of  secretary  of  state  for  the  southern  department ;  but  his 
continuance  in  office  was  of  short  duration.     His  popularity,  ho  we 
ver,  with  the  mass  of  the  nation,  recalled  him  to  the  secretaryship 
in  1757.     This  restoration  was  the  beginning  of  a  new  era  of  splen- 
did conquests,  and  of  national  glory.    At  the  accession  of  George 
III.,  his  resignation  took  place,  accompanied  not  only  by  a  nation's 
regrets,  but  by  the  most  substantial  testimonials  of  his  worth,  on  the 
part  of'  the  government.     He  deprecated,   with  all   his   eloquence, 
the  measures  relating  to  the  American  war,  in  the  house  of  lords. 
His  constitution,  however,  was,  at  this  time,  so  enfeebled,  that    on 
one  of  these  occasions,  as  he  arose  to  speak,  he  fell  into  a  fit,  and. 
died  in  a  few  days. 

As  a  statesman  and  orator,  he  stands,  perhaps,  at  the  head  of  the 
men  of  his  profession,  in  modern  times.  It  is  said,  that  Wralpole, 
the  minister,  surrounded  with  power,  and  the  unshaken  support  of  a 
decided  majority,  never  heard  his  voice,  in  the  house  of  commons, 
without  being  alarmed  and  thunder-struck. 

13.  Metastasio  (Pietro  Bonaventura)  early  began  the  exercise  of 
the  poetic  art.    At  the  age  of  ten,  he  often  collected  little  audiences, 
who  listened  with  attention  and  admiration  to  the  sweetness  of  his 
extemporary  verses.     He  found  a  patron  in  the  celebrated  Gravina ; 
and  without  neglecting  the  muses,  he  first  studied  the  law ;  but  at 
last  assumed  the  clerical  habit.     Gravina,  at  his  death,  left  the  poet 
his  whole  fortune,  worth  15,000  crowns,  which  the  latter  dissipated 


352 


MODERN  HISTORY. PERIOD  X. 


in  two  years  by  his  convivial  and  hospitable  habits.  He  now  wrote 
for  the  stage,  at  the  solicitation  of  Bulgarella,  the  celebrated  singer, 
and  soon  found  himself  the  object  of  general  admiration.  A  very 
large  portion  of  his  life,  he  spent  at  Vienna,  enjoying  the  patronage 
of  the  sovereigns  of  Austria.  He  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-four. 
Rome  was  the  place  of  his  birth,  Vienna  of  his  death. 

His  works  consist  of  twenty-six  operas,  eight  sacred  dramas,  be- 
sides masques,  sonnets,  and  other  poetical  miscellanies.  They  have 
been  translated  into  various  languages,  and  possess  a  high  reputa- 
tion. The  sweetest  pictures  of  virtue  and  morality  are  delineated  in 
his. writings;  nor  is  he  wanting  in  flights  of  sublimity.  It  is  said, 
that  Metastasio  believed  in  no  poetic  inspiration,  or  propitious  sea- 
sons for  the  composition  of  poetry,  and  that  he  trusted  to  no  such 
thing  in  himself,  but  always  set  himself  down  calmly  to  his  prescrib- 
ed task,  and  completed  it  as  he  would  any  other  piece  of  business. 

14.  Euler  (Leonard)  was  born  at  Basil,  1707.  His  father  intend- 
ed him  for  the  ministry,  but  the  genius  of  his  son  was  bent  to  philo- 
sophical pursuits.  In  1727,  he  went  with  the  Bernouillis  to  Peters- 
burg. Here  his  publications  ranked  him  among  the  greatest  of  phi- 
losophers. In  1740,  he  gained,  with  Maclaurin  and  D.  Bernouilli, 
the  prize  of  the  academy  of  Paris,  on  the  nature  of  tides.  In  1741, 
he  removed  to  Berlin,  at  the  invitation  of  the  king  of  Prussia,  and 
assisted  that  monarch  in  the  establishment  of  an  academy  of  scien- 
ces. Here  he  produced  his  theory  of  the  motions  of  the  planets  and 
comets,  that  of  magnetism,  &c.  He  died  suddenly,  while  convers- 
ing with  a  friend,  on  the  new  planet,  and  as  he  was  playing  with 
one  of  his  grand- children,  at  tea  time.  He  was  attacked  by  a  fit  of 
apoplexy.  "  I  am  dying,"  were  his  last  words,  and  in  a  few  hours 
after,  he  expired,  aged  76  years. 

His  mental  powers  were  astonishing.  While  his  fellow  academi- 
cians asked  four  months  to  complete  an  important  calculation,  he 
finished  it  in  three  days,  but  so  intense  had  been  his  application  that 
it  produced  a  fever,  by  which  he  lost  the  sight  of  one  of  his  eyes. 
In  one  night,  he  calculated  in  his  head,  the  six  first  powers  of  all  the 
numbers  above  twenty,  which  he  repeated  the  next  day  most  correct- 
ly to  his  astonished  friends.  His  erudition  was  immense.  He  read 
all  the  Latin  classics,  and  had  the  history  of  all  ages  and  nations, 
even  to  the  minutest  facts,  ever  present  to  his  mind.  Indeed,  so  re- 
tentive was  his  memory,  that  he  could  repeat  the  whole  of  the 
^Eneid. 

In  society  he  was  never  absent  like  Newton  or  Adam  Smith  ;  but 
like  Hutton  and  Hume,  he  was  thoughtless  and  playful  in  his  hours 
of  relaxation,  and  entered  into  all  the  trifles  and  frivolous  anecdotes 
with  which  many  choose  to  kill  time  while  in  company. 

.  15.  Johnson,  (Samuel,)  surpassed  by  no  one  in  literature,  was  born 
at  Litchfield,  1709.  He  was  educated  at  Oxford  in  part  the  insol- 
vency of  his  father  obliging  him  to  leave  the  university  premature- 
ly. Involved  in  poverty,  and  with  unpromising  prospects  before 


DISTINGUISHED    CHARACTERS.  353 

him,  he  tried  various  expedients  to  obtain  a  livelihood,  but  abandon- 
ed them  successively,  till  in  company  with  his  pupil  Garrick,  he 
went  to  London  in  quest  of  employment,  in  1737.  From  this  period 
till  1762,  he  was  engaged  in  literary  labours,  under  the  pressure  of 
poverty  and  disappointment.  A  part  of  the  fruit  of  these  labours 
were  his  immortal  works,  the  English  Dictionary  and  the  Rambler. 
He  completed  his  Dictionary,  in  the  space  of  seven  years,  and  re- 
ceived for  it  £1575 ;  but  owing  to  the  urgency  of  his  wants,  the 
money  had  been  advanced  during  the  composition  of  the  work. 
During  this  period  he  was  once  arrested  for  a  debt  of  five  guineas, 
from  which  he  was  relieved  by  the  kindness  of  Richardson.  His 
services  to  literature  were  not,  however,  to  pass  unrewarded ;  for,  in 
1762,  he  was  presented  by  the  king  with  a  pension  of  £300  per 
annum,  as  the  grant  expresses  it,  for  the  moral  tendency  of  his 
writings.  The  Lives  of  the  Poets,  he  began  in  1777,  and  complet- 
ed in  1781.  This  is  a  noble  model  of  that  description  of  writing, 
and  embodies  some  of  the  choicest  criticism  in  the  English  language. 

The  inflictions  of  disease  now  began  to  be  felt,  and  Johnson  con- 
templated, not  without  gloomy  apprehensions,  the  end  of  his  earthly 
being.  His  fear  of  this  event  was  excessive,  for  his  temperament 
was  deeply  melancholic,  and  he  did  not  at  first  perceive  the  true 
ground  of  confidence  for  sinful  men.  At  least,  his  mind  was  not 
satisfied  on  this  subject.  But  as  he  approached  the  tomb,  darkness 
fled  from  his  soul.  He  was  soothed  and  cheered,  he  saw  the  proper 
ground  of  confidence,  and  departed  with  the  faith  and  consolation 
of  a  Christian. 

Johnson's  works  are  numerous ;  none  are  indifferent,  and  some  are 
of  the  highest  order  of  literary  excellence.  His  powers  of  conversa- 
tion were  admirable.  The  particulars  of  his  life,  character,  opinions, 
connexions,  &c.  have  been  minutely  recorded  by  Strahan,  Mrs.  Piozzi, 
Boswell,  and  others. 

16.'  Franklin  (Benjamin)  was  born  at  Boston,  Mass.,  1706.  In 
his  youth  lie  was  apprenticed  to  an  uncle  in  the  business  of  print- 
ing ;  and  eager  after  knowledge,  he  read  attentively,  in  the  night, 
the  works  which  he  had  printed  in  the  day.  In  this  way  he  early 
amassed  a  valuable  stock  of  information,  and  as  he  possessed  a  re- 
flecting and  philosophizing,  and  withal  a  practical  sort  of  mind,  he 
turned  his  knowledge  to  the  best  account.  After  he  commenced 
business  for  himself  in  Philadelphia,  he  soon  rose  in  public  esteem, 
so  that  he  was  called  to  offices  of  trust  in  the  commonwealth,  and 
finally,  in  the  contention  of  the  colonies  with  the  mother  country,  he 
acted  a  most  conspicuous  and  useful  part.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
American  congress  during  that  eventful  period.  Several  times  in 
the  course  of  his  life,  he  went  to  Europe,  where  he  was  received 
with  the  distinction  due  to  his  pre-eminent  worth  as  a  statesman  and 
philosopher.  As  a  public  negociator,  he  effectually  secured  the 
honour  and  the  interests  of  his  country.  He  died  governor  of  Penn- 
sylvania, full  of  years  and  glory,  1790,  aged  eighty-four  years.  His 
discoveries  in  science  have  associated  his  name  with  that  of  Newton. 
30* 


354  MODERN    HISTORY. — PERIOD  X. 

He  is  the  father  of  that  branch  of  philosophy  which  explains 
laws  of  the  electric  fluid ;  and  the  utility  of  the  lightning  rod,  wilJ 
forever  point  him  out  as  a  temporal  benefactor  of  the  human  race. 
His  political  reflections  have  placed  him  by  the  side  of  the  greatesl 
legislators  of  antiquity 

17.  Gibbon  (Edward)  was  born  at  Putney,  1737,  of  a  respectable 
And  ancient  family.     He  acquitted  himself  poorly  at  the  university, 
and  it  would  seem,  from  his  own  account,  that  he  was  not  much  in 
the  fault.    "  The  fellows,"  he  says,  "  were  easy  decent  men,  who 
supinely  enjoyed  the  gifts  of  their  founder ;  their  days  were  filled 
by  a  series  of  uniform  employments ;  the  chapel  and  the  hall,  the 
coffee-house,  and  the  common  room,  till  they  retired  weary  and  well 
satisfied,  to  a  long  slumber.     From  the  toil  of  reading,  or  thinking, 
or  writing,  they  had  absolved  their  consciences."     The  student  with 
such  examples  before  him,  might  well  be  excused  for  indolence. 
Gibbon  afterwards,  when  at  Lausanne,  paid  much  attention  to  classi- 
cal literature,  and  acquired  such  a  perfect  knowledge  of  the  French 
language,  that  he  could  both  speak  and  write  it  with  as  much  facility 
as  his  own.     A  portion  of  his  printed  works  is  in  French. 

The  great  work  which  has  immortalized  Gibbon,  is  his  Decline 
and  Fall  of  the  Koman  Empire.  It  was  in  the  midst  of  the  ruins 
of  Rome,  that  he  conceived  the  idea  of  this  magnificent  topic.  This 
history  cost  him  twenty  years  of  labour.  His  resources  for  it  he 
derived,  in  a  considerable  degree,  from  his  own  library,  which  con- 
sisted of  ten  thousand  volumes.  It  is  an  elaborate  and  splendid 
production,  and  generally  accurate.  But  his  account  of  the  causes 
of  the  progress  of  Christianity,  is  highly  exceptionable,  and  he  ap- 
pears throughout  the  work,  a  thoroughgoing  skeptic  and  unbeliever. 
His  sneers  at  the  holy  religion  of  the  Saviour,  very  much  detract 
from  the  value  of  the  work.  He  received  from  his  booksellers, 
eight  thousand  pounds  for  his  history. 

Among  his  miscellaneous  works,  are  a  volume  or  two  of  letters, 
highly  spirited  and  entertaining,  and  rich  with  the  stores  of  an 
elegant,  cultivated,  and  playful  mind.  These,  however,  are  also 
tinctured,  with  infidelity.  He  wrote  memoirs  of  himself.  He  ac- 
knowledges that  from  the  Provincial  Letters  of  Pascal,  he  "  learned, 
to  manage  the  weapon  of  grave  and  temperate  irony,  even  on  sub- 
jects of  ecclesiastical  solemnity."  In  describing  the  characteristics 
of  his  intellect,  he  says,  "  Wit  I  have  none ;  my  imagination  is 
rather  strong  than  pleasing ;  my  memory  both  capacious  and  re- 
tentive. The  shining  qualities  of  my  understanding  are  extensive- 
ness  and  penetration,  but  I  want  both  quickness  and  exactness." 
He  died  of  a  dropsy,  in  1794. 

18.  Burns  (Robert)  was  born,  1759,  at  Ayr,  in  Scotland.   Though 
a  ploughman  originally,  he  rose  to  high  poetical  fame.    He  has  been 
called  the  greatest  untaught  poet  since  Shakspeare.     His  poems, 
which  are  in  the  Scotch  dialect,  possess  uncommon  beauty,  and  an 
elegant  simplicity.     He  no  sooner  appeared  in  print,  than  he  was 
noticed  and  drawn  from  the  plough,  to  associate  with  men  of  letters 
and  opulence.    By  the  exertions  of  his  friends,  a  handsome  sub- 


DISTINGUISHED    CHARACTERS.  355 

scription  of  nearly  one  thousand  one  hundred  pounds  was  raised 
for  him,  and  a  place  in  the  excise  was  obtained,  and  a  farm  rented, 
where  he  might  exercise  his  genius,  and  live  in  comfortable  affluence. 
But  the  change  ruined  him.  He  became  a  sot,  and  indulged  in 
licentious  pleasures,  till  his  constitution  gave  way,  and  the  tomb  re- 
ceived him.  His  age  was  thirty-nine. 

19.  Burke  (Edmund)  was  the  son  of  a  respectable  attorney,  at 
Carlow,  in  Ireland,  where  he  was  born,  1730.    He  took  his  bache- 
lor's degree  at  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  where,  it  is  said,  he  was  not 
much  distinguished.    In  1753,  he  came  to  London,  and  entered  at 
the  Middle  Temple.    With  all  his  powers  of  elocution,  he  paid  no 
serious  attention  to  the  law,  but  devoted  his  time  principally  to 
literature  and  politics.    His  style  and  arguments  as  a  writer,  soon 
attracted  notice,  and  his  Essay  on  the  Sublime,  procured  for  him 
distinction.    He  therefore  became  a  public  man,  and  in  1765,  was 
introduced  into  parliament.    He  then  joined  to  the  character  of  a 
most  elegant  writer,  that  of  a  most  eloquent  speaker.    The  American 

.  war,  he  denounced  with  great  vehemence  and  justice,  and  was  so 
happy  at  length  as  to  witness  its  termination.  When  the  French 
revolution  broke  out,  he  became  alarmed  at  the  progress  of  licen- 
tious principles,  and  with  a  view  to  counteract  them  in  England,  he 
published  his  celebrated  Reflections.  His  Anti-Gallican  zeal  brought 
on  a  rupture  between  him  and  his  former  associates — Mr.  Fox  and 
others.  From  this  time,  though  he  affected  to  be  as  fond  of  liberty 
as  ever,  he  favoured  the  administration  of  Mr.  Pitt,  and  the  court 
rewarded  him  with  a  large  pension  for  his  able  services.  By  many, 
in  his  high- wrought  enthusiasm  in  favour  of  the  war  against  France, 
he  was  considered  as  the  oracle  and  bulwark  of  the  country.  Some 
time  before  his  death,  Mr.  Burke  retired  from  public  life,  but  though 
loaded  with  honours,  he  sunk,  three  years  after,  a  melancholy  victim 
to  the  recent  loss  of  his  only  and  dearly  beloved  son.  His  death 
occured  in  1797. 

As  an  author,  his  merits  are  universally  acknowledged.  He  was 
copious,  elegant,  and  forcible.  His  pieces  are  numerous.  His  Re- 
flections were  so  interesting  in  the  public  opinion,  that  18,000  copies 
were  sold  in  a  few  weeks. 

20.  Washington,  (George,)  who  has  filled  the  world  with  his  own, 
and  his  country's  glory,  was  born  1732,  in  the  county  of  Fairfax,  in 
Virginia,  where  his  father  was  possessed  of  large  landed  property. 
Washington  was  educated  under  the  care  of  a  private  tutor,  and 
after  making  rapid  progress  in  mathematics  and  engineering,  he  em- 
braced the  military  profession.    Here  he  displayed  his  great  talents, 
particularly  his  wisdom  and  caution,  and  showed  himself  master  of 
the  knowledge  of  military  stratagems.     Eminent  also  was  his  per- 
sonal valour,  and  he  proved  he  could  fight,  whenever  he  calculated 
upon  the  prospect  of  decisive  advantage,  or  certain  victory.    He  had 
greatly  distinguished  himself  in  several  expeditions  in  his  native 
state,  before  he  was  called  to  the  command  of  the  American  army, 
in  the  war  of  the  Revolution.    How  ably  he  sustained  his  country's 
causf,  and  to  what  a  successful  termination  he  brought  the  great 


356 


MODERN    HISTORY. — PERIOD  X. 


struggle,  our  readers  need  not  be  informed.  As  a  military  captain, 
he  ranks  among  the  greatest,  whether  of  ancient  or  modern  times. 
But  in  some  respects,  he  is  beyond  a  comparison  with  the  most  ce- 
lebrated heroes.  He  had  no  stain  of  an  unhallowed  ambition.  At 
the  close  of  the  war,  America  was  in  his  power,  but  instead  of  a 
dictator,  he  became  one  of  her  most  obedient  sons.  Military  com- 
mand he  assumed  as  a  duty,  and  whenever  an  opportunity  offered, 
he  hastened  to  resign  it,  that  he  might  retire  to  the  shades  and  peace 
of  private  life. 

Washington  was  the  first  president  of  the  United  States,  and  was 
inaugurated  into  that  high  office,  in  1789.  Having  served  during 
two  presidential  terms,  he  declined  the  honour  which  his  country- 
men would  doubtless  have  again  conferred  upon  him,  and  sought 
the  gratifications  of  his  farm  at  Mount  Vernon.  The  All-wise  Dis- 
poser did  not  suffer  him  to  enjoy  many  years  in  his  peaceful  retire- 
ment. He  was  called  away  from  life,  rather  unexpectedly,  after  a 
few  days  illness,  14th  December,  1799.  „  "  He  was  buried  with  due 
national  honours.  America,  in  a  public  mourning,  deplored  in  him 
the  loss  of  her  father,  and  of  her  friend,  and  a  new  city  was  erected 
on  the  borders  of  the  Potomac,  which,  in  becoming  the  capital  of 
the  United  States,  records  to  distant  times,  in  bearing  his  name,  the 
services,  the  patriotism,  and  the  glories  of  her  great  and  illustrious 
founder." 

Besides  the  qualities  which  distinguish  the  warrior  and  statesman, 
Washington  was  endowed  with  every  virtue  of  humanity.  His  pas- 
sions were  naturally  strong,  but  he  attained  to  a  wonderful  command 
of  them.  He  was  modest,  condescending,  and  affable,  and  excellent 
in  all  the  relations  of  private  arid  domestic  life.  His  punctuality  and 
method  in  managing  his  multifarious  concerns,  are  a  model  to  every 
one.  And  his  exemplary  conduct,,  as  a  Christian,  and  his  calmness 
in  death  inspire  the  belief  that  his  memorial  is  on  high. 

21.  Cowper,  (William,)  who  died  in  1800,  was  son  of  Dr.  Cow- 
per,  chaplain  to  George  II.,  and  rector  of  Berkhampstead,  Herts.  He 
was  in  his  eighteenth  year,  when  he  left  Westminster  school,  and  as 
he  was  destined  for  the  law,  he  entered  at  the  Inner  Temple,  and  at 
the  age  of  thirty-one,  was  apprenticed  clerk  in  the  house  of  lords. 
But  weakness  of  nerves,  and  the  most  distressing  diffidence,  unfitted 
him  for  public  employment  of  any  kind.  He  soon  fell  into  a  re- 
ligious melancholy,  which  arose  to  such  a  height,  that  in  a  fit  of  des- 
peration, he  attempted  his  own  life,  but  was  providentially  saved 
from  so  awful  an  end.  He,  however,  attained  at  length  the  cheering 
and  serene  hope  of  religion.  He  became  an  author,  not  until  he  was 
fifty  years  of  age.  His  first  volume  of  poems,  appeared  in  1782, 
and  in  1785,  his  second  volume,  which  raised  towards  him  the  gene- 
ral voice  of  approbation.  He  afterwards  executed  a  valuable  trans- 
lation of  Homer's  Iliad  and  Odyssey,  in  blank  verse. 

About  this  time,  (1787,)  a  similarity  of  literary  undertakings, 
brought  Cowper  and  Hayley  the  poet,  into  an  intercourse  of  friend- 
ship, which  continued  to  the  last  period  of  life.  Hayley  has  com- 
memorated the  genius  and  virtues  of  his  friend,  in  an  interesting  and 


DISTINGUISHED    CHARACTERS.  357 

elegant  account  of  his  life  and  poetic  labours.  In  this  account,  many 
of  Cowper's  letters  are  embodied,  which,  together  with  a  volume  or 
two,  since  published,  place  him  at  the  head  of  English  epistolary 
writing.  In  1794,  the  king,  as  became  the  sovereign  of  an  enlight- 
ened nation,  honourably  bestowed  upon  the  poet  a  pension  of  three 
hundred  pounds  per  annum.  But  the  bounty  came  too  late  to  be 
much  enjoyed.  Cowper  was  again  sunk  into  dejection  and  religious 
melancholy,  which  continued,  with  few  intervals  of  reason  and  hope, 
till  he  ceased  to  be  an  inhabitant  of  this  world.  He  died  at  the  age 
of  seventy. 

The  Task,  is  Cowper's  most  celebrated  work,  and  abounds  in 
beauties  of  every  kind.  It  exhibits  religion,  particularly,  in  a  most 
engaging  form. 

22.  Klopstock  (Frederick  Theophilus)  was  born  at  Quedlinburg, 
in  1724.    He  studied  theology  at  Jena,  where  he  wrote  a  great  part 
of  his  Messiah,  which  he  published  in  1747.     His  name  is  immor- 
talized chiefly  by  this  poem.    Though  at  the  time  of  its  publication, 
it  was  cens.ured  by  some,  it  was  admired  by  more,  and  Bodmer,  and 
the  Swiss  in  general,  were  loud  in  its  praises.    Klopstock  was  in- 
vited into  their  country,  whence  he  was  called  to  Copenhagen,  by 
the  most  flattering  promises,  which  were  amply  fulfilled.    He  died 
in  1803.     His  funeral  was  conducted  with  extraordinary  pomp.     It 
was  attended  by  the  senate  of  Hamburgh,  where,  at  the  time  of  his 
decease,  he  was  residing  as  Danish  legate.    The  diplomatic  body, 
also  the  clergy,  men  of  letters,  and  merchants,  honoured  his  remains 
by  their  presence.     The  whole  constituted  a  procession  of  seventy- 
six  coaches.    At  Altona,  it  was  joined  by  fifty  more  carriages,  to 
the  village  of  Ottensen,  where  he  was  buried,  with  every  ceremony 
expressive  of  profound  regard. 

As  a  writer,  he  is  characterized  by  a  fervid  imagination ;  but  though 
rich  in  imagery,  and  lofty  in  sentiment,  he  is  frquently  obscure  and 
turgid.  Besides  the  Messiah,  he  was  the  author  of  three  tragedies, 
called  the  Death  of  Adam,  Solomon,  and  David. 

23.  Heyne  (Christian  Gottlieb)  was  born  in  Silesia,  1729.     He 
succeeded  Gesner.  in  1763,  in  the  professorship  of  Rhetoric,  at  Got- 
tingen,  where  also  he  became  secretary  to  the  society  of  Sciences. 
He  drew  up  a  catalogue  of  the  library  at  Gottingen,  which  made  150 
folio  volumes.     King  George  III.  placed  his  three  younger  sons  un- 
der his  care,  and  they  all  treated  him  with  the  greatest  respect. 
He  died  suddenly,  in  1812.    As  an  editor  of  the  classics,  he  is  just- 
ly celebrated,  and  his  critical  skill  has  been  the  admiration  of  the 
learned  world.     He  is  the  first  of  his  class.    From  poverty  and  ob- 
scurity, he  arose  to  comfort  and  fame,  and  he  is  an  encouraging  in- 
stance of  the  rewards  which  often  attend  diligent  and  well-directed 
mental  efforts. 

24.  Stael,  (Anne  Louisa  Germaine  Necker,)  a  baroness,  was  the 
daughter  of  the  celebrated  M.  Necker,  and  born  at  Paris,  1766.    She 
received  a  liberal  education,  and  early  displayed  extraordinary  ta- 
lents. Her  understanding  was  of  a  masculine  character.   Perhaps  no 
female  of  ancient  or  modern  times,  has  equalled  her  in  native  strength 


358  MODERN  HISTORY. — PERIOD  X. 


of  intellect,  especially  as  manifested  in  an  elegant  and  profound  phi- 
losophy. In  1786,  she  married  baron  de  Stael,  a  Swede,  by  whom 
she  had  four  children,  two  of  whom  only  survived  her.  She  began 
her  literary  career,  1789,  in  Letters  on  the  Writings  and  Character 
of  Rousseau,  and  soon  afterwards  took  an  active  part  in  the  French 
Revolution.  At  Paris,  she  engaged  in  political  intrigues,  to  which 
she  had  a  great  propensity.  The  consequence  was,  that  she  offend- 
ed Buonaparte,  who  banished  her  from  the  capital.  From  this,  she 
went  to  Germany,  next  to  Italy,  and  twice  visited  England.  She 
died  in  1817.  Her  works  are  highly  finished  productions,  among 
which  may  be  particularly  noticed,  her  Corinne,  or  Italy,  a  novel, 
and  her  book  on  The  Influence  of  Literature  upon  Society.  She 
seems  to  have  been  a  votary  of  the  new  philosophy,  so  called. 

25.  Dwight  (Timothy)  was  born  at  Northampton,  Mass.,  on  the 
14th  of  May,  1752.  He  was  a  grandson,  on  the  mother's  side,  of 
the  illustrious  Edwards.  His  great  capacity  was  early  displayed, 
and  to  his  excellent  mother  he  was  peculiarly  indebted,  by  her  pre- 
cepts and  example,  for  the  moral  and  intellectual  qualities  with 
which  he  was  so  richly  gifted.  At  the  age  of  seventeen  he  took 
the  bachelor's  degree  at  Yale  College,  and  two  years  afterwards,  he 
was  elected  a  tutor  of  that  institution.  In  the  tutorship  he  continu- 
ed six  years,  after  which  he  was  variously  employed  for  several 
years,  residing  for  the  most  part  of  the  time  in  his  native  place.  In 
1783,  he  was  settled  in  the  Christian  ministry,  over  the  parish,  of 
Greenfield,  in  the  town  of  Fairfield,  Con.  Here  he  continued  twelve 
years,  and  acquired  a  high  reputation  as  an  eloquent  preacher,  and 
faithful  pastor.  His  fame  also,  as  a  teacher  of  youth,  (for  he  had 
previously  been  much  engaged  in  that  business,)  was  greatly  ex- 
tended, by  the  academy  which  he  established  and  superintended  in 
that  place.  During  this  period  he  published  his  Conquest  of  Canaan, 
and  his  Greenfield  Hill ;  the  one  an  epic,  in  eleven  books,  which  was 
completed  in  his  twenty-fourth  year,  the  other  a  descriptive  and 
didactic  poem,  in  seven  books. 

In  1795,  he  was  elected  to  the  presidency  of  Yale  College,  which 
station  he  retained  till  his  death,  in  1817.    Under  his  auspices,  tha4 
institution  flourished  in  a  most  remarkable  degree;  every  departmen 
was  improved  ;  the  standard  of  literary  attainments  -  was  greatl 
raised ;  extensive  religious  reformations  took  place ;  and  the  num- 
ber of  students,  by  the  time  of  his  death,  had  increased  nearly 
three-fold. 

His  death,  which,  under  the  visitation  of  a  protracted  and  most 
severe  disease,  took  place  before  he  had  reached  the  ordinary  bounds 
of  human  life,  gave  a  shock  alike  to  the  republic  of  letters  and  to 
the  church  of  God.  It  was  lamented  as  the  fall  of  one  of  the  great- 
est, best,  and  most  useful  men  that  have  adorned  the  annals  oi  this 
country. 

Since  his  death,  his  theological  lectures,  under  the  title  of r  Theology, 
have  been  published  in  five  octavo  volumes,  and  have  passed  through 
several  large  editions,  both  in  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain 
No  American  work,  it  is  believed,  has  ever  been  more  popular  in  *' 


DISTINGUISHED   CHARACTERS.  359 

latter  country,  than  this.  His  Travels  also,  have  been  extensively 
circulated  at  home  and  abroad. 

26.  Buonaparte  (Napoleon)  was  a  native  of  Corsica,  where  he 
was  born,  in  1769.  His  education  was  chiefly  military,  though  the 
wonderful  powers  of  his  mind,  enabled  him. to  appear  with  advan- 
tage on  almost  every  subject  which  engages  human,  attention.  The 
times  in  which  he  entered  on  the  stage  of  action,  were  big  with 
events,  and  afforded  him  rare  occasions  for  the  display  of  his  talents, 
and  for  the  gratification  of  that  inordinate  ambition  which  was  so 
natural  to  him.  The  revolution  in  France  was  beginning  to  bear 
down  all  the  land  marks  of  former  ages,  and  Buonaparte  embraced 
the  opportunity  of  playing  his  part  on  that  imposing  theatre.  By 
a  masterly  management,  and  by  a  series  of  successes,  he  rose  in  the 
military  profession,  till  he  was  placed  at  the  head  of  it,  and  till  he 
eventually  placed  himself  at  the  head,  not  only  of  France,  but  of 
almost  all  the  nations  of  continental  Europe.  From  the  time  he 
was  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  army  of  Italy,  in  1796,  to 
near  the  termination  of  the  campaign  against  Russia,  he  met  with 
an  almost  uninterrupted  series  of  brilliant  successes  and  victories, 
dictating  peace  to  one  nation  after  another,  till  the  idea  of  an  uni- 
versal empire  seemed  likely  to  be  realized.  From  that  period, 
though  he  gained  two  or  three  important  victories,  he  met  in  gene- 
ral with  sad  reverses;  but  it  was  not  until  nearly  the  whole  o* 
Europe  was  allied  against  him,  that  he  was  crushed.  Twice  he 
abdicated  the  throne:  in  the  former  instance,  retaining  the  sove- 
reignty of  the  island  of  Elba,  whither  he  retired  for  a  time,  only 
again  to  seize  on  his  dominion :  in  the  latter  instance,  after  his  de- 
feat in  the  battle  of  Waterloo,  fleeing  to  a  British  fleet  with  a  view 
to  protection.  He  was,  however,  exiled  to  St.  Helena,  and  continued 
there,  guarded  by  a  body  of  British  troops,  till  his  death,  which  oc- 
curred on  the  6th  May,  1821 ;  having  been  kept  in  confinement  be- 
tween five  and  six  years. 

Buonaparte  has  received,  and  will  continue  to  receive  the  applauses 
or  execrations  of  mankind,  according  as  they  view  his  mighty 
achievements,  connected  with  the  good  which  has  incidently  grown 
out  of  them,  or  with  the  evil  Vhich  they  directly  produced,  and 
which  the  author  did  not  care  to  avert  from  the  world. 


GENERAL  VIEWS: 

OR  A  BRIEF  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  PECULIAR  INSTITUTIONS 
OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES,  AS  THE  FEUDAL  SYSTEM,  CHI- 
VALRY, &c.;  ALSO  OF  THE  MANNERS  AND  CHARAC- 
TER OF  THE  GOTHIC  NATIONS; LEARNING  AND -THE 
ARTS;  DISCOVERIES  AND  INVENTIONS;  INCIDENTS 
AND  CURIOUS  PARTICULARS;  AND  THE  PRESENT 
STATE  OF  SEVERAL  NATIONS  IN  RESPECT  TO  AG- 
RICULTURE, ROADS,  CONVEYANCES,  INTERCOURSE, 
EDUCATION,  MANUFACTURES,&c.;  AND  FINALLY,  OF 
THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH. 


The  Feudal  System, 

SECT.  1.  A  peculiar  system  of  policy  prevailed  among  all 
the  nations  of  Europe,  at  an  early  period.  Singular  as  it 
seems,  and  different  from  the  establishments  of  the  present 
times,  it  was  the  general  state  of  society,  among  the  ancestors 
of  modern  Europe.  This  was  the  Feudal  System. 
.  The  Feudal  System,  means  that  tenure  on  which  the 
owners  of  land  held  their  possessions,  viz.,  an  obligation  to 
perform  military  service,  whenever  required  by  the  chief  to 
whom  they  owed  allegiance.  Such  is  i*s  nature  5  its  origin 
and  history,  its  principle  and  its  effects  will  be  soon  pointed 
out. 

§  It  was  on  the  following  plan,  that  the  feudal  policy  was  ar- 
ranged : — every  freeman  or  soldier,  upon  receiving  an  allotment  of 
conquered  lands,  bound  himself  to  appear  in  arms  against  the  com- 
mon enemy,  whenever  his  leader  should  call  upon  him  for  this  pur- 
pose. This  military  service  was  the  condition  upon  which  every 
one  received,  and  the  tenure  by  which  he  continued  to  hold  his  lands. 
It  was  not  at  first  considered  either  a  degradation  or  hardship.  The 
same  service  which  a  vassal  owed  to  his  lord,  was  due  from  the  lord 
to  his  king.  The  king  required  those  among  whom  the  conquered 
lands  were  distributed,  to  repair  to  his  standard,  with  a  number  of 
followers,  in  proportion  to  the  extent  of  their  respective  estates,  and 
to  assist  him  in  his  expeditions.  This  service  was  due  to  the  king; 
but  when  obedience  was  refused,  it  could  be  enforced,  not  by  civil 
regulations,  but  only  by  war  Under  such  a  system,  the  nobles  or 


FEUDAL    SYSTEM. 


barons,  enjoyed  a  subordinate  sovereignty,  in  their  own  dominions ; 
while  their  vassals  or  dependants,  were  in  complete  subjection  to 
their  will. 

2.  The  origin  of  this  institution  lies  in  a  remote  antiquity 
Some  writers  have  attributed  it  to  the  kings  of  the  Franks, 
who,  after  the  conquest  of  Gaul,  are  supposed  to  have  divi- 
ded their  lands  among  their  followers,  on  the  condition  of 
military  service.  But  we  must  look  for  it  to  a  remoter  source. 
It  is  consonant  with  the  usages  of  all  warlike,  barbarous  na- 
tions, among  whom  we  remark  a  strict  subordination  of  the 
members  of  a  tribe,  to  their  chief  or  leader.  This  subordi- 
nation affords  the  clue  to  the  general  policy,  and  so  far  as  the 
history  of  it  can  be  traced,  it  is  a  fact,  that  Julius  Ca3sar 
noticed  it  among  the  Gaulish  nations,  before  the  Christian  era. 

§  With  the  Gauls,  this  subordination  was  peculiarly  strong,  and 
subsisted  not  only  between  the  soldiers  and  their  commander,  but 
between  the  inferior  towns  or  villages,  and  the  canton  or  province 
to  which  they  belonged. 

When  in  peace,  every  man  cultivated  his  land,  free  of  all  taxation, 
and  subject  to  no  other  burden,  than  that  of  military  service,  requi- 
red by  his  chief.  When  the  province  was  at  war,  each  village,  though 
taxed  to  furnish  only  a  certain  number  of  soldiers,  was  bound  to  send, 
on  the  day  appointed  for  a  general  muster,  all  the  males  capable  of 
bearing  arms,  from  whom  the  rated  number  was  selected  by  the  chief 
of  the  province. 

This  relation  between  soldiers  and  their  commander,  sub- 
sisted among  the  Franks,  as  well  as  among  the  Gauls.  It 
subsisted  among  the  Romans  also,  who,  to  check  the  inroads 
of  the  barbarian  nations,  and  to  secure  their  distant  conquests, 
were  obliged  to  maintain  fixed  garrisons  on  their  frontiers. 
To  each  officer  in  those  garrisons,  it  was  customary  to  as- 
sign a  portion  of  land,  as  the  pledge  and  pay  of  his  service. 
These  gifts  were  named  benficia  or  fiefs. 

§  When  the  Franks  overran  Gaul,  a  great  part  of  the  land  was 
found  in  the  hands  of  the  Romans,  held  by  this  tenure,  as  the  rest 
was  found  so  held  by  the  Gauls.  The  conquerors,  accustomed  to 
the  same  policy,  would  naturally  adopt  it,  in  the  partition  of  their 
new  conquests,  each  man  being  bound  to  service,  on  receiving  his 
share  of  the  land. 

The  fiefs  were  at  first  revocable  by  the  sovereign,  and  reverted  to 
him  on  the  death  of  the  vassal.  But  the  possession  of  fiefs,  under 
the  imbecile  Merovingian  kings,  at  length  obtained  independency 
and  security  of  property. 

It  was  a  consequence  of  a  fief  becoming  hereditary,  that  it  should 
Lc  capable  of  being  given  out  in  portions,  and  that  the  vassal  him- 
31 


362  GENERAL    VIEWS. 

self,  holding  his  lands  of  the  sovereign,  by  the  tenure  of  military 
service,  should  be  able  to  create  a  train  of  inferior  vassals,  by  giving 
to  them  parts  of  his  estate,  to  be  held  on  the  same  condition,  of  fol- 
lowing his  standard  in  battle,  rendering  him  homage  as  their  lord, 
and  paying,  as  a  symbol  of  their  subjection,  a  small  annual  present, 

3.  The  principle  of  policy  upon  which  this  singular  estab- 
lishment was  founded,  was  self-protection.  The  new  settlers 
in  a  country,  wished  to  secure  themselves,  not  only  against 
the  attacks  of  the  inhabitants  whom  they  had  expelled  from 
their  possessions,  but  especially  against  the  inroads  of  fresh 
invaders.  '  But  unfortunately  for  the  peace  of  society,  it  was 
attended  with  many  evils,  especially  after  the  land  had  be- 
come unalienable  property. 

The  effects,  therefore,  of  the  feudal  system,  demand  some 
notice  in  this  place.  It  was  natural,  in  those  disorderly  times, 
when  the  authority  of  government,  and  the  obligation  ol 
general  laws,  were  extremely  weak,  that  the  superior  or  over- 
lord should  acquire  both  a  civil  and  criminal  jurisdiction  over 
his  vassals.  Such  power,  in  their  hands,  must  have  been  an  en- 
gine of  oppression.  They  moreover  exercised  the  privilege  of 
coining  money,  and  carried  on  wars  against  their  private 
enemies.  So  situated,  they  disdained  to  consider  themselves 
as  subjects ;  and  the  consequence  was,  that  a  kingdom  was 
broken  into  as  many  separate  principalities,  as  it  contained 
powerful  nobles ;  and  the  occasions  of  war  thus  became  innu- 
merable. • 

§  Every  country  in  Europe  was  wasted,  or  kept  in  continual  alarm, 
by  the  feuds  of  the  barons,  and  in  every  country,  vast  multitudes  ot 
castles  and  places  of  strength,  were  erected  for  the  security  of  des- 
potic chieftains,  against  domestic  invasions. 

In  the  reign  of  Stephen  of  England,  when  the  feudal  system  was 
at  its  height,  not  less  than  one  thousand  castles,  with  their  depen- 
dencies, had  been  erected  in  the  southern  part  of  the  Island.  Pri- 
vate retaliation  and  revenge  were  the  only  law  in  the  minds  of  proud 
and  ferocious  chieftains.  The  edicts  of  kings  and  magistrates  were 
trampled  on.  A  baron  who  was  provoked  by  injury,  met  his  adver- 
sary at  the  head  of  his  vassals,  in  hostile  array,  and  sought  redress 
only  by  his  sword.  The  most  numerous  and  useful  part  of  the  com- 
munity, the  common  people,  were  no  better  than  slaves,  and  though 
not  chained  by  the  leg,  as  was  the  fact  with  slaves  among  the  Ro- 
mans, yet  they  were  transferred  from  one  lord  to  another,  like  cat- 
tle, and  the  implements  of  husbandry.  They  were  styled  serfs  or 
•'illeins,  a  name  implying  their  servitude  and  degradation. 

In  this  state  of  things,  neither  the  innocent  could  be  protected,  nor 
the  guilty  punished,  by  the  regal  authority.  A  general  anarchy  pre- 


CHIVALRY.  36S 

vailea ;  the  feelings  of  the  people  became  familiarized  to  violence 
and  blood,  to  despotism  and  injustice ;  intellectual  and  moral  im- 
provement was  suspended,  the  arts  and  sciences  were  banished,  the 
light  of  Christianity  was  obscured,  and  only  the  stern  and  rough 
virtues  were  nourished.  Never  was  there  a  period  in  the  annals  of 
Europe  so  filled  with  atrocious  actions,  as  that  which  intervened 
from  the  seventh  to  the  eleventh  century,  the  era  of  the  prevalence 
of  the  feudal  system. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  twelfth  century,  this  unhappy  state 
of  things  began  to  abate,  and  government,  laws  and  manners,  exert- 
ed a  degree  of  influence  on  the  minds  of  men.  Chivalry  produced 
a  propitious  effect,  and  a  variety  of  other  causes,  operated  to  check 
the  licentiousness  of  the  barons,  and  to  soften  their  ferocity.  Per- 
haps no  one  cause  was  more  efficacious,  than  the  establishment  of 
standing  armies,  in  the  fifteenth  century.  This  engine,  wielded  by 
kings,  crushed  the  power  of  the  nobles,  and  reduced  them  to  order 
and  obedience. 

* 

The  first  monarch  who  adopted  this  measure,  was  Charles  VII.  of 
France,  in  the  year  1445 ;  but  so  opposed  was  it  to  the  genius  of  feudal- 
ism, that  it  required  the  greatest  boldness  to  carry  it  into  execution. 
Charles,  however,  did  not  shrink  from  the  attempt.  He  retained  a 
large  body  of  forces  in  his  service,  and  appointed  funds  for  their 
regular  payment.  The  principal  nobility  soon  repaired  to  his  stan- 
dard ;  and  as  the  feudal  militia  were  only  occasionally  called  out, 
they  were  in  time  regarded  with  contempt  by  regular  soldiers.  This 
example  was  followed  by  the  politic  Henry  VII.,  of  England. 

Chivalry. 

SECT.  1.  Nature,  Origin,  and  First  Appearance. — 
Chivalry,  or  knighthood,  was  an  institution  common  to  Eu- 
rope, during  the  middle  ages,  having  principally  for  its  ob- 
ject, the  correction  of  those  evils  that  were  peculiar  to  the 
state  of  society  which  then  existed.  The  feudal  system  at 
that  time  prevailed,  the  disorders  flowing  from  which,  con- 
nected with  the  ignorance  and  barbarism  of  the  people,  ren- 
dered some  such  institution  as  chivalry,  necessary,  provided  a 
better  could  not  be  found.  Considered  in  this  aspect,  chival- 
ry was  co-existent  with  feudalism.  It  was  designed  as  a  cor- 
rective of  feudal  despotism,  injustice,  and  licentiousness.  It 
sought  to  support  the  weak,  to  protect  the  oppressed,  to  re- 
strain the  lawless,  to  refine  the  rude,  to  avenge  wrongs,  and, 
especially,  to  maintain  the  rights,  and  defend  the  purity  of 
the  female  sex.  In  its  elements,  it  combined  bravery,  honour, 
courtesy,  love,  and  religion. 


364  GENERAL  VIEWS. 

§  In  the  origin  of  the  term  chivalry,  or  knighthood,  reference  was 
had  to  the  nature  of  its  duties,  which  were  performed  on  horseback. 
Hence,  the  languages  which  were  formed  on  a  Latin  basis,  derived 
their  phrases  descriptive  of  military  duties  on  horseback,  from  cabal- 
lus,  a  horse ;  cabillarius,  a  horseman ;  and  cabillare,  to  ride — the 
letter  b,  being  pronounced  like  v,  in  the  south  of  Europe.  In  all 
languages  of  Teutonic  origin,  the  same  circumstance  was  expressed 
by  words  literally  signifying  service.  The  German  knight,  the  Sax- 
on cniht,  are  synonymous  with  the  French  cavalier,  the  Italian  ca- 
valiere,  &c.  The  word,  rider,  also  designated  the  same  person. 

Chivalry  was,  in  many  respects,  a  beautiful  and  beneficial  form  oi 
manners,  though  in  others,  it  was  highly  objectionable,  as  will  ap- 
pear in  the  sequel.    We  must  not,  however,  confound  the  extrava- 
gant knight-errantry  of  the  old  romances,  or  even  the  natural  chi 
valry  common  to  most  nations,  with  the  gallant  and  Christian  chi- 
valry of  Europe,  which  constituted  a  military  barrier  against  oppres- 
sion.   That  was,  in  some  degree,  a  moral  institution,  which  sought 
to  make  travelling  safe,  and  the  intercourse  of  society  refined  and 
liberal,  though  it  would  have  been  more  moral,  had  it  not  itself  em 
ployed  violence. 

Chivalry  had  its  origin  in  that  state  of  society  in  which 
the  feudal  system  arose ;  and  regarded  particularly  in  a  mi- 
litary light,  we  find  it  a  part  of  the  earliest  condition  of  most 
of  the  European  world.  Its  foundation,  in  fact,  was  the  an- 
cient character  of  Europe,  and  it  grew  into  the  form  and  con 
sistency  which  it  at  length  assumed,  from  the  following  prac- 
tices common  among  the  early  Europeans,  particularly  the 
Germans,  viz.  from  receiving  their  weapons  in  an  assembly 
of  the  nations  associating  in  clans,  protecting  arid  revering 
women,  and  performing  acts  of  service  when  affection  and 
duty  commanded  them. 

The  exact  time  when  these  elements  were  framed  into 
that  system  of  thought  and  action,  which  we  call  chivalry, 
it  is  impossible  to  tell.  Knighthood  was  certainly  a  distinc- 
tion of  society  before  the  days  of  Charlemagne.  But  it  want- 
ed religion.  When  it  began  to  be  marked  by  religious  rites, 
it  formed  a  regular  institution,  Its  union  with  religion,  took 
place  somewhere  between  the  ninth  and  eleventh  centuries. 
Its  character  was  raised  and  perfected  by  the  crusades. 

§  Religious  rites  were  not  used  in  the  days  of  Charlemagne,  for  he 
girt  the  military  sword  on  his  son,  Louis  the  Good,  according  to  the 
rude  principles  of  ancient  Germanic  chivalry ;  and  a  century  after- 
wards, we  read  of  the  English  Edward  the  Elder,  clothing  Athel- 
stan,  in  a  soldier's  dress  of  scarlet,  and  fastening  around  him  a  gir- 
dle, ornamented  with  precious  stones,  in  which  a  Saxon  sword,  in  a 


CHIVALRY.  365 


sheath  of  gold,  was  inserted;  In  the  century  following,  however, 
during  the  reign  of  Edward  the  Confessor,  we  meet  with  the  story 
of  Hereward,  a  very  noble  Anglo-Saxon  youth,  being  knighted  by 
the  abbot  of  Peterborough.  He  made  confession  of  his  sins,  and 
after  he  had  received  absolution,  he  earnestly  prayed  to  be  made  a 
legitimate  knight. 

Knighthood  was  always,  and  essentially,  a  personal  distinction, 
and  in  this  respect,  different  from  nobility.  The  nobility  of  Europe 
were  the  lords  of  particular  districts  of  a  country,  and  although  ori- 
ginally they  held  their  dignities  only  for  life,  yet  their  title  soon  be- 
came hereditary. 

Every  person  of  noble  birth,  was  required,  when  twelve  years  old 
to  take  a  solemn  oath,  before  the  bishop  of  his  diocese,  to  defend  the 
oppressed,  &c.  This  was  ordained  at  the  Council  of  Clermont,  in 
the  eleventh  century  ;  thus  giving  a  public  and  sacred  sanction  to 
the  humanities  of  chivalry.  But  besides  the  nobility,  others  might 
be  promoted  into  the  order,  by  meritorious  valour. 

Almost  the  whole  of  Europe  was  affected  with  the  chival- 
ric  spirit.  It  flourished  most,  however,  in  France,  Spain,  and 
Germany,  and  more  early  developed  itself  as  a  fixed  princi- 
ple of  action,  in  these  countries  than  in  others.  England,  at 
length,  was  riot  undistinguished  for  its  chivalry. 

2.  Degrees  of  Chivalry.  —  There  were  three  degrees  in 
the  chivalry  of  Europe  :  —  knights  bannarets,  knights,  and 
esquires. 

A  soldier  must  have  passed  through  the  ranks  of  esquire, 
and  knight,  before  he  could  be  classed  with  the  knights  ban- 
narets. That  high  dignity  could  be  possessed  only  by  a 
knight,  who  had  served  for  a  length  of  years  in  the  wars,  and 
with  distinction,  and  who  had  a  considerable  retinue  of  men- 
at  arms,  and  other  soldiers. 

§  The  privileges  of  a  knight  bannaret,  were  considerable.  He  did 
not  fight  under  the  standard  of  any  baron  ;  but  he  formed  his  sol- 
diers under  his  own.  The  baron  and  bannaret,  as  soldiers,  were  of 
equal  authority. 

The  second  and  most  numerous  class  of  chivalric  heroes, 
consisted  of  knights.  A  general  qualification  for  knighthood, 
was  noble  or  gentle  birth,  which,  in  its  widest  signification, 
expressed  a  state  of  independence. 

§  There  was  no  fixed  amount  of  estate  necessary  for  knighthood. 
It  was,  however,  a  costly  dignity,  and  many  were  obliged  to  forego 
it,  on  account  of  its  expenses. 

Though  it  was  often  bestowed  as  an  ornament  of  custom  on  the 
nobility  and  gentry  of  a  state,  it  never  altogether  lost  its  character  of 
being  a  reward  of  merit.  Men-at-arms,  and  other  soldiers,  were  often 
exalted  to  the  class  of  knights.  » 

31* 


366  GENERAL    VIEWS. 

The  last  class  of  chivalry,  the  squirehood,  wag  composed 
of  a  body  of  efficient  soldiers,  inferior  in  rank  to  the  knight, 
and  superior  to  the  men-at-arms.  Many  of  them,  on  various 
accounts,  remained  in  this  station,  during  all  their  military 
career. 

§  It  was  a  maxim  in  chivalry,  that  a  man  had  better  be  a  good 
esquire,  than  a  bad  knight.  Military  honours  could  be  reached  by 
the  squirehood,  as  well  as  by  the  knighthood  of  a  country. 

3.  Education  of  a  Knight.  The  education  of  a  knight 
in  the  family  of  a  feudal  lord,  generally  commenced  at  the 
age  of  seven  or  eight  years.  The  place  of  education  was 
sometimes  a  school  appointed  by  the  nobles  of  the  country, 
but  most  frequently  the  nobleman's  own  castle,  or  that  of 
some  brother  nobleman,  served. 

§  The  duties  of  the  boy,  for  the  first  seven  years  of  his  service, 
were  chiefly  personal.  He  learned  the  dignity  and  beauty  of  obedi- 
ence, being  made  to  feel  it  a  privilege  to  attend  the  lord  and  his 
lady  in  the  hall,  and  follow  them  in  their  exercises  of  war  and  pas- 
time. The  intellectual  and  moral  education  of  the  boy  was  given 
by  the  ladies  of  the  court. 

From  the  lips  of  the  ladies,  the  gentle  youth  learned  both  his 
catechism  and  the  art  of  love.  He  was  directed  to  regard  some  one 
lady  of  the  court  as  the  type  of  the  future  mistress  of  his  heart ; 
she  was  the  object  of  all  his  hopes  and  wishes ;  to  her  he  was  duti- 
ful, faithful,  and  courteous. 

The  ingredients  of  religion,  love,  and  war,  were  strangely  com- 
bined in  chivalry.  Surrounded  by  noble  females  and  valorous 
cavaliers,  the  first  impressions  of  the  future  knight  were  on  these 
subjects ;  and  he  was  taught  to  regard  chivalry  and  its  honours,  as 
the  most  noble  object  of  ambition. 

The  military  exercises  of  the  youth  were  not  many  ;  and 
they  were  important  only  as  they  were  the  earliest  ideas  of 
his  life.  During  the  first  seven  years,  he  was  called  a  valet 
damoiseauj.  or  a  page — in  the  old  English  ballads  a  child. 

§  During  this  period,  he  was  taught  to  leap  over  trenches,  to  launch 
or  cast  spears  and  darts,  to  sustain  the  shield,  in  his  walk  to  imitate 
the  measured  tread  of  the  soldier,  and  in  mock  battle  to  fight  against 
stakes  or  his  youthful  companions. 

At  the  age  of  fourteen,  he  received  the  title  of  armiger,  or 
esquire  ;  and  though  he  was  then  authorized  to  carry  arms, 
yet  his  personal  domestic  service  continued  for  some  time. 
His  education  was  not  completed,  till  the  age  of  twenty-one. 

§  The  esquire  prepared  the  refection  in  the  morning  ;  and  at 
dinner,  he,  as  well  as  the  pages,  attended  at  the  table,  and  presented 
to  the  lord  and  his  guests  the  water  used  for  washing.  The  knight 


CHIVALRY.  367 

and  tire  squire  never  sat  before  the  same  table,  not  even  in  the  case 
of  father  and  son  —  so  strict  was  the  principle  of  chivalric  subordina- 
tion. The  squires  often  made  the  beds  of  their  lords.  Each  one 
had  his  respective  duties  —  one  was  the  squire  of  the  chamber,  or 
the  chamberlain,  and  another  the  carrying  squire.  But  their  many 
duties  cannot  here  be  described.  Spenser,  in  the  following  stanza, 
beautifully  paints  the  domestic  squire  discharging  some  of  his 
duties. 

"  There  fairly  them  receives  a  gentle  squire, 

Of  mild  demeanor  and  rare  courtesy 

Right  cleanly  clad  in  comely  sad  attire  ; 

In  word  and  deed  that  show'd  great  modesty, 

And  knew  his  good  to  all  of  each  degree, 

Hight  reverence.     He  them  with  speeches  meet 

Does  faire  entreat,  no  courting  nicety, 

But  simple,  true,  and  eke  unfained  sweet, 

As  might  become  a  squire  so  great  persons  to  greet." 

In  the  life  of  a  squire,  the  anxieties  of  love,  and  military  exercises, 
were  commingled.  Chaucer  delightfully  paints  the  softer  employ- 
ment. 


"  Singing  he  was  or  floyting  all  the 

He  was  as  fresh  as  is  the  month  of  May, 

He  could  songs  make,  and  well  endite, 

Just  and  eke  dance,  and  well  pourtraie  and  write  ; 

So  hote  he  loved,  that  by  nighterdale* 

He  slept  no  more  than  doth  the  nightingale." 

He  practised  every  mode  by  which  strength  and  activity  could 
be  given  to  the  body.  He  learned  to  endure  hunger  and  thirst,  heat 
and  cold,  in  their  extremes,  and  to  plunge  all  covered  \vith  dust  into 
the  running  stream.  He  accustomed  himself  to  wield  the  sword,  to 
thrust  the  lance,  to  strike  with  the  axe,  and  to  wear  armour.  But 
no  exercise  was  more  important  than  that  of  horsemanship.  Of  the 
true  knight,  it  could  be  said, 

"  Wei  could  he  sit  on  horse  and  fair  ride." 

4.  .Inauguration  of  a  Knight.  The  full  dignity  of 
knighthood,  was  seldom  conferred  on  a  squire  before  the  age 
of  twenty-one.  The  ceremonies  of  inauguration  were  so- 
lemn. The  preparation  consisted  in  prayer,  confession,  and 
fasting  —  was  accompanied  by  clothing  him  with  a  white 
dress,  which  was  considered  symbolical  of  the  purity  of  his 
new  character  :  and  by  throwing  over  him  a  red  garment, 
which  was  to  mark  his  resolution  to  shed  his  blood  in  the 
cause  of  heaven.  These  and  other  rites  were  a  necessary 
preliminary. 

*  Night-timo. 


368  GENERAL    VIEWS. 

A  church,  or  hall  of  a  castle,  was  generally  the  place  of 
inauguration.  The  candidate  first  offered  his  sword  to  the 
priest,  who  blessed  it.  Before  it  was  returned  to  him,  he  took 
his  oaths  of  chivalry. 

§  He  solemnly  swore  to  defend  the  church,  to  attack  the  wicked, 
to  respect  the  priesthood,  to  protect  women  and  the  poor,  to  pre- 
serve the  country  in  tranquillity,  and  to  shed  his  blood,  even  to  the 
last  drop,  in  behalf  of  his  brethren. 

The  young  warrior  having  kneeled  with  clasped  hands 
before  the  supreme  lord  in  the  assembly,  (a  purely  feudal 
ceremony,)  and  having  declared  that  his  only  object  is  to 
maintain  religion  and  chivalry,  was  now  invested  with  all 
the  exterior  marks  of  the  order.  The  knights  and  ladies  of 
the  court  attended  on  him,  and  delivered  to  him  the  various 
pieces  of  his  harness. 

§  The  armour  varied  at  different  periods  and  in  different  countries, 
but  some  matters  were  of  permanent  usage.  The  spurs  were  al- 
ways put  on  first,  and  the  sword  was  belted  on  last. 

The  concluding  sign  of  being  dubbed  or  adopted  into  the 
order  of  knighthood,  was  a  slight  blow  given  by  the  lord  to 
the  cavalier,  and  called  the  accolade,  from  the  part  of  the 
body,  the  neck,  whereon  it  was  struck.  The  lord  then  pro- 
claimed him  a  knight,  in  the  name  of  God  and  the  saints 

§  The  ceremonies  of  inauguration,  which  have  been  concisely  des- 
cribed, were  gone  through  when,  knighthood  was  conferred  on  great 
and  public  occasions  of  festivity,  but  they  often  gave  place  to  the 
power  of  rank,  and  the  necessity  of  circumstances.  Princes  were 
exempted  from  the  laborious  offices  of  page  and  squire.  Men  who 
were  distinguished  soldiers  were  often  adopted  into  chivalry  on  the 
eve  of  a  battle,  as  it  was  considered  that  a  sense  of  their  new 
honours  would  inspire  their  highest  gallantry. 

5.  Equipment  of  a  knight.  The  horse  of  the  cavalier 
was  his  peculiar  pride,  and  skill  in  the  management  of  the 
animal  was  a  distinction  deemed  worthy  of  every  effort.  The 
knigbt  bore  about  with  him  a  variety  of  the  instruments  of 
death.  His  chief  offensive  weapon  was  the  lance.  His  other 
offensive  weapons  were  a  sword,  (a  favourite  weapon,)  dag- 
ger, battle-axe,  and  maces.  His  defensive  armour  was  also 
various.  He  had  his  shield,  helmet  with  its  visor  and  beaver, 
and  body  harness  made  of  plates  of  steel,  to  which  different 
names  were  given  according  to  the  different  parts  of  the  body 
which  it  covered.  A  long  flowing  robe,  reaching  down  to  the 
heels,  constituted  the  dress  of  the  knight. 


CHIVALRY.  369 

Some  of  the  defensive  armour  was  so  constructed,  that  it  could 
be  rolled  up,  and  carried  by  the  squire  on  horseback.  It  was  too 
rigid,  heavy,  and  cumbersome  to  be  worn  for  a  long  time  together, 
though  the  knights  were  often  subjected  to  that  inconvenience, 
When  they  were  completely  armed,  no  weapon  could  reach  the  bo- 
dy. It  was  not  often  that  a  knight  could  be  killed,  except  by  being 
unhorsed.  In  that  event,  a  thin  dagger,  which  was  worn  by  each 
assailant,  was  employed.  This  could  be  thrust  into  the  body  between 
the  plates. 

It  is  only  in  romance,  that  we  read  of  swords  cutting  through  that 
solid  front  of  iron,  by  which  a  knight  was  protected.  The  only  way 
in  which  death  could  be  inflicted,  when  he  was  mounted,  was,  by 
thrusting  a  lance  through  the  small  hole  in  the  visor.  Such  a  mode 
of  death  was  not  very  common,  for  the  cavalier  always  bent  his  face 
almost  to  the  saddle-bow,  when  he  charged.  He  might,  however, 
be  unhorsed,  in  the  shock  of  meeting.  In  that  case,  he  was  at  the 
mercy  of  the  foe,  who  was  in  the  better  condition. 

The  horse  of  the  knight  was  defended  by  mail,  or  plate,  agreeably 
to  the  fashion  of  the  age.  His  head,  chest,  and  flanks,  were  either 
wholly  or  partially  protected,  and  sometimes,  on  occasions  of  pomp, 
he  was  clad  in  complete  steel. 

6.  The  Chivalric  Character. — In  the  character  of  a  true 
knight,  were  combined  many  virtues  and  noble  endowments. 
It  necessarily  included,  also,  some  prominent  defects.  Com- 
panionship in  Arms,  was  a  sacred  principle,  and  a  knight 
would  fly  to  the  relief  of  his  companion  in  arms,  even  were  his 
services  demanded  by  a  female,  at  the  time.  His  valour  was 
connected  with  modesty,  and  both  were,  in  the  highest  de- 
gree, conspicuous.  In  chivalric  war,  much  humanity  was 
displayed,  though  in  contentions  of  a  different  kind,  it  was 
unhappily  suppressed.  As  a  knight  fought  for  the  church,  he 
was  intolerant,  and  towards  infidels  and  heretics  he  ceased  to 
exhibit  his  wonted  forbearance.  His  sense  of  honour  was 
keen,  and  his  independence  was  consistent  with  discipline 
and  submission.  His  whole  course  was  dictated  by  a  regard 
to  religion.  His  devotions  were  frequent.  Religion  entered 
into  all  the  observances  of  chivalry,  but  it  was  only  the  religion 
of  the  times — a  form  rather  than  spirit — too  corrupt  to  be  a  safe 
guide.  The  knight,  finally,  was  characterized  by  a  very  re- 
markable fidelity  to  obligations,  by  generosity,  and  by  courtesy. 

§  Companionship  in  arms,  was  the  strongest  tie  in  chivalry : 

"  From  this  day  forward  ever  mo, 
Neither  fail,  either  for  weal  or  wo, 
To  help  other  at  need. 
Brother,  be  now  true  to  me^ 
And  I  shall  be  as  true  to  thee. 


370  GENERAL  VIEWS. 

Such  a  thirst  for  renown  in  arms,  for  the  display  of  valiancy,  had 
a  knight,  that  he  would  sometimes  attempt  the  very  height  of  he- 
roism, and  engage  in  the  execution  of  impossibilities.    It  was  this 
passion,  which  dictated  many  of  his  vows.    Certain  young  knights 
of  England,  during  the  French  wars  of  Edward  III.,  each  bound  up 
one  of  his  eyes  with  a  silk  ribbon,  and  swore  before  the  ladies  and 
the  peacock,  that  he  would  not  see  with  both  eyes,  until  he  had  ac- 
omplished  certain  deeds  of  arms  in  France. 
The  valiancy  of  chivalry  was  finely  chastened  by  humility : 

"  And  of  his  port,  as  meek  as  is  a  maid.' 

Every  hero,  as  well  as  Chaucer's  knight,  demeaned  himself  in  all 
things,  as  if  God  solely  had  controlled ;  and  in  the  divine  name,  used 
his  arms,  without  vaunting  or  praising  himself;  for  praise  was  regard- 
ed as  blame,  in  the  mouth  of  him  who  commended  his  own  actions. 

The  clemency  of  chivalry  was  often  shown,  especially  in  sparing 
inferior  people.  As  a  knight  could  gain  no  honour  in  slaying  an  un- 
armed peasantry,  so  he  seldom  attacked  one  of  this  class ;  and  even 
an  enemy  of  his  own  order,  if  prostrate  and  supplicating,  was  not  often 
despatched. 

Still,  he  was  ruthless  towards  the  infidel  and  heretic.  He  knew 
no  other  argument  than  the  sword,  to  gainsay  the  infidel,  and  he 
was  ready,  at  all  times,  to  "  thrust  it  into  the  belly  of  a  heretic  as  lar 
as  it  would  go." 

Of  his  moral  virtues,  perfect  fidelity  to  a  promise  was  very  con- 
spicuous ;  for  his  nobleness  disdained  any  compromise  with  conve- 
nience or  circumstances.  However  absurd  the  vow,  still  he  was 
compelled  to  perform  it,  in  all  the  strictness  of  the  letter. 

Knights  were  renowned  for  their  courtesy;  and  this  principle,  like 
every  other  blessing  of  modern  times,  had  its  origin  in  the  Christian 
religion.  The  world  thought,  that  courtesy  and  chivalry  accorded 
together,  and  that  villanous  and  foul  words,  were  contrary  to  an 
order  which  was  founded  on  piety.  A  knight  was  always  spoken  ol 
as  gentle.  The  following  anecdote  curiously  marks  this  quality  of 
chivalric  manners.  The  wife  and  sister  of  Du  Gueselin,  were  once 
living  in  a  castle,  which  was  attacked  by  a  force  of  Normans  and 
Englishmen.  The  success  was  great  and  important ;  but  public  in- 
dignation was  excited  against  the  invaders,  because  they  had  trans- 
gressed the  license  of  war,  in  being  guilty  of  the  uncourteous  action 
of  surprising  and  disturbing  ladies  while  they  were  asleep. 

7.  Every  day  life  of  the  Knight. — The  military  and  mo- 
ral qualities  of  knighthood,  were  fostered  by  all  the  circum- 
stances of  chivalric  life,  even  those  of  a  peaceful  nature. 
Their  common  life  was  one  of  amusement  and  revelry,  in 
which  the  images  of  their  favourite  pursuits  were  easily  re- 
called to  their  minds.  They  passed  most  of  their  hours  of 
peace,  in  the  diversions  of  falconry  and  chess-playing,  in  lis 
tening  to  the  minstrels,  who  sung  the  feats  of  chivalry,  in  read 


CHIVALRY.  371 

ing  romances,  and  in  conversation,  which  turned  almost 
wholly  on  love  and  war.  Entertainments,  also,  at  each 
other's  castles,  were  frequent;  in  these,  the  utmost  merriment 

prevailed. 

§  The  minstrel's  lay,  the  poetry  of  the  troubadour,  the  romance  of 
the  learned  clerk — all  spoke  of  arms  and  amours — of  the  duties  and 
sports  of  chivalry.  Every  baronial  knight  had  his  gay  troop  of  min- 
strels, that  accompanied  him  to  the  field,  and  afterwards  chanted  in 
his  hall  the  martial  deeds  which  had  renowned  his  family. 

At  their  entertainments,  the  knights  were  wont  to  repose  on 
couches,  or  sit  on  benches.  The  guests  were  placed  two  by  two, 
and  only  one  plate  was  allotted  to  each  pair ;  for  to  eat  on  the  same 
trencher  or  plate  with  any  one,  was  considered  the  strongest  mark 
of  friendship  or  love.  Peacocks  and  pheasants  were  the  peculiar 
food  of  knights,  on  great  and  festival  occasions. 

8.  The  Chivalric  lady-love.  The  females  of  chivalry, 
possessed  a  distinct  and  peculiar  character.  The  lady,  like 
the  knight,  was  regularly  trained  up  to  become,  at  length,  the 
mistress  of  his  affections.  She  was  commonly  educated  in 
the  castle  of  some  knight  or  baron,  her  father's  friend.  One 
of  the  first  duties  or  accomplishments  which  she  learned,  was 
that,  of  courtesy,  and  condescension  to  her  inferiors.  In  those 
days,  her  mental  education  was  not  of  a  high  polish.  Some 
knowledge  of  medicine  was  deemed  desirable,  as  chivalry  re- 
quired her  to  take  care  of  her  wounded  knight.  Her  dress 
was  required  to  be  plain,  except  on  festive  occasions. 

§  The  only  tasks  on  her  intellect,  were  to  repeat  the  prayers  of  the 
church,  to  sing  a  brief  piece  of  poetry,  or  the  longer  romaunt.  She 
could  also  play  on  the  harp.  Sometimes  the  graver  sciences  were 
introduced  into  female  education.  There  were  solitary  instances,  in 
which  might  be  applied  what  was  sung  of  Felice,  the  daughter  of 
the  earl  of  Warwick. 

K  Busy  they  (her  masters)  were  that  maiden  to  leer, 

And  they  lered  her  of  astronomy 

Of  armsmetrick,  and  of  geometry ; 

Of  sophistry  she  was  also  witty, 

Of  rhetorick  and  of  other  clergy ; 

Learned  she  was  in  musick, 

Of  clergy  was  her  none  like." 

In  that  singular  system  of  manners  which  we  call  chivalric,  love, 
next  to  religion,  was  the  most  influential  principle.  In  many  instan  - 
ces,  it  was  doubtless  the  most  influential.  The  true  knight  was  a 
more  perfect  personification  of  love,  than  poets  and  romancers  ever 
dreamed.  The  fair  object  of  his  passion,  reigned  in  his  heart,  with 
absolute  dominion. 

Every  gallant  spirit  of  "  gentle"  Gower's  days,  the  reign  of  Ed- 
ward III.,  said  of  his  mistress. 


372  GENERAL  VIEWS. 

"  What  thing  she  bid  me  do,  I  do, 
And  where  she  bid  me  go,  I  go." 

Chivalric  love,  had  both  its  absurdities  and  impieties.  Knights 
were  not  satisfied  to  fight  in  defence  of  the  ladies,  and  to  joust  ir 
their  honour,  but  from  the  extravagance  of  their  love,  each  knight 
maintained  at  the  point  of  his  lance,  that  his  mistress  surpassed  alJ 
other  ladies  in  beauty. 

Chivalric  love,  became  a  foe  to  the  distictions  of  wealth  and  rank, 
and  many  a  knight,  whose  whole  fortune  lay  in  his  prowess,  gained 
the  hand  of  high  born  beauty. 

In  chivalry  there  was  always  a  generous  consideration  for 
woman.  Hence  proceeded  the  honorable  maxim,  that  it  was 
not  just  or  courteous  to  take  ladies  in  war. 

§  In  the  wars  of  the  Guelphs  and  the  Ghibellines,  the  emperor 
Conrad,  as  an  offended  sovereign,  had  refused  all  terms  of  capitula 
tion  to  the  garrison  of  Winnisberg ;  but  as  a  courteous  knight,  ho 
permitted  the  women  to  depart  with  such  of  their  precious  effects  as 
they  themselves  could  transport.  The  gates  of  the  town  were 
thrown  open,  and  a  long  procession  of  matrons,  each  bearing  a  hus- 
band or  a  father,  or  brother,  on  her  shoulders,  passed  in  safety 
through  the  applauding  camp. 

9.  Tournaments  and  Jousts.  Tournaments  and  jousts, 
were  both  the  offspring  and  the  cherisher  of  chivalry.  No 
amusement  or  exercise  was  so  delighted  in  by  gallant  knights 
and  beauteous  ladies,  by  kings,  the  nobility,  and  the  gentry, 
as  these  images  of  war.  They  were  often  splendid  beyond 
description,  especially  at  coronations,  the  marriage  of  princes, 
and  important  victories. 

Tournaments  were  military  exercises,  performed  by  two 
parties  of  cavaliers,  with  hurtless  weapons. 

§  If  the  occasion  was  high  and  solemn,  it  was  announced  at  the 
courts  of  different  sovereigns,  by  heralds,  sent  by  the  king  who  pro- 
posed to  hold  the  martial  exercise  ;  and  all  those  who  valued  their 
knighthood,  together  with  respected  dames  and  maidens,  were  invi- 
ted to  repair  to  the  appointed  city,  and  prove  their  chivalry.  Not 
knights  alone,  but  kings  and  princes,  pricked  over  the  plain  in  gal- 
lant and  graceful  array ;  for  though  they  were  not  expected  to  stoop 
to  many  knightly  observances,  they  were  eager  to  prove  their  chi- 
valric  character,  by  deeds  of  valour.  For  this  they  overlooked  the 
pride  of  station 

Not  every  knight  might  tourney.  He  must  have  been  guilty  ol 
no  unchivalric  deportment.  He  must  never  have  blasphemed  God, 
or  offended  the  ladies ;  must  never  have  been  false,  ungrateful,  or 
deserted  a  brother-in-arms  in  battle.  The  rules  of  tourneying,  how- 
ever, were  sometimes  evaded.  Young  knights,  particularly,  often 
concealed  their  names,  and  came  in  disguise. 

The  place  of  combat  was,  the  lists,  a  large  space,  surround 


CHIVALRY.  373 

ed  by  ropes  or  railing,  in  single  or  double  rows.  Sometimes 
there  was  a  wooden  division  in  the  lists  or  area,  to  prevent 
the  horses  of  the  adverse  knights  from  careering  against  one 
another. 

The  ladies  were  the  supreme  judges  of  tournaments  ;  but 
they  generally  deputed  their  power  to  a  knight,  who  was  cal- 
led on  this  account,  the  Knight  of  Honour.  They  some- 
times proposed  the  rewards,  such  as  a  diamond,  ruby,  &c. 
But  the  meed  of  renown  was  oftener  military. 

§  When  the  knights  reached  the  lists,  their  arms  were  examined 
by  the  constable,  in  order  that  only  hurtless  ones  might  be  used. 
But,  notwithstanding  this  regulation,  there  existed  a  strong  disposi- 
tion, in  many  instances,  to  convert  tournaments  into  real  battles. 
Victory  at  a  tournament  was  scarcely  less  glorious  than  victory  in 
the  field.  The  ladies,  the  minstrels,  and  the  whole  assembled  mul- 
titude, acclaimed  the  conqueror.  The  practice  of  converting  the 
elegant  tournament  into  a  deadly  fray,  occasioned  an  oath  to  be  im- 
posed on  all  knights,  that  they  would  frequent  tournaments,  solely, 
to  learn  military  exercises. 

The  chivalric  bands  were  so  well  poised,  that  one  encounter  seldom 
terminated  the  sport.  The  lances  were  broken,  horses  and  knights 
overthrown,  and  the  tide  of  victory  flowed  to  either  end  of  the  lists. 
The  air  was  rent  with  names  of  ladies.  Each  knight  called  upon 
his  mistress  to  assist  him,  thinking  that  there  was  a  magic  in  beauty, 
to  sustain  his  strength  and  courage.  Death  sometimes,  though  not 
often,  ensued.  It  was  on  the  whole  a  hazardous  and  dissolute  amuse- 
ment. The  revelry  which  followed,  lasted  often  two  or  three  days. 
The  court  of  Rome  was  justly  hostile  to  tournaments,  and  thunder- 
ed its  denial  of  Christian  sepulture  to  those  who  fell  in  a  tilting 
ground  ;  but  still  the  practice  went  on. 

Of  jousts,  there  were  two  sorts  ;  the  joust  to  the  utterance, 
and  the  joust  of  peace.  The  former  expressed  a  single  com- 
bat between  two  knights,  who  were  generally  of  different 
nations.  In  strictness  of  speech,  the  judicial  combat  was  a 
joust  to  the  utterance;  and  so  was  every  duel,  whether  lawful  or 
unlawful ;  but  with  such  jousts,  chivalry  has  no  direct  con- 
cern, though  the  absurd  and  iniquitous  practice  of  modern 
duelling,  grew  out  of  its  principles. 

§  The  joust  was  not  so  favourite  an  amusement  as  the  tournament, 
for  baronial  pomp  was  not  necessary  to  its  display ;  often  was  it  held 
without  a  store  of  bright  ladies  distributing  the  prize. 

The  joust  of  peace  often  took  place  at  the  conclusion  of  a 

tournament.     A  knight  who   had  acquired  honour,   would 

ride  about  the  lists,  and  call  on  the  surrounding  cavaliers,  by 

their  valiancy,  and  for  the  love  of  the  ladies,  to  encounter  him 

32 


374  GENERAL    VIEWS. 

in  three  strokes  of  the  lance.  The  joust  was  more  frequent- 
ly held  at  a  place  expressly  appointed  for  the  occasion.  The 
mode  of  combat  was  always  specifically  described. 

Jousts  possessed  a  more  martial  character  than  tourna- 
ments. Such  usually  was  the  dexterity  of  the  combatants, 
that  the  encounter  of  the  lance  was  seldom  fatal. 

§  Through  the  long  period  of  the  middle  ages,  tournaments  and 
jousts  were  the  elegant  pastimes  of  Europe  and  Greece.  Knight- 
hood had  its  triumph  over  classical  institutions,  when  the  games  of 
chivalry  were  played  in  the  circus  of  Constantinople.  In  the  West 
they  survived  chivalry  itself,  whose  image  they  had  reflected  and 
brightened,  for  changes  in  the  military  art,  did  not  immediately  af- 
fect manners ;  and  the  world  long  clung  with  fondness  to  those 
splendid  and  graceful,  though  dissipating  shows  which  had  thrown 
light  and  elegance  over  the  warriors  and  dames  of  yore. 

10.  Orders  of  Knighthood.     Chivalry  had  its  various 
orders,  or  associations  of  cavaliers,  formed  for  specific  purposes, 
generally  of  a  benevolent  character.     Ten  of  them  remain 
to  the  present  time.     Most  of  the  present  orders  are  otherwise 
than  of  a  chivalric  origin.     The  orders  of  chivalry  were  of 
two  general  descriptions,  viz.  religious  and  ^military.     They 
extended  over  various  countries,  particularly  the  Holy  Land, 
England,  Spain,  France,  and  Italy.     Some  of  the  religious 
orders  were  those  of  the  Templars,   St.  James,  Calatrava, 
Alcantara,  the  Lady  of  Mercy,  and  St.  Michael.     In  the  re- 
ligious orders,  the  cavaliers  were  bound  by  the   three  great 
monastic  vows,  of  chastity,  poverty,  and  obedience. 

The  military  orders,  were  imitations  of  the  religious.  Those 
of  the  Garter,  th  3  Golden  Fleece,  and  St.  Michael,  in  France, 
were  clearly  of  cMvalric  origin.  Many  others  that  now  ex- 
ist, cannot  boast  cf  such  a  descent.  All  these  institutions  had 
particular  rules  by  which  they  professed  to  be  governed,  but 
they  varied  with  the  spirit  of  the  times.  They  need  not 
here  be  recited. 

§  Our  limits  will  not  permit  us  to  describe  the  character  and  pro- 
gress of  chivalry  in  the  several  countries  in  which  it  flourished,  or 
to  detail  the  exploits  of  renowned  individuals.  It  belongs  to  this 
work  to  sketch  only  the  general  features  of  the  system,  which  has 
been  done.  It  remains  now  to  notice  the  merits  and  effects 
chivalry. 

11.  Merits  and  Effects  of  Chivalry.     Chivalry  was, 
many  respects,  a  whimsical  institution  ;  but  it  well  suited  t 
period  in  which  it  rose  and  flourished,  and  seems  to  hav 


CHIVALRY.  375 

been  needed  in  those  ages.  It  was  probably  the  best  system 
that  could  have  been  adopted  to  aid  the  improvement  of  so- 
ciety, at  a  time  when  Christianity  was  so  deeply  corrupted. 
The  principles  of  this  religion,  as  it  was  then  understood  and 
practised,  were  incorporated  in  it ;  and  much  of  the  good 
which  it  included,  was  the  fruit  of  the  Gospel.  Its  theory, 
however,  was  in  several  respects  indefensible,  and  its  practice 
was  mrely  ever  so  good  as  its  theory.  Still  we  find  much  to 
admire  in  chivalry,  considering  the  character  of  the  nations 
among  wliom  it  prevailed. 

§  "The  patriarchal  system  of  manners,  shaped  and  sanctioned  by 
Christianity,  formed  the  fabric  of  chivalry;  and  romance,  with  its 
many  coloured  hues,  gave  it  light  and  beauty.  The  early  ages  of 
Europe  gaily  moved  in  all  the  wildness  and  vigour  of  youth;  imagi- 
nation freshened  and  heightened  every  pleasure  ;  the  world  was  a 
vision,  and  life  a  dream.  The  common  and  palpable  value  of  an  ob- 
ject, was  never  looked  at,  but  every  thing  was  viewed  in  its  connec- 
tion with  fancy  and  sentiment.  Prudence  and  calculation  were  not 
suffered  to  check  noble  aspirations ;  duties  were  not  cautiously  re- 
garded with  a  view  to  limit  the  performance  of  them ;  for  every 
principle  was  not  only  practised  with  zeal,  but  the  same  fervid  wish 
to  do  well,  lent  it  new  obligations.  From  these  feelings  proceeded 
all  the  graceful  refinements,  all  the  romance  of  chivalry." 

This  institution  fostered  civilization,  and  was  therefore  needed  in 
a  barbarous  age.  It  refined  the  manners,  and  added  harmony  to 
social  intercourse,  where  otherwise  little  but  rudeness  and  misrule 
would  have  prevailed.  It  contributed  to  the  safety  and  order  of 
society,  inasmuch  as  it  thinned  the  ranks  of  robbers  and  ruffians. 
It  infused  kind  and  beneficent  feelings  into  the  bosom,  and  enjoined 
external  propriety  of  conduct,  and  courtesy  of  behaviour.  It  culti- 
vated a  humanity  which  was  not  limited  by  kindred  or  country. 
As  chivalry  was  spread  over  Europe,  it  formed  mankind  into  one 
band,  one  order  of  men.  The  features  of  war  were  softened  by  its 
influence.  It  taught  the  warrior  gentleness  and  clemency.  A  nice 
sense  of  honour  and  a  scrupulous  regard  of  truth  were  fostered  by 
its  maxims.  It  was  a  principle,  as  well  as  a  feeling  and  a  love  in 
chivalry,  to  guard  and  cherish  woman,  and  many  of  its  amenities 
proceeded  from  her  mild  influence.  In  fine,  it  corrected  the  peculiar 
evils  of  the  feudal  system,  haughtiness,  tyranny,  oppression,  and 
misrule. 

Notwithstanding  these  beneficial  effects  of  chivalry,  it  must  be 
acknowledged  that  other  effects  attended  it,  which  may  well  qualify 
the  language  of  praise.  Still  we  are  willing  to  believe,  that  it  did 
more  good  than  mischief,  in  a  secular  view.  It  has,  however,  been 
more  condemn  3d  than  lauded,  and  every  one  knows  the  exquisite 
ridicule  which  has  been  thrown  upon  it,  or  rather  upon  its  extra*"* 
gancies,  by  the  inimitable  author  of  Don  Quixote.  It  resulted  TI 


376  GENERAL    VIEWS, 

some  degree  in  looseness  of  morals,  in  respect  even  to  the  intercourse 
of  the  sexes ;  the  purity  of  which  it  so  highly  professed  to  regard 
and  defend.  Instances  of  gross  violence  and  injustice  in  the  con- 
duct of  knights,  too  often  appeared ;  and  it  nourished  feelings  of  re- 
sentment and  the  love  of  war.  While  it  stript  war  of  many 
features  of  savageness  by  the  civilities  and  courtesies  with,  which  it 
surrounded  it,  it  at  the  same  time  nourished  that  proud  and  sensi- 
tive spirit,  falsely  called  honour,  which  suffers  no  wound,  without 
seeking  redress  in  the  private  duel. 

These,  it  is  thought,  are  mostly  exceptions  to  its  general  spirit  and 
tendency  ;  and  as  to  individual  persons,  it  is  doubtless  too  true,  that 
recreant  knights  may  be  found,  on  the  same  principle,  that  false  pro- 
fessors may  be  found  of  the  only  true  religion  on  earth,  viz.,  the  im- 
perfection of  human  nature. 

A  witty  old  English  author  says,  that  "errant  knights  were  arrant 
knaves."  And  another  remarks,  that  "their  horses  groan  under  the 
burden,  not  of  weapons,  but  of  wine;  not  with  lances,  but  cheeses  ; 
not  with  swords,  but  with  bottles  ;  not  with  spears,  fort  with  spits." 
This  is  spleen. 

It  is  difficult  to  define  the  precise  period  of  the  duration  of 
chivalry.  It  was  a  light  which  was  kindled  in  a  dark  age, 
and  it  went  out  when  that  age  was  beginning  to  be  brightened 
with  superior  luminaries.  Viewing  the  subject  in  its  great 
and  leading  bearings,  chivalry  may  be  said  to  he  coeval  with 
the  middle  ages  of  Europe,  and  all  its  power  ceased  when 
new  systems  of  warfare  were  matured,  when  tlie  revival  of 
letters  was  complete  and  general,  and  the  reformation  of  re- 
ligion gave  a  new  subject  for  the  feelings  and  thoughts  of 
men. 

Romances, 


A  peculiarity  of  the  middle  ages,  connected  with  chivalry 
and  subservient  to  it,  was  the  production  of  Romances.  These 
were  books  which  describe  an  extravagant  kind  of  chivalry, 
and  were  then  read  with  singular  avidity,  and  indeed  con- 
stituted the  principal  reading  of  the  people.  They  were  so 
called,  from  the  language  in  which  they  were  written ;  Ro- 
mance, a  mixture  of  the  Gallic  and  Latin.  They  first  ap- 
peared about  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century,  and  their  ori- 
gin is  to  be  traced  to  the  Proven9al  Troubadours,  a  sort  of 
story  tellers  and  bards  in  Provence.  In  these  productions,  it 
has  been  observed,  appeared  the  first  dawnings  of  modern 

literature. 

§  The  more  ancient  romances  did  not  record  contemporary  events, 
since  fiction  or  exaggeration  here  would  have  been  detected.  Theii 


PILGRIMAGES.  377 

V  + 

subjects  were  an  ideal  chivalry.  They  depicted  not  only  knights, 
setting  forth  to  redress  all  manner  of  wrongs,  but  magicians,  dra- 
gons and  giants,  invulnerable  men.  winged  horses,  enchanted  armour, 
and  enchanted  castles ;  adventures  which  nobody  could  really  be- 
lieve, but  the  possibility  of  which,  owing  to  the  ignorance  and  su- 
perstition of  the  times,  might  have  been  admitted  by  the  readers. 

Among  others  of  the  early  romances,  the  following  were  celebra- 
ted, viz: — the  Seven  Champions  of  Christendom,  Sir  Launcelot, 
Ainadis  de  Gaul,  Charlemagne  and  his  Twelve  Peers,  King  Arthur 
and  the  noble  knights  of  the  Round  Table.  From  these  sprung  a 
progeny  no  less  wild  and  extravagant,  till  in  a  subsequent  era,  at  a 
considerable  distance,  a  revolution  occurred  in  this  species  of  wri- 
ting. Romances  of  a  new  order,  appeared  in  the  Astraea  of  Durfe, 
the  Grand  Cyrus,  the  Clelia  and  Cleopatra,  of  Mad.  Scuderi,  and 
others,  which,  though  leaving  out  the  dragons  and  necromancers, 
Vvvre  still  unnatural,  and  too  marvellous  for  belief.  Both  classes  of 
these  productions,  partook  of  a  moral  and  virtuous  turn,  and  highly 
extolled  heroism,  generosity,  and  piety.  The  familiar  novel  of  mod- 
ern ages,  was  the  last  form  of  the  Romance. 

These  books,  as  an  author  has  observed,  "composed  upon  the 
striking  subjects  of  gallantry,  war,  satire,  and  history,  first  awaken- 
ed Europe  from  its  ignorance  and  lethargy,  amused  the  minds  of 
men  with  grotesque  and  lively  images  and  descriptions,  and  first 
taught  them  to  think,  reflect,  and  judge  upon  subjects  of  imagina- 
tion." Much  of  the  popular  literature  of  Italy,  consisted  of  roman- 
ces ;  and  the  chief  topics  of  them  were  the  exploits,  both,  in  arms 
and  amours,  of  Charlemagne  and  his  Paladins.  In  England,  so  much 
vva?  thought  of  romances,  that  Caxton,  the  father  of  English  print- 
ing, could  exhort,  "  Read  the  noble  volumes  of  St.  Graal.  of  Laun- 
cek>f,  of  Perceforest,  of  Gawayn,  of  Tristem,  of  Galaod.  of  Perce- 
val, and  many  more.  Then  shall  you  see  manhood,  courtesy,  and 
geniilness." 

Pilgrimages. 


The  pilgrimages  so  common  to  the  people  of  Europe,  be 
fore  and  at'  the  time  of  the  crusades,  were  journeys  under 
taken  to  some  holy  place,  in  order  to  adore  the  relics  of  some 
deceased  saint.  They  were  considered  meritorious  acts,  a  re- 
ligious discipline  of  great  importance.  It  was  about  the  mid- 
dle ages  of  the  church,  that  pilgrimages  began  to  be  made, 
but  their  reputation  was  highest  after  the  end  of  the  eleventh 
century,  when  almost  every  one  was  inclined  to  visit  places  cf 
devotion,  not  excepting  kings  and  princes,  and  even  bishope 
did  not  hesitate  to  absent  themselves  from  their  churches,  on 
the  same  account.  The  places  most  visited,  were  Jerusalem, 
Rome,  Tours,  and  Compostella. 

§  Jerusalem,  as  the  resort  of  pilgrims,  was  far  the  most  famous 
32* 


378  GENERAL    VIEWS, 

and  all  the  wars  of  the  crusades  were  occasioned  on  account  of  that 
place.  As  to  Compostella,  we  find  that  in  1428,  abundances  of  li- 
censes were  granted  by  the  crown  of  England,  to  captains  of  Eng- 
lish ships,  for  carrying  numbers  of  devout  persons  thither,  to  the 
shrine  of  St.  James,  provided,  however,  that  those  pilgrims  should 
first  bind  themselves  by  an  oath,  not  to  take  any  thing  prejudicial  to 
England,  nor  to  reveal  any  of  its  secrets,  nor  to  carry  out  with  them 
*my  more  gold  or  silver,  than  what  would  be  sufficient  for  their 
reasonable  expenses, 

In  almost  every  country  where  popery  has  been  established,  pil- 
grimages have  been  common.  In  England,  the  shrine  of  St.  Tho- 
mas-a-Becket,  was  the  chief  resort  of  the  pious,  and  in  Scotland,  St. 
Andrew's,  where,  as  tradition  informs  us,  was  deposited  a  leg  of  the 
holy  apostle  !  In  Ireland,  pilgrimages  have  been  continued,  even 
down  to  modern  times. 

Manners  and  Character  of  the  Gothic,  or  Scandinavian 

Nations. 

The  brevity  of  the  plan  of  this  work,  will  not  admit  a  separate  ac- 
•count  of  the  manners  and  character  of  the  various  nations,  whose 
history  it  narrates.  The  genius  and  national  character  of  the  Ro- 
mans, during  the  long  period  in  which  they  were  masters  of  the 
world,  have  been  exhibited  to  some  extent  in  the  political  history  of 
that  people.  The  manners  and  character  of  the  present  nations  of 
Europe,  and  of  nations  decended  from  them,  in  other  parts  of  the 
globe,  except  the  particulars  included  in  the  account  of  -chivalry, 
the  feudal  system,  &c.  already  given,  must  be  learned  from  more  ex- 
tended works.  But  in  regard  to  those  barbarous  nations  of  the  north, 
who  conquered  the  Roman  empire,  and  from  whom  many  of  the 
present  European  communities  are  descended,  it  is  proper  that  some- 
thing should  be  said  in  these  General  Views.  The  manners  and  in- 
stitutions of  these  tribes,  are  curious  objects  of  inquiry,  from  their 
influence  on  the  constitutions  and  national  character  of  most  of  the 
modern  kingdoms  of  Europe.  The  inhabitants  of  these  kingdoms 
are  a  mixed  race,  compounded  of  the  Goths  and  of  the  nations  whom 
they  subdued,  and  consequently  the  manners,  laws,  and  institutions 
of  the  conquerors  and  the  conquered,  would  naturally  affect  and 
modify  those  of  one  another. 

The  Gothic,  or  Scandinavian  nations,  were  the  Goths, 
properly  so  called,  the  GepicUie,  the  Lombards,  the  Heruli, 
and  the  Yandals.  Other  barbarous  tribes  from  the  north  of 
Asia  or  Europe,  were  the  Huns,  Alains,  Bulgari,  Suevi, 
Burgundians,  Franks,  Alemani,  Normans,  Saxons,  (fee.  The  . 
parts  which  these  various  nations  acted,  in  the  political  histo- 
ry of  the  world,  have  been  described  in  the  proper  place. 
Their  manners,  character,  (fee.  particularly  those  of  the  Scan- 


GOTHIC  NATIONS.  379 

dinavian  tribes,  may  be  learned,  in  part,  from  thb  following 
brief  account. 

(1.)  Some  characteristics  were  common  to  them  all.  What- 
ever difference  of  manners  and  customs  there  may  have  been 
among  the  various  tribes  of  Scandinavian  origin,  the  promi- 
nent features  of  their  character,  appear  to  have  been  the 
same.  They  were  formed  by  all  their  habits  and  education 
for  a  brave  and  conquering  race.  The  corrupted  Roman 
world  could  not  but  fall  before  a  people,  whose  bodily  frame 
was  invigorated  by  the  climate  which  they  inhabited,  and 
inured  to  danger  and  fatigue,  whose  habitual  occupation  was 
war,  and  whose  religion  taught  them  that  the  loss  of  life  in 
battle,  was  a  certain  passport  to  the  halls  of  Odin. 

§  The  Scandinavian  and  Scythian  nations,  probably  had  the  same 
origin,  inasmuch  as  they  agreed  in  manners  and  institutions.  The 
characteristics  of  the  Scythians,  as  given  by  Herodotus,  may  be  ap- 
plied to  the  Scandinavians.  Their  life  was  spent  in  hunting,  pastu- 
rage, and  predatory  war.  They  entertained  a  high  respect  for  their 
\vomenr  despised  learning,  and  for  many  ages  had  no  other  record? 
than  the  .songs  of  their  bards. 

The  theology  of  the  Scandinavians,  was  a  proper  index  of  their 
manners.  One  of  their  leading  articles  in  religion,  was  to  be  intre- 
pid in  fight.  As,  moreover,  they  believed  the  world  to  be  the  work 
of  some  superior  intelligences,  so  they  held  that  it  was  regulated 
and  fixed  by  an  unalterable  destiny.  These  notions  had  a  won- 
derful effect  on  the  national  manners,  and  on  the  conduct  of  in- 
dividuals. The  Scandinavian  had  no  other  delight,  than  what  war 
afforded ;  he  entertained  an  absolute  contempt  of  danger  and  of 
death  r  and  the  larger  the  number  of  his  enemies  slain  in  battle,  the 
more  highly  was  he  esteemed  by  others,  and  himself.  The  solace  of 
his  departing  spirit,  was  a  recital  of  his  acts  of  carnage. 

His  God  was  Odin,  a  God  clothed  with  every  terror,  and  delighting 
in  war,  revenge  and  slaughter.  From  him  and  Frea,  the  heavenly 
mother,  sprung  various  lesser  divinities ;  as  Thor,  who  perpetually 
wnrs  against  LoRe  and  his  evil  giants  ;  and  the  virgins  of  the  Val 
halla,  whose  office  it  is  to  minister  to  the  departed  heroes.  The 
joys  of  paradise  are  fighting,  perpetual  carnage,  and  drinking  beer 
out  of  the  skulls  of  their  enemies.  Of  these  joys,  the  cowardly  are 
never  suffered  to  partake. 

There  was  a  great  similarity  between  the  manners  of  the  Scandi- 
navians, and  those  of  the  ancient  Germans.  The  latter,  however, 
seem  to  have  sprung  from  a  different  origin.  The  Germans  as  well 
as  the  Gauls,  were  branches  of  the  Celtfe,  a  great  original  nation, 
who  inhabited  most  of  the  countries  of  Europe,  south  of  the  Baltic, 
before  they  were  invaded  by  the  Scandinavian  tribes.  The  religion 
of  the  Celta3,  differed  in  some  respects  from  that  of  their  northern 
neighbours,  though  it  was  founded  on  the  same  principles.  It  was 


380 


GENERAL    VIEWS. 


the  Druidical  system.  They  usually  performed  their  devotions  in 
sacred  groves,  woods  or  forests.  Of  their  sacrifices,  horses  were  ac- 
counted the  most  acceptable,  but  their  altars,  like  those  of  most  bar- 
barous nations,  were  sometimes  sprinkled  with  human  blond. 

The  warriors  of  Scandinavia,  upon  their  settlement  in  trie  provin- 
ces of  the  Roman  empire,  soon  lost  much  of  their  native  ferocity  and 
barbarism.  Sometime  previously  to  this,  change  in  their  condition, 
they  had  nominally  embraced  Christianity,  and  their  morality  had 
become  respectable.  The  Gothic  conquerors  of  Rome,  generally 
spared  the  noble  works  of  art,  and  Theodoric  the  Great,  at  the  head 
of  the  Gothic  monarchy  in  Italy,  was  an  excellent  sovereign,  mild, 
indulgent,  prudent,  and  enlightened.  Under  this  monarch,  and  even 
under  Alaric,  Amalasonte,  and  Totila,  the  Romans  were  treated  with 
an  indulgence  which  they  could  scarcely  have  expected.  Their 
government  was  monarchical ;  at  first  elective,  afterwards  heredita- 
ry, in  the  sense  that  the  sovereign  on  his  death  bed  appointed  his 
successor. 

(2.)  A  few  things  may  be  noticed  as  applicable  to  particu 
iar  tribes.     There  were  some  diversities  of  character  and  in 

stitutions,  that  throw  additional  light  on  the  genius  and  man- 
ners of  modern  civilized  nations. 

§  The  Goths,  properly  so  called,  appear  to  have  been  famed,  even 
in  the  earliest  ages,  for  their  hospitality  and  kindness  to  strangers. 
They  encouraged  the  study  of  philosophy,  above  all  other  barbarous 
nations:  and  Horace  has  bestowed  some  warm  encomiums  on  th<; 
virtue  of  their  women.  Poligamy,  however,  was  universally  coun- 
tenanced among  them  ;  and  their  martial  disposition,  induced  them 
to  commit  many  unwarrantable  depredations  on  the  territories  o{ 
their  neighbours.  Their  principal  weapons  consisted  of  bearded 
lances,  and  missile  hatchets.  Their  government  was  monarchical. 

After  the  Goths,  upon  their  conquest  of  the  Roman  empire,  be- 
came divided  into  Ostrogoths  and  Visogoths,  their  policy  somewhat- 
varied.  The  former  enforced,  in  their  new  dominions,  the  obser- 
vance of  the  Roman  laws.  The  latter  adhered  to  a  code  compiled 
by  their  own  sovereigns,  and  founded  on  their  ancient  manners  and 
usages.  From  this  code  may  be  gathered  much  information  respect- 
ing their  national  character  and  genius. 

The  following  are  a  few  particulars,  imparting  this  information. 
"It  is  enacted  by  laws  of  the  Visogoths,  that  no  judge  shall  decide 
in  any  law  suit,  unless  he  finds  in  that  book,  a  law  applicable  to  the 
case.  All  causes  that  fall  not  under  this  description,  are  reserved 
for  the  decision  of  the  sovereign.  The  penal  laws  are  severe,  but 
tempered  with  equity.  No  punishment  can  affect  the  heirs  of  the 
criminal.  Death  was  the  punishment  of  the  murder  of  a  freeman, 
and  perpetual  infamy  of  the  murder  of  a  slave.  Pecuniary  fines 
were  enacted  for  various  subordinate  offences,  according  to  their 
measures  of  criminality.  An  adulterer  was  delivered  in  bondage  to 
the  injured  husband ;  and  the  free  woman  who  had  committed  adul- 
tery with  a  married  man,  became  the  slave  of  his  wife.  No  physi 


LEARNING  AND  THE  ARTS,  381 

cian  was  allowed  to  visit  a  female  patient,  but  in  the  presence  of  her 
nearest  kindred.  The  lex  taliationis  was  in  great  observance  for 
such  injuries  as  admitted  of  it." 

The  Heruli  appear  to  have  had  some  laws  peculiar  to  themselves ; 
for  among  them,  when  persons  had  attained  to  a  certain  age,  they 
were  placed  on  a  pile  of  wood,  put  to  death,  and  their  bodies  re- 
duced to  ashes.  When  a  man  died,  his  wife  was  obliged  either  to 
strangle  herself  on  his  tomb,  or  become  an  object  of  universal  con- 
tempt j  and  human  sacrifices  were  frequently  offered  to  appease  the 
gods  of  the  country.  The  generality  of  the  people  were  distin- 
guished for  courage,  swiftness,  and  activity ;  but  their  manners  were 
greatly  corrupt,  and  every  kind  of  impurity  was  practised  without 
shame  or  control.  Their  government  is  said  to  have  been  monar- 
chical ;  but  it  appears  that  their  kings  possessed  a  very  small  share 
of  authority,  and  differed  but  little,  in  any  respect,  from  their 
subjects. 

The  Huns,  though  not  of  Scandinavian  origin,  but  from  the 
vast  deserts  bordering  on  the  north  of  China,  were  a  hardy,  warlike, 
and  ferocious  people,  who  at  first  subsisted  entirely  on  roots  or  raw 
meat ;  lived  constantly  exposed  to  the  air  in  the  woods,  or  among 
the  excavations  of  the  mountains ;  were  accustomed  even  to  eat 
and  sleep  on  horseback;  and  professed  the  utmost  contempt  for 
raiment,  houses,  and  other  conveniences  of  life.  They  were  desti- 
tute equally  of  religious  and  civil  institutions,  and  abandoned  them- 
selves without  restraint  to  the  gratification  of  their  unruly  passions. 
Hence  we  find  them  making  frequent  incursions  into  the  Roman 
empire,  in  defiance  of  the  most  solemn  oaths,  and  even  occasionally 
turning  their  arms  against  their  own  countrymen  for  a  pecuniary 
reward.  Their  distinctive  character  and  institutions  were  lost,  aftei 
they  were  subdued  by  Charlemagne,  and  dispersed  among  othes 
nations. 

Learning  and  the  Arts. 

SECT.  1.  The  interesting  topics  embraced  in  this  article 
may  be  treated  synch ronically,  dr  according  to  certain  eras. 
Including  literature,  science,  philosophy,  and  the  fine  arts, 
such  as  painting,  sculpture,  and  architecture,  they  are  too 
numerous  and  extensive  to  be  treated  particularly  according 
to  the  different  states  or  nations,  in  so  compendious  a  work  as 
the  present.  The  mere  sketch  here  to  be  presented,  will  in- 
clude three  eras.  1.  From  the  close  of  the  Augustan  age 
to  the  destruction  of  the  Western  Roman  empire,  or  the  com- 
mencement of  the  dark  ages.  2.  Prom  the  commencement 
of  the  dark  ages  to  the  revival  of  learning  in  the  15th  cen- 
tury. 3.  From  the  revival  of  learning  to  the  present  time. 


382  GENERAL  VIEWS. 

§  The  Augustan  age  of  literature  may  be  considered  as  extending 
a  few  years  into  the  period  assigned  as  the  commencement  of  mo- 
dern history ;  for  Livy,  Ovid,  and  Phaedrus  lived  and  wrote  till  after 
the  Christian  era. 

2.  In  the  FIRST  ERA,  we  have  to  notice  the  gradual  and 
very  perceptible  decay  of  literature,  and  polite  learning.     Im- 
mediately succeeding  the  Augustan  age,  there  were  many 
persons  of  superior  erudition  and  intellectual  powers,  but 
whatever   pertains  to   taste   and   elegant   literature,   began 
visibly   to  .decline.      A   pompous,  affected,  and   false  style 
of  writing,  soon  prevailed  in  the  room  of   the  classic  beau- 
ties of  the  age  of  Cicero,  Virgil,  Horace,    and    Tibullus. 
No  works  so  finished  as  those  of  these  masters,  were  pro- 
duced after  the   Augustan   age ;    and   though  there  were 
writers  whose  endowments   and  genius  were   quite   equal 
to  those  of  the  above  named,  yet  their  deficiency  in  taste,  is 
too  certainly  indicated  by  luxuriance  of  ornament,  and  by 
continual  efforts  after  brilliancy  of  thought  and  expression. 
In  science  and  philosophy,  the  decline  is  not  so  perceptible 
at  first,  as  it  was  towards  the  middle  or  conclusion  of  the 
era.     Perhaps  at  first,  if  there  was  any  difference,  science 
and  philosophy  were  more  indebted  to  some  of  the  writers 
succeeding  the  Augustan  age,  than  to  any  who  flourished 
during  that  age. 

§  In  poetry,  Lucan,  Juvenal,  and  even  Martial,  have  a  native  power, 
but  little,  if  at  all  inferior  to  that  of  Virgil,  Horace,  or  Ovid,  how- 
ever they  may  fail  as  to  purity  of  style  compared  with  the  latter. 
Yet  in  general,  it  must  be  allowed  that  the  writers  who  figured 
in  polite  literature,  during  this  era,  were  deficient  both  in  art  and 
genius,  as  is  evident  from  the  works  of  Statius,  Siiius  Italicus,  and 
Valerius  Flaccus.  Affected  obscurity,  bombast,  and  new-coined 
words,  are  too  heavy  a  tax  for  the  few  occasional  felicities  of  repre- 
sentation found  in  these  authors. 

In  physical  science,  Pliny  the  Elder,  was  a  great  name ;  in  moral 
philosophy,  Seneca  and  Marcus  Antoninus,  shine  with  a  supcrioi 
lustre.  These  writers,  with  Plutarch  the  biographer,  and  Tacitus 
the  historian,  and  a  few  others,  were  men  of  great  power,  though 
the  faults  of  their  style  are  to  be  regretted.  The  Natural  History 
of  Pliny,  is  a  most  valuable  repository  of  the  knowledge  at  that  time 
possessed,  in  physics,  (Economics,  and  the  arts  and  sciences. 

3.  The  princes  who  succeeded  Augustus,  were  no  enemies 
to  literature,  and  some  of  them  were  not  only  patrons  of 
learning,  but  were  learned  themselves.   They  were,  however, 
despots,  and  despots  of  a  different  stamp  from  Augustus. 


LEARNING  AND  THE  ARTS.  383 

Generally,  they  favored  a  literature  which  harmonized  with 
despotism ;  and  genius  being  indulged  at  the  risk  of  life,  was 
cramped  within  narrow  bounds.  Eloquence  was  abandoned 
to  pedants.  Sophists  at  length  occupied  the  chair  of  phi- 
losophy. 

§  Towards  the  conclusion  of  this  era,  learning,  taste,  and  genius, 
greatly  declined.  Very  few  of  the  later  writers  observed,  or  seemed 
to  comprehend,  the  perfect  models  of  the  Augustan  age.  A  small 
number  of  poets,  as  Ausonius,  Prudentius,  and  Claudian,  wrote 
elegant  and  harmonious  verses,  but  they  exhibited  no  commanding 
genius,  and  depicted  no  powerful  passions.  We  look  in  vain  in 
them  for  the  happy  invention  and  artificial  conduct  of  an  interest- 
ing fable,  or  a  just  and  lively  representation  of  the  characters  and 
situations  of  real  life.  Seldom  do  they  contain  any  tiling  sublime 
or  pathetic.  A  few  philosophers,  philologists,  and  historians,  ap- 
peared between  the  age  of  Constantine  and  the  destruction  of  the 
empire,  but  no  names  are  peculiarly  distinguished.  We  read  of 
some  great  names  as  connected  with  the  defence  of  Christianity, 
though  the  style  of  writing  prevalent  at  that  time,  and  especially 
among  that  class  of  authors,  was  very  faulty.  There  were  hardly 
any  vestiges  of  the  ancient  classic  taste,  towards  the  close  of  the 
empire. 

4.  Seminaries  of  learning,  at  Rome  and  in  Italy,  were  first 
endowed  from  the  public  treasury  by  Vespasian.  The  prin- 
cipal school  next  to  that  of  Rome,  was  at  Milan.  In  Greece, 
the  schools  of  Athens  continued  to  flourish  for  a  considerable 
time,  and  when  the  seat  of  the  Roman  empire  was  transfer- 
red to  Constantinople,  that  city  included,  for  more  than  a 
thousand  years,  most  of  the  literature  and  books  that  existed. 
Previously  to  that  time,  and  during  the  decline  of  the  empire, 
the  destruction  of  books  was  extended  and  increased,  in  the 
midst  of  the  turbulence  and  rapine  of  the  civil  contests  for 
the  imperial  throne. 

Until  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  Titus,  the  Jews  had 
schools  in  Judea,  particularly  at  Bethhoron  Jerunia,  and  Ti- 
berias. In  the  schools  of  Egypt,  the  chief  of  which  was 
Alexandria,  were  taught  the  Greek  philosophy,  mathematics, 
Jurisprudence,  medicine,  magic,  and  astrology. 

§  The  despotism,  disorders,  civil  commotions,  and  unparalleled  suf- 
ferings of  the  Roman  people  in  the  latter  stages  of  their  political  ex- 
istence, together  with  the  destruction  of  libraries  and  books,  could 
not  but  prepare  the  way  for  the  melancholy  era  which  followed  in 
regard  to  the  debasement  of  the  human  intellect. 

It  may  be  remarked,  that  the  arts  declined  with  literature  and 
science — the  cultivation  of  them  being  neglected  amidst  the  troubles 


384  GENERAL    VIEWS, 

of  the  times.  The  Romans,  as  they  were  never  eminent  in  any  of 
the  arts  dependant  on  design,  employed  Greek  artists,  for  the  most 
part.  But  little  encouragement  was  given  to  architecture,  or  to  the 
labours  of  the  chisel  and  pencil,  in  the  latter  periods  of  the  empire. 
All  things  were  tending  towards  a  state  of  ignorance  and  barbarism 
among  the  nations, 

5.  In  the  SECOND  ERA,  which  begins  and  ends  with  the 
dark  ages,  as  they  have  been  commonly  called,  we  have  to 
remark  an  extraordinary  depression  of  the  human  mind 
during  a  long  period.  The  time  that  intervened  between  the 
fall  of  the  Western  empire  of  Rome,  and  the  era  of  the  re- 
vival of  learning,  was 'nearly  one  thousand  years,  during 
which,  the  world  presented  a  sad  scene  of  ignorance,  barbn 
rism,  and  misrule.  There  were,  however,  some  intervals  of 
light,  as  in  the  times  of  ,A1  Raschid,  when  Arabian  literature 
flourished,  and  of  Henry  II.,  when  in  England.  Henry  of 
Huntingdon,  and  some  others,  studied  and  wrote.  At  Con- 
stantinople, there  was  throughout  the  whole  period,  a  degree 
of  refinement  and  knowledge.  The  central  portion  of  the 
era  was  the  darkest,  including  the  ninth,  tenth  and  eleventh 
centuries.  The  classic  authors  ended  with  the  former  part 
of  the  era,  as  also  the  spoken  Latin  tongue. 

The  civilized  nations  bound  up  together  in  one  mighty 
and  unwieldy  community,  had  been  prepared  by  a  variety  o 
causes,  for  the  catastrophe  which  awaited  them.  The  nor- 
thern invaders  did  not  originate  ;  at  most,  they  only  hastened 
this  catastrophe.  As  much  of  ignorance  and  ferocity  as  they 
brought  with  them,  they  became,  upon  their  settlement  in  the 
south  of  Europe,  as  reputable,  at  least,  as  the  native  citizen 
themselves.  Considering  their  previous  habits  and  temper, 
they  did  more  than  could  have  been  expected,  to  preserv 
learning  and  the  arts  for  a  time,  in  the  dominions  which  the 
conquered.  Without  the  agency  of  the  northern  invaders 
darkness  and  barbarism  would  have  covered  the  world,  s 
long  as  such  abuses  of  human  rights,  and  especially  of  th 
divine  system  of  the  Gospel,  were  suffered  to  exist.  Still 
the  conflict  of  arms,  and  the  overturning  of  the  empire,  could 
not  but  have  given  a  shock  to  learning  and  the  arts. 

§  "  In  the  revolution  of  ten  centuries,"  says  Gibbon,  "  not  a  sing! 
discovery  was  made  to  exalt  the  dignity,  or  promote  the  happines 
of  mankind.  Not  a  single  idea  has  been  added  to  the  speculativ 
systems  of  antiquity.  Not  a  single  composition  of  history,  philos 


LEARNING  AND  THE  ARTS.  385 

phy  or  literature,  has  been  saved  from  oblivion  by  the  intrinsic 
beauties  of  style  or  sentiment,  of  original  fancy,  or  even  of  suc- 
cessful imitation."  "  Of  the  writings  of  antiquity,"  says  the  same 
author,  "  many  that  existed  in  the  twelfth  century  are  now  lost :  the 
literature  of  the*  Greeks  had  almost  centered  in  the  metropolis ;  and 
without  computing  the  extent  of  our  loss,  we  may  drop  a  tear  over 
the  libraries  that  have  perished  in  the  triple  fires  of  Constantinople." 
The  ignorance  and  infelicities  of  the  dark  ages,  cannot  perhaps  be 
easily  overrated.  Those  times,  compared  with  our  own,  enjoying  as 
we  do  the  meridian  light  of  knowledge  and  religion,  must  have  been 
indeed  undesirable.  But  there  is  a  side  to  the  picture,  which  is  not 
altogether  cheerless.  There  were  some  bright  and  joyous  scenes ; 
and  the  relish  of  life  in  certain  portions  of  the  community,  must  have 
been  strong,  if  we  may  judge  from  the  noble  works  of  gothic  archi- 
tecture which  were  then  erected — from  the  convivialities  of  baronial 
halls — from  the  gayeties  of  chivalry — and  from  the  inspiring  strains 
of  the  troubadours.  The  love  of  a  sort  of  intellectual  display,  was 
indeed  mingled  with  grosser  propensities.  But  this  is  the  most 
favourable  aspect  of  the  dark  ages. 

Christianity,  properly  understood,  and  exercising  its  due  influence 
on  the  understanding  arid  character,  must  be  a  warm  friend  of  know- 
ledge and  literature ;  but  the  spurious  Christianity  believed  and  acted 
upon  in  the  dark  ages,  was  hostile  to  some  of  the  noblest  produc- 
tions of  the  human  mind.  ThQ  temples  of  the  heathens,  with  the 
public  libraries  they  contained,  were  the  objects  of  vengeance  and 
destruction.  The  classics  were  regarded  as  sinful  books.  In  addition 
to  these  causes,  the  devastations  of  the  northern  conquerors,  notwith- 
standing the  commendable  moderation  which  characterized  them 
generally — and  the  plunder  of  Milan,  which,  next  to  Rome,  was  the 
chief  repository  for  books  in  Italy — necessarily  reduced  the  number 
of  manuscripts,  and  so  far  injured  the  interests  of  learning. 

After  the  commencement  of  the  sixth  century,  scarcely  any 
writers  or  men  of  genius  worthy  of  notice  appeared.  The  scien- 
ces suffered  great  decay.  Taste  was  fast  extinguishing.  A  sort  of 
attention  was  paid  to  learning  during  these  times,  but  with  little  or 
no  effect.  The  common  course  of  studies  in  all  the  schools  was 
grammar,  logic,  rhetoric,  music,  arithmetic,  geometry,  and  astrono- 
my. The  first  three  were  called  Trivium,  or  trifling  studies :  the 
last  four  Quadrivium  or  high  studies.  A  vain  and  ideal  philosophy 
had  begun  universally  to  infect  the  minds  of  men. 

When  we  come  to  the  more  palpable  darkness  of  the  present  era, 
we  find  that  literature,  science,  and  taste,  were  words  but  little  known 
and  used.  Many  of  the  clergy,  whose  profession  should  have  se  • 
cured  to  them  a  competent  degree  of  knowledge,  did  not  under- 
stand the  breviary,  which  they  were  obliged  daily  to  recite ;  some 
of  them  could  scarcely  read  it.  The  human  mind,  in  general, 
neglected,  uncultivated,  and  depressed,  sank  in  the  most  profound 
ignorance.  Charlemagne,  and  after  him  Alfred  the  Great,  by  their 
superior  genius,  endeavoured  to  dispel  this  darkness,  and  to  give 
33 


386  GENERAL    VIEWS. 

their  subjects  a  short  glimpse  of  light.  But  the  ignorance  of  their 
respective  times  was  too  powerful  for  their  efforts  and  institutions. 
The  darkness  returned  and  prevailed  throughout  Europe  more  or 
less,  till  about  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century. 

The  scarcity  of  books  in  those  times,  and  the  nature  of  theii 
subjects,  as  legends,  lives  of  the  saints,  &c.  evince  the  singular 
dearth  of  learning.  What  of  learning  was  cultivated,  was  confined 
to  a  few  ecclesiastics.  The  monks  of  those  religious  houses  whose 
rules  did  not  prohibit  the  reading  of  the  classics,  turned  their  atten- 
tion to  procuring  and  copying  manuscripts.  Most  of  these  indeed 
were  worthless ;  but  truth  obliges  the  historian  to  add,  that  some  of 
the  abbots,  and  even  the  monks,  employed  themselves  in  procuring 
or  copying  the  choicest  works  of  Greece  and  Rome.  Cassiodorus, 
to  use  the  words  of  Gibbon,  "  after  passing  thirty  years  in  the 
honours  of  the  world,  was  blessed  with  an  equal  term  of  repose  in 
the  devout  and  studious  solitude  of  Squillace."  To  this  place,  the 
monastery  of  Monte  Cassio,  in  Calabria,  he  carried  his  own  extensive 
library,  which  he  greatly  enlarged  by  manuscripts  bought  in  various 
parts  of  Italy.  His  fondness  for  literature  spread  among  the  monks  ; 
and  he  encouraged  them  to  copy  manuscripts.  What  he  did  there 
seems  to  have  been  imitated  in  the  other  monasteries  of  that  part  of 
Italy ;  for  fifty  religious  houses  there  are  mentioned,  which  after- 
wards principally  supplied  the  libraries  of  Rome,  Venice,  Florence, 
and  Milan,  with  books. 

The  only  national  exception  to  the  profound  ignorance  of  the 
middle  portion  of  the  dark  ages,  were  the  Arabians.  That  part  of 
Europe  which  they  held,  viz.  Spain,  was  much  more  enlightened 
than  any  of  the  other  states.  The  caliph  Al  Raschid  rendered 
Bagdad  illustrious,  by  the  successful  cultivation  of  the  arts  and 
sciences.  At  the  same  time  the  Moors  of  Cordova  emulated  their 
brethren  of  the  East  in  pursuing  a  similar  course.  The  sciences  to 
which  the  Arabians  wrere  devoted,  were  principally  medicine,  geo- 
metry, and  astronomy.  In  the  end  of  the  10th  century,  they  intro- 
duced into  Europe  the  use  of  figures  instead  of  letters. 

The  arts,  like  literature  and  science,  were  low  in  this  era  of  igno- 
rance. This  was  the  case  even  with  the  mechanic  arts  during 
much  of  the  time-  The  fine  arts,  particularly  sculpture  and  paint- 
ing, were  preserved  from  absolute  extinction,  only  by  the  existing 
remains  of  ancient  art.  Charlemagne,  in  his  time,  seems  to  have 
been  solicitous  for  the  improvement  of  music,  and  the  Italians  are 
said  to  have  instructed  his  French  performers  in  the  art  of  playing 
on  the  organ.  The  musical  gamut  was  invented  in  the  llth  centu- 
ry. Architecture  was  cultivated  in  a  style  termed  the  Gothic,  which, 
notwithstanding  its  barbarous  proportions,  possesses  a  beauty  pecu- 
liar to  itself. 

In  the  12th  century  there  was  the  dawn  of  literature  in  England 
under  William  of  Malmsbury,  Geoffrey  of  Mon mouth,  Henry  of 
Huntingdon,  Giraldus  Cambrensis  and  others.  It  was,  however,  a 
transient  dawn,  and  darkness  again  succeeded.  The  barbarism  and 
subtleties  of  the  schools  triumphed  over  the  better  principles  and 


LEARNING  AND  THE  ARTS.  387 

the  more  correct  taste  which  had  begun  to  prevail.  The  great 
teachers  and  patterns  of  logic  and  scholastic  divinity,  were  charac- 
terized by  the  high-sounding  epithets  of  divine,  angelical,  irrefraga- 
ble, &c.  The  most  eminent  among  these  teachers,  otherwise  called 
schoolmen,  were  Lanfranc,  Abelard,  Petrus  Lombardus,  Thomas 
Aquinas,  and  Duns  Scotus.  Their  great  business  seems  to  have 
been  to  make  innumerable  nice  and  metaphysical  distinctions, 
founded  neither  in  nature  nor  good  sense,  and  to  draw  conclusions 
which  had  no  moral  end  whatever.  Their  speculations  were  found- 
ed on  the  philosophy  of  Aristotle,  and  the  folly  lasted  long  after 
the  light  had  shone  on  other  departments  of  human  investigation. 

6.  In  passing  to  the  THIRD  ERA,  which  commences 
with  the  revival  of  learning  during  the  15th  century,  we 
notice  a  favourable  change,  though  not  at  first  strongly 
marked.  It  is  difficult  to  fix  upon  the  exact  point  where  the 
darkness  ended,  and  the  light  began.  The  transition  was 
too  gradual  to  admit  of  nice  discrimination.  Occasionally, 
a  distinguished  individual  appeared  towards  the  conclusion 
of  the  era  of  darkness,  and  some  nations  were  in  advance  of 
others  as  to  the  cultivation  of  learning.  In  the  middle  of  the 
13th  century,  Roger  Bacon  arose ;  and  as  Wickliffe  at  the 
distance  of  a  century  and  a  half  from  the  Reformation  has 
been  called  its  "morning  star,"  so  may  Bacon,  preceding  the 
revival  of  learning  by  nearly  the  same  distance,  he  entitled 
to  a  similar  distinction.  He  was  the  morning  star  of  the 
restoration  of  letters  in  Europe.  To  his  original  genius  and 
vast  scholarship,  the  advancement  of  science  in  subsequent 
times  is  singularly  indebted.  His  own  age  was  too  unen- 
lightened to  appreciate  his  merits  or  to  profit  by  his  discove- 
ries. In  the  14th  century  also,  men  of  genius  arose  in  Italy, 
who  were  devoted  to  classical  learning  and  the  cultivation  of 
their  native  tongue.  The  works  of  Dante,  Petrarch,  and 
Boccacio  have  fixed  the  standard  of  the  Italian  language. 
In  the  same  age  also,  flourished  the  English  Chaucer  and 
Gower,  and  the  accomplished  James  I.  of  Scotland,  all  of  whom, 
by  their  learning,  genius,  and  taste,  were  fitted  to  give  a  cha- 
racter to  the  time  in  which  they  lived.  Spain  also  at  this 
period  began  to  emerge  from  ignorance  and  barbarism. 
Although  on  some  accounts  we  might  be  tempted  to  fix  on 
the  14th  century  as  the  era  of  the  revival  of  learning,  we 
are  on  other  accounts  led  rather  to  fix  on  the  period  com- 
monly assigned,  viz.  the  15th  century. 

A  few  nations  only  felt  at  this  time  the  spirit  which  has 


388  GENERAL  VIEWS. 

been  described,  and  that  to  a  very  small  extent.  It  was, 
moreover,  poetry  only  that  then  attained  a  degree  of  splen- 
dour. There  was  but  little  advancement  in  general  literature 
and  science.  Miracles  and  fables  were  woven  too  much  into 
the  texture  of  history,  though  we  find  much  curious  informa- 
tion in  the  writings  of  Walsin^ham,  Everard,  Duysburg, 
and  particularly  Froissart.  France  and  England,  though 
they  contained  a  few  learned  men,  were  in  general  extremely 
barbarous.  Few  books,  and  scarcely  any  classics,  were  found 
in  either  of  these  countries.  During  nearly  a  hundred  years 
from  the  time  of  Petrarch,  little  advance  was  made ;  but  a 
concurrence  of  circumstances,  favourable  to  the  development 
of  the  human  intellect,  took  place,  which  eventually  altered 
the  whole  aspect  of  affairs.  Every  subsequent  age  has  felt 
the  effects  which  in  the  middle  of  the  15th  century  proceeded 
from  a  taste  for  classical  learning,  from  the  dispersion  of  the 
Greeks  on  the  fall  of  Constantinople,  and  especially  from  the 
noble  invention  of  the  art  of  printing.  These  were  the 
principal  causes  which  renovated  the  intellect  of  Europe. 
General  literature  and  the  fine  arts  first  felt  their  influence ; 
and  after  the  dominion  of  Aristotle  was  broken  by  the  great 
Sir  Francis  Bacon,  in  the  beginning  of  the  17th  century, 
discovery  succeeded  discovery,  and  the  most  astonishing 
efforts  of  genius  were  put  forth  in  science  and  philosophy. 
Improvements  in  knowledge  have  been  making  ever  since, 
till,  at  the  present  time,  both  Europe  and  America  enjoy  the 
clear  and  full  light  of  an  intellectual  sun. 

A  volume  would  scarcely  suffice  for  a  satisfactory  account  of  the 
particulars,  by  which  the  above  might  be  profitably  illustrated  and 
expanded.  The  few  notices  that  follow  are  all  that  the  design  of 
this  work  can  admit,  and  can  furnish  only  a  very  slight  sketch  of  the 
revival  of  learning,  of  the  intellectual  advancement  since  made,  and 
of  the  present  state  of  literature,  science,  philosophy,  and  the  fine  arts. 

Long  before  the  fall  of  Constantinople,  the  love  of  classical  litera- 
ture had  been  gradually  reviving  ; — that  event  increased  it  by  com- 
pelling a  great  number  of  learned  Greeks  to  seek  a  shelter  in  Italy. 
But  it  could  not  be  gratified,  till  the  manuscripts,  which  lay  buried 
and  neglected,  were  brought  to  light.  The  discovery  of  manuscripts, 
therefore,  was  a  most  important  step  in  the  restoration  of  learning. 
In  some  former  centuries  classical  manuscripts  had  been  looked  up, 
and  particularly  by  Pope  Silvester  II.,  in  the  tenth  century.  Petrarch 
and  Boccacio,  in  the  fourteenth  century,  were  zealous  and  successful 
labourers  in  this  field.  But  no  man,  during  the  first  half  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  devoted  himself  with  so  much  industry  to  the 
search  of  manuscripts,  or  made  so  good  a  use  of  them,  as  Poggio 


LEARNING  AND  THE  ARTS.  389 

His  youth  was  spent  in  travelling,  to  attain  what  seemed  to  be  the 
sole  "object  of  his  life.  To  these  names  may  be  added  those  of  the 
Medici  family  ;  also  Ernanuel  Chry soleras,  who  was  one  of  the  first 
that  introduced  a  knowledge  of  the  Greek  language  into  Italy  ;  and 
Theodore  Gaza.  At  this  important  era  there  arose  also  a  succession 
of  enlightened  and  munificent  popes,  who  gave  every  encouragement 
to  learning  and  the  sciences.  Among  these  Leo  X.,  soon  after  the 
beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century  ,  was  the  most  conspicuous.  It 
was  during  his  pontificate,  that  a  perpetual  indulgence  was  granted 
for  rebuilding  the  church  of  a  monastery,  because  it  possessed  a 
manuscript  of  Tacitus. 

As  a  neglect  of  the  standard  works  of.  Greece  and  R,ome  was  one 
great  cause  of  the  decline  of  learning,  and  of  the  bad  taste  and  bar- 
barism of  the  middle  ages ;  so  a  renewed  attention  to  those  works 
was  one  great  cause  of  the  restoration  of  learning,  taste,  and  refine- 
ment. From  an  accurate  knowledge  of  the  masterpieces  of  antiqui- 
ty, two  great  advantages  resulted,  viz.  the  scholar  acquired  the  rich 
stores  of  ancient  thought  and  eloquence,  and  he  learned  the  art,  by 
imitating  such  perfect  models,  of  expressing  his  own  ideas  with  per- 
spicuity and  elegance.  In  the  exercise  of  the  new  studies,  the  Italians 
were  the  first,  and  the  most  numerous;  and  there  soon  shone  among 
them  an  illustrious  constellation,  having  Ariosto  and  Tasso  foremost 
in  the  train.  It  was  not  long  before  these  improvements  were  re- 
ceived in  other  countries,  and  spread  their  influence  over  France, 
England,  Spain,  and  Hungary.  In  France,  Amyot  and  Marot,  the 
one  in  prose,  the  other  in  verse,  wrote  with  a  sweetness  and  simpli- 
city unknown  before ;  and  the  poetry  of  Malherbe  glowed  with  all 
the  fire  of  genius.  The  last  writer  is  more  commonly  considered  as 
the  father  of  French  poetry.  In  England,  Henry  VIII.,  and  his 
minister,  Wolsey,  gave  considerable  countenance  to  letters,  and  the 
English  writers  and  scholars  who  had  the  greatest  influence  in  re- 
storing elegant  learning,  were,  Sir  Thomas  More,  Linacre,  Lily, 
and  Hector  Boece. 

In  the  former  part  of  the  present  era,  criticism,  poetry,  and  history, 
as  well  as  classical  studies,  made  a  rapid  progress  in  most  of  the 
kingdoms  of  Europe.  Criticism  and  general  learning  were  advanced 
by  the  researches  of  Scaliger,  Erasmus,  and  others  on  the  continent. 
Poetry  attained  to  considerable  distinction.  Dramatic  composition 
began  to  be  regular  towards  the  conclusion  of  the  16th  century. 
Some  finished  epics  were  produced  in  Italy,  particularly  the  Orlando 
Furioso  oi  Ariosto,  and  the  Jerusalem  Delivered  of  Tasso.  Lyric 
poetry  was  cultivated  in  Italy,  France,  and  England,  but  not  with  so 
much  success.  In  history,  Machiavel  particularly  excelled,  though, 
like  Tacitus,  he  was  fond  of  those  ambiguous  expressions,  dry  phrases, 
and  abrupt  turns,  which,  under  the  appearance  of  brevity,  border  on 
obscurity  and  bad  taste.  The  French  De  Thou  wrote  accurate  his- 
tory in  the  purest  latinity  Science  and  philosophy,  however,  did  not 
keep  pace  with  literature.  Aristotle,  whose  works  were  the  great 
text-book  of  knowledge,  and  whose  logic  was  the  only  weapon  oi 
truth  in  the  middle  ages,  reigned  over  the  schools  till  the  I7*h.  cen.- 
33* 


390  GENERAL  VIEWS. 

tury.  A  few,  nevertheless,  arose  in  the  15th  and  16th  centuries  to 
dispute  his  authority,  among  whom  were  Copernicus,  Luther,  Ramus, 
Bruno,  Campanella,  and  others.  But  legislatures  and  inquisitions 
were  against  them.  In  regard  to  Ramus,  it  may  be  remarked  that  in 
an  edict  of  the  French  parliament,  he  was  gravely  pronounced  to  be 
"insolent,  impudent,  and  a  liar,  and  he  was  solemnly  prohibited  from 
copying,  or  even  reading  his  own  works !" 

Soon  after  the  commencement  of  the  present  era,  the  fine  arts  passed 
suddenly  from  obscurity  to  splendour.  Statuary  and  painting  were 
at  their  lowest  ebb  in  the  middle  ages.  They  had  revived  a  little  in 
the  13th  and  14th  centuries.  A  few  painters  in  those  ages  imitated 
nature  with  some  fidelity,  but  they  were  altogether  destitute  of  grace 
or  elegance.  Bouchet,  a  Greek  by  birth,  was  the  first  architect, 
Nicolas  the  first  sculptor,  and  Cimabue  the  first  painter,  that  re- 
covered the  antique  style  from  the  ruins  of  Rome  and  Greece.  But 
these  attained  only  to  mediocrity.  Towards  the  end  of  the  15th 
century,  however,  in  the  great  age  of  Leo.  X.,  Raphael  and  M.  An- 
gelo  carried  the  art  of  painting  to  perfection.  The  masterpieces  oi 
antiquity  were  their  models.  And  Angelo  and  others  at  the  same 
time  carried  also  statuary  and  architecture  to  perfection.  In  painting, 
these  artists  were  followed  by  names  of  great  distinction,  as  those 
of  Titian,  Giorgione,  Corregio,  and  others.  Italy  most  excelled  in 
the  production  of  painters,  but  Germany,  Flanders,  and  Switzerland, 
were  not  undistinguished.  The  most  eminent  of  the  schools  wrere 
those  of  Rome,  Florence,  Lombardy,  and  Flanders.  These  several 
schools  were  characterized  by  peculiar  attributes,  which  it  is  here  un- 
necessary to  describe. 

In  that  which  maybe  considered  the  middle  portion  of  the  present 
era,  viz.  the  17th  century,  the  human  mind  put  forth  its  mightiest  ef- 
forts, and  the  most  profound  researches  were  made  in  science,  phi- 
losophy, and  literature.  The  foundation  was  then  laid  for  the  im- 
provements that  have  since  been  realized,  in  every  department  of 
study  and  intellectual  effort.  That  period  was  distinguished  through- 
out for  inventive  genius,  originality  of  thought,  depth  of  investiga- 
tion, and  solid  acquisitions.  Philosophy  had  been  trammelled  by  the 
schools  till  the  beginning  of  the  17th  century,  when  Bacon.  Lord 
Verulam,  disenthralled  the  human  mind,  and  taught  the  sure  method 
of  advancing  knowledge,  by  experiment  and  the  observation  of  na- 
ture. He  sketched  the  outline  of  one  grand  and  comprehensive  plan, 
that  should  include  in  it  the  endless  varieties  of  our  knowledge,  and 
guide  our  inquiries  in  every  branch.  The  progress  of  philosophy  was 
not,  however,  rapid  at  first.  Much  of  theorizing  remained  even  in 
Gassendi  and  Des  Cartes,  the  latter  of  whom,  according  to  Le  Grand, 
found  out  more  truths  than  all  the  philosophers  who  went  before  him. 
But  Newton  at  length  arose,  who,  imbibing  most  deeply  the  spirit  of 
the  Baconian  philosophy,  completely  dispelled  the  illusions  which 
Bacon  before  him  had  detected  and  exposed.  Before  the  light  of  his 
investigating  intellect  the  dreams  of  more  than  2000  years  utterly 
vanished.  Locke,  the  contemporary  of  Newton,  applied  the  same 
mode  of  inquiry  ',o  the  study  of  the  mind,  and  overthrowing  the  sys 


LEARNING  AND  THE  ARTS.  391 

terns  of  the  old  philosophers,  met  with  nearly  the  same  success  as 
his  compeer  in  physics. 

On  the  continenl,  a  century  anterior  to  the  time  of  Bacon,  Coper- 
nicus published  his  system  of  the  planets,  (the  true  system,)  which  the 
Kornish  church,  in  the  plenitude  of  its  wisdom,  condemned.  Galileo, 
nearly  a  century  before  the  time  of  Newton,  constructed  telescopes, 
and  discovered  the  satellites  of  the  larger  planets.  But  the  same 
church  saw  fit  to  imprison  the  illustrious  astronomer.  Kepler,  about 
the  same  time,  and  contemporaneous  with  Bacon,  discovered  the 
Jaws  ol  the  planetary  motions.  But  Kepler,  as  well  as  Tycho  Brahe 
before,  and  Huygens  after  him,  by  not  observing  the  method  of  science 
fell  into  error.  Instead  of  following,  Tycho  Brahe  anticipated  na- 
ture, in  taking  it  as  a  certain  fact  that  the  earth  must  be  at  rest. 
Kepler  imagined  that  the  planets  must  be«si.r  in  number,  because  of 
certain  properties  of  numbers.  Huygens  suffered  himself  to  be  im- 
posed on  in  a  similar  way.  The  discoveries  in  astronomy  in  that 
age  led  to  improvements  in  navigation,  and  a  great  advancement  in 
geometry  in  all  its  branches.  In  Scotland,  logarithms  were  invented 
by  Napier,  in  1614,  by  which  calculation  was  abridged  and  the  ac- 
quisition of  science  facilitated.  Many  instruments,  besides  the  tele- 
scope already  mentioned,  connected  with  the  advancement  of  know- 
ledge, were  invented  in  the  middle  portion  of  the  present  era.  In 
Italy,  Torricelli  invented  the  barometer,  by  which  the  weight  of  the 
atmosphere  is  determined.  The  same  instrument  was  invented  also 
in  France,  by  Pascal.  Before  this  time  (1610,)  the  thermometer 
was  invented  in  Holland,  as  also  the  miscroscope  in  1619.  England 
claims  the  invention  of  the  micrometer  in  1640,  and  the  air-pump 
was  invented  by  Guericke,  at  Magdeburg,  in  1654.  In  the  17th  cen- 
tury also,  several  learned  societies  were  instituted,  as  the  Royal  So- 
ciety in  England,  and  the  Royal  Academy  of  Sciences  in  France, 
which  have  greatly  contributed  to  the  advancement  of  learning  and 
the  useful  arts.  Indeed,  the  useful  and  mechanic  arts  were  very 
much  multiplied  during  the  century  spoken  of.  Hundreds  of  con- 
veniences and  luxuries,  which  were  unknown  to  antiquity,  sprung 
into  use  ;  though  many  others  which  distinguish  modern  times,  owe 
their  origin  to  an  earlier  period.  A  spirit  of  adventure  and  settle- 
ment in  distant  regions  eminently  prevailed,  and  the  globe  was  cir- 
cumnavigated by  English,  Dutch,  and  Spanish  sailors.  The  sphere 
of  knowledge  by  these  means  was  immensely  enlarged. 

The  progress  of  literature,  in  the  middle  portion  of  the  present  era, 
was  no  less  remarkable  than  that  of  science  and  philosophy.  Nu- 
merous were  the  productions  of  taste  and  genius,  and  many  of  them 
sustained  the  highest  reputation.  Minuteness  of  detail  is  precluded 
here  ;  it  can  only  be  remarked  in  general,  that  Shakspeare,  Milton, 
Dryden,  and  Addison,  in  England,  and  Corneille,  Pascal,  Moliere, 
Racine,  and  La  Fontaine,  during  the  Augustan  age,  in  France,  pro- 
duced works  which  will  be  as  lasting  as  the  languages  in  which  they 
are  written. 

In  this  part  of  the  present  era  the  fine  arts  continued  to  be  cultiva- 
ed  with  success.    It  cannot  be  expected  that  the  old  school  of  paint- 


392  GiLJNtlvAL    Vii!/\VS. 


ing,  with  Raphael  and  Angelo  at  its  head,  will  ever  be  surpassed  ID 
the  essential  perfections  of  the  art.  The  second  Roman  school 
flourished  at  this  time,  which  included  the  Caraccis  —  three  brothers 
Guercino,  Albano,  Lanfranc,  Domenichino,  and  Guido. 

The  last  portion  of  the  present  era.  comprising  the  eighteenth  cen 
tury,  and  the  nineteenth  thus  far,  is  perhaps  less  distinguished  than  the 
portion  of  it  just  reviewed,  for  profound  attainments  and  original 
works  in  science  and  literature.  This  seems  to  arise  rather  from  the 
force  of  circumstances,  than  from  any  other  cause.  Many  subjects  ot 
investigation  had  been  forestalled,  yet  great  improvements  have  been 
made  in  every  department  of  knowledge,  nor  have  discoveries  been 
wanting  ;  and  where  the  genius  of  former  ages  has  not  exhausted  re 
search,  research  has  been  made.  Within  this  period  some  sciences  have 
been  created,  and  others  have  been  greatly  advanced.  By  a  course 
of  observation  agreeably  to  the  Baconian  philosophy,  the  great  prin- 
ciples of  chemistry,  botany,  electricity,  galvanism,  mineralogy,  geol- 
ogy, statistics,  in  many  respects  geography,  and  perhaps  one  or  two 
other  sciences,  have  been  fixed  on  a  new  and  firm  basis.  Both  the 
science  and  the  practice  of  astronomy  have  been  carried  to  a  very 
high  pitch,  by  the  talents  and  ingenuity  of  many  eminent  persons  in 
France,  Britain,  Germany,  Italy,  &c.  Five  planets  have  been  added 
to  those  formerly  known  as  belonging  to  our  solar  system.  But  it 
would  be  endless  to  specify  particulars  in  respect  to  the  advancement 
of  knowledge. 

In  polite  learning,  the  eighteenth  and  nineteenth  centuries  have 
been  greatly  distinguished.  The  Augustan  age  of  English  literature 
is  said  by  some  to  have  begun  with  the  eighteenth  century  under 
Q,ueen  Anne,  and  to  have  continued,  without  any  visible  decline,  till 
the  accession  of  George  III.,  a  period  rendered  glorious  by  the  names 
of  Addison,  Swift,  Congreve,  Rowe,  Steele,  Prior,  Pope,  Young, 
Watts,  Thomson,  and  many  others.  But  ever  since  the  accession 
of  Georg-e  III.,  though  the  period  has  been  more  particularly  fruitful 
in  scientific  and  philosophic  research,  there  has  been  an  illustrious 
train  of  fine  writers,  with  Johnson  and  Burke  at  their  head  ;  and 
though  poetry  declined  in  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  a 
new  school  has  arisen  since  the  commencement  of  the  present  cen- 
tury, including  several  names,  both  in  Great  Britain  and  in  the  United 
States,  destined  to  immortality.  In  our  own  country  literature  has 
made  a  rapid  progress  during  the  last  twenty  or  thirty  years,  as  is 
also  the  case  with  every  branch  of  learning.  In  lexicography  we  can 
boast  a  standard  work,  (Webster's  Dictionary,)  which,  it  is  believed, 
for  extent  of  learning,  and  accuracy  of  thought,  is  superior  to  any 
other  publication  of  the  kind  in  the  English  language.  In  periodical 
literature,  both  countries,  Great  Britain  for  a  long  time,  America  more 
recently,  have  made  the  most  laudable  efforts  ;  and  indeed  this  is  a 
form  in  which  the  mind  of  all  intellectual  nations  now  chooses  to  ex- 
hibit much  of  its  wealth.  It  is  needless  to  speak  of  continental 
Europe  in  respect  to  polite  learning,  since  it  is  impossible  to  particu- 
larize. France  and  Germany  have  more  especially  excelled  in  works 
of  laste  and  imagination,  as  well  as  in  the  departments  of  'science  and 


LEARNING  AND  THE  ARTS  393 

pmlosophy.    Other  nations  on  the  continent,  however,  have  a  share 
in  the  glory  of  these  noble  pursuits. 

During  the  eighteenth  and  nineteenth  centuries  the  fine  arts  have 
been  cultivated  with  much  success.  Architects,  painters,  and  sculp- 
tors, have  generally  received  a  patronage  worthy  of  their  merits. 
Hogarth,  Reynolds,  Mengs,  Cipriani,  West,  and  David,  in  painting, 
and  Canova,  Flaxman,  and  Chan  trey,  in  sculpture,  are  great  names. 
American  talent  has  been  conspicuous  in  the  former  art.  Within  the 
period  here  spoken  of,  there  have  been  numerous  inventions  and  dis- 
coveries, many  of  which  are  exceedingly  important.  By  means  of 
them,  the  conveniences  and  comforts  of  life  have  been  almost  indefi- 
nitely extended  and  multiplied.  On  these  objects  the  human  intellect 
has  been  most  vigorously  and  happily  employed.  The  numerous  in- 
ventions which  are  designed  to  aid  the  various  branches  of  manu- 
factures, and  the  application  of  steam  to  the  same  and  to  many  other 
purposes,  are  the  glory  of  the  age.  A  very  few  of  the  more  important 
discoveries  and  inventions  are  the  following,  viz. :  inoculation,  and 
much  more  recently  vaccination,  spinning  machines,  stereotype  print- 
ing, lightning  rods,  life-boats,  and  life-preservers,  the  cotton-gin,  en- 
graving on  steel  plates,  steam  engines,  steam-boats,  and  locomotive 
engines. 

To  concentrate  and  give  effect  to  individual  labors,  societies,  in 
more  modern  times,  have  been  formed  in  all  parts  of  the  world ;  and 
on  these  now  depends,  in  a  great  degree,  the  further  improvement  of 
mankind  in  knowledge.  Thus  in  England  there  is  the  Royal  Society 
which  has  been  already  mentioned,  the  Antiquarian  Society,  the 
Royal  Academy,  the  Society  of  Arts,  and  the  Board  of  Agriculture. 
In  France  there  is  what  is  now  called  the  Imperial  or  Royal  Institute ; 
an-d  at  Berlin,  Madrid,  Vienna,  and  Petersburg,  there  exist  royal  so- 
cieties like  those  of  London.  America  also  has  its  literary  associa- 
tions, and  there  are  others  m  India,  and  even  Turkey — all  laboring 
for  the  promotion  and  propagation  of  knowledge. 

The  power  of  association  for  such  a  purpose,  as  well  as  for  its  great 
collateral  object,  viz.  religion,  was  scarcely  realized  until  compara- 
tively of  late  years.  It  is  a  distinguishing  feature  of  the  age,  and  will 
doubtless  be  increasingly  relied  upon  in  future  time.  Multitudes  of 
students  and  readers  have  been  brought  into  being  by  these  means, 
especially  in  connection  with  the  periodical  press.  The  extent  to 
which  newspapers  have  been  published  in  the  United  States,  and 
Great  Britain,  particularly  the  former,  show  how  much  may  be  calcu- 
lated upon  for  the  diffusion  of  knowledge,  on  that  means  alone.  More 
probably  than  two  millions  of  prints  of  that  kind  are  put  into  circula- 
tion every  week  in  these  two  countries.  With  every  deduction  on 
account  of  the  light  character  of  many  of  these  vehicles  of  intelligence 
the  amount  of  information  which  they  diffuse  cannot  but  be  consider- 
able. That  information,  it  is  to  be  noted,  operates,  particularly  in 
the  United  States,  on  the  great  mass  of  the  people.  It  cannot  be  de- 
nied, however,  that  these  papers,  in  many  instances,  have  produced 
a  degree  of  political  animosity,  that  endangers  the  stability  of  free 
institutions.  It  becomes  important,  therefore,  that  they  should  be 


394  GENERAL  VIEWS. 

controlled  in  their  character,  by  the  good  senr  .cy,  as 

enlightened  by  early  moral  and  religious  inst  aodical 

press,  as  it  might  and  ought  to  be  conducted,  wou*  Jculable 

advantage,  in  respect  both  to  the  intelligence  and  mo.         i  the  com- 
muni.y. 

On  the  whole,  as  we  have  now  the  advantage  of  looking  over  the 
entire  history  of  human  genius,  we  arrive  at  the  following  result.  "  In 
several  of  the  fine  arts,  in  which  chiefly  the  taste  and  imagination  are 
concerned,  such  as  poetry,  rhetoric,  statuary,  and  architecture,  the 
ancients,  according  to  the  general  opinion,  have  equalled,  if  not  sur- 
passed, any  of  the  moderns.  The  ancients  nobly  distinguished  them- 
selves also  in  those  more  vigorous  exercises  of  the  understanding 
which  are  demanded  by  pure  mathematics ;  in  proof  of  which  it  is 
sufficient  to  quote  the  name  of  Euclid  and  of  Archimedes.  But  it 
was  reserved  for  the  moderns  to  invent  a  calculus — a  new  and  more 
profound  arithmetic,  which  was  called  for  by  a  more  exact  acquaint- 
ance with  nature  herself,  and  was  to  be  applied  to  that  more  improved 
state  of  natural  science  which  is  peculiar  to  later  times ;  we  allude 
to  the  doctrine  of  fluxions^  or  to  the  differential  method  of  Newton 
and  Leibnitz,  since  cultivated  and  applied  to  physical  astronomy  with 
great  success  by  the  French,  and  especially  by  La  Place.  In  most  of 
those  branches  of  knowledge,  however,  which  rest  on  the  basis  of  ex- 
periment and  observation,  the  ancients  almost  entirely  failed.  The 
case  is,  that  to  form  theories,  or  systems  of  science  and  philosophy, 
from  a  hasty  view  of  facts  and  appearances,  is  an  easy  task,  since 
this  can  be  done  without  the  labour  of  close  and  patient  thinking :  and 
if  antiquity  be  in  truth,  as  Bacon  represents  it,  but  the  childhood  and 
youth  of  the  world,  it  is  nothing  more  than  we  might  expect,  that,  at 
that  period  of  its  existence,  imagination  should  prevail  over  reason  ; 
and  that  the  calmer  and  more  successful  exercises  of  the  latter  should 
not  unfold  themselves  till  a  maturer  age." 


Discoveries  and  Inventions. 


1.  A  passing  notice  only  can  be  taken  of  the  discoveries  and  inven 
tions  which  have  characterized  modern  ages,  as  a  full  and  adequafr 
account  of  them  would  require  volumes.     Many  of  them  are  alto 
gether  new  and  original ;  others  are  essential  improvements  of  th» 
works  of  antiquity.     Those  of  a  mechanical  character,  will  clair*. 
principal  attention  in  this  place,  since  some  that  pertain  to  science 
and  philosophy,  are  naturally  included  in  the  consideration  of  those 
subjects.     Somewhat  of  a  chronological  order  will  be  observed.     The 
following  are  a  few  of  the  many  inventions  and  discoveries  that  ara 
presented  in  modern  history. 

2.  Corn  Mills.     In   remote  antiquity,  corn  was  rather  pounded 
than  ground ;   and   the  hand-mills  of  which  we  read   in  scripturf , 
were  probably  not  unlike  the  pestle  and  mortar  still  in  use.    Im 


. 

DISCOVERIES  AND  INVENTIONS  395 

provements  were  made  in  these  machines,  till,  in  process  of  time, 
shafts  were  added  to  them,  and  they  were  driven  by  cattle.  The  first 
mention  of  public  water-mills  which  occurs  in  the  Roman  laws,  dates 
in  the  year  398,  A.  C.,  when  some  enactments  were  made,  which 
shew  they  were  then  considered  as  a  new  establishment.  These 
mills  were  situated  on  the  aqueducts  which  supplied  Rome  with  water 
and  as  these  were  cut  off  when  the  city  was  besieged  by  the  Goths, 
536,  Belisarius,  who  commanded  the  garrison,  caused  boats  to  be 
moored  in  the  Tyber,  on  which  he  erected  mills,  which  were  driven 
by  the  current.  Hence  the  origin  of  tide  mills.  Wind-mills,  which 
for  a  long  time  were  so  constructed,  that  they  could  work  only  when 
the  wind  was  in  one  quarter,  are  not  spoken  of  till  the  time  of  the 
first  crusade. 

3.  Clocks  and   Watches. — The  art  of  constructing  mechanical 
docks  was  unknown  to  the  ancients.    It  was  not  until  late  in  the 
fifth  century  of  the  Roman  era  (293  B.  C.)  that  the  first  sun-dial  was 
introduced  into  Rome.    At  a  later  period,  a  machine  was  invented 
at  Alexandria,  termed  a  water-clock,  which  was  simply  a  conical 
glass,  with  the  scale  marked  on  the  sides ;  and  which,  being  per- 
forated at  the  base,  denoted  the  hour,  as  the  liquid,  with  which  it 
was  filled,  subsided.     To  this  may  be  traced  the  origin  of  the  hour 
glass,  still  in  use. 

The  inventor  of  clocks  moved  by  machinery,  is  not  certainly  known. 
Several  names  of  the  ninth  century  have  been  mentioned,  but  there 
/s  reason  to  believe  that  the  origin  of  the  present  invention  is  not 
older  than  the  eleventh  century.  About  that  time,  clocks  moved  by 
weights  and  wheels,  certainly  began  to  be  used  in  the  monasteries 
of  Europe.  The  writers  of  the  thirteenth  century,  speak  of  them 
as  being  well  known  ;  still  they  were  for  a  long  time  confined  to  mo- 
nasteries. It  was  not  till  towards  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
that  they  began  to  be  used  in  private  houses ;  and  about  the  same 
time,  mention  is  first  made  of  watches.  These  were  originally 
formed  in  the  shape  of  an  egg,  or  at  least  of  an  oval,  and  catgut 
supplied  the  place  of  a  metal  chain.  The  first  watch  is  said  to  have 
been  made  in  Germany.  In  England,  watches  appear  not  to  have 
been  in  general  use,  until  about  the  time  of  Queen  Elizabeth. 

The  invention  of  pendulum  clocks,  is  due  to  the  ingenuity  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  and  the  honour  01  the  discovery  is  disputed 
between  Galileo  and  Huygens.  The  most  ancient,  now  existing  in 
England,  is  that  of  Hampton  Court  palace,  the  date  of  which  is  1540. 

4.  Linen  used  as  clothing". — Although  linen  was  known  in  an- 
cient times  in  the  East,  and  was  introduced  into  Rome  in  the  second 
century,  it  was  not  used  in  Europe,  in  the  form  of  a  garment,  till 
sometime  in  the  third  century.     It  was  earlier  adopted  for  the  table 
than  for  the  person.    The  emperor  Alexander  Severus,  is  said  to  have 
been  the  first  European,  who  wore  a  linen  shirt.    But  inasmuch  as 
the  web  was  usually  interwoven  with  threads  of  gold,  it  was  too 
rough  to  be  much  of  a  luxury.     The  manufacture  of  this  article 
made  but  little  progress  in  Europe,  during  the  middle  ages.    It  was 
confined  both  then,  and  for  a  long  period  afterwards,  to  private  families. 


396  GENERAL  VIEWS. 

among  whom  it  was  made  for  domestic  use ;  and  its  scarcity  as  an 
article  of  apparel,  has  been  considered  as  one  chief  cause  of  that 
cutaneous  disorder,  formerly  called  leprosy.  About  the  middle  of 
the  twelfth  century,  linen  was  so  little  known,  that  woollen  shirts 
were  generally  worn  in  Milan ;  and  flannel,  or  rather  linseywolsey, 
formed  the  usual  underclothing  of  ladies.  Linen  was  first  imported 
into  England  from  Flanders. 

5.  Glass  Windows. — The  venerable  Bede  tells  us,  that  artificers, 
skilled  in  making  glass  for  windows,  were  first  brought  into  England 
from  the  continent,  in  674,  and  were  employed  in  glazing  the  church 
of  the  monastery  at  Wearmouth.     But  the  art  was  not  generally 
practiced,  and  the  luxury  of  such  windows  was  slowly  adopted,  for 
it  was  not  until  a  century  after  the  Norman  conquest  (1160,  or  1170) 
that  they  began  to  be  used  in  private  houses,  and  even  then,  few 
could  support  such  a  style  of  magnificence.     The  manufacture  oi 
glass  was  not  commenced  in  England,  until  the  middle  of  the  six- 
teenth century. 

6.  Glass  Mirrors. — There  is  no  positive  evidence  that  glass  mir- 
rors were  known  before  the  year  1279.     At  that  time,  an  English 
Franciscan  monk  speaks  of  them,  in  a  work  on  optics,  but  also  men- 
tions that  they  were  covered  on  the  back  with  lead.    It  may  be  in- 
ferred that  this  invention  cannot  be  much  older,  from  the  circum- 
stance that  glass  mirrors  were  scarce  in  France,  even  in  the  four- 
teenth  century.     Various  methods  were  adopted  to  perfect  the  art, 
before  that  which  is  now  in  use. 

7.  Mariners  Compass. — The  date  of  the  invention  of  the  mari- 
ner's compass,  is  near  the  commencement  of  the  fourteenth  century. 
Gioia,  of  Amalfi,  in  Naples,  a  celebrated  mathematician,  from  his 
knowledge  of  the  magnetic  powers,  was  the  author  or  improver  ol 
this  important  contrivance.     The  polarity  of  the  magnet  had  been 
known  in  Europe,  as  early  as  the  thirteenth  century,  but  the  com- 
pass was  not  used  in  sailing,  till  the  time  of  Gioia.      It  is  said  that 
the  Chinese,  as  in  several  other  inventions  or  discoveries,  lay  claim 
to  a  knowledge  of  the  compass  long  before;  but  we  may  well  be'in- 
credulous  in  regard  to  most  of  their  pretensions  of  this  sort,  since 
they  are  so  much  in  accordance  with  that  vanity,  which  derives 
their  national  existence  from  ages  long  preceding  the  scriptural  ac- 
count of  the  creation.    By  this  discovery,  the  dominion  of  the  sea 
has  been  opened  to  man,  and  he  is  also  put  in  full  possession  of  the 
terrestrial  giobe,  by  being  enabled  to  visit  every  part  of  it.    The  art 
of  steering  by  this  instrument,  was  gradually  acquired.    Sailors  un- 
accustomed to  quit  sight  of  land,  durst  not  launch  out  and  commit 
themselves  to  unknown  seas.    The  first  appearance  of  a  bolder  spi 
rt  may  be  dated  from  the  voyages  of  the  Spaniards  to  the  Canary 
Islands. 

8.  Gunpowder.-  -It  is  said  that  the  Chinese  claim  acquaintance  witli 
gunpowder  from  the  remotest  era  of  their  history;  but  however 
that  may  be,  it  is  certain,  that  several  centuries  of  the  Christian  era 
had  passed  away  before  it  was  known  in  Europe.  Some  have 
thought  that  the  knowledge  of  it  was  obtained  in  Europe  through 


DISCOVERIES  AND  INVENTIONS.  397 

the  Saracens,  as  early  as  the  latter  part  of  the  seventh  century ;  but 
it  has  mare  generally  been  supposed,  that  Friar  Bacon  was  the  first 
European  who  possessed  the  secret  of  the  composition  of  gunpow- 
der, and  that  he  was  the  inventor.  He  certainly  so  far  alludes  to  it 
as  to  say,  that  from  saltpetre  and  other  ingredients,  a  fire  may  be 
made  that  shall  burn  at  any  distance.  Bacon  died  in  1294. 

9.  Fire-arms. — It  is  generally  admitted  that  artillery  was  used  by 
Edward  III.,  at  the  battle  of  Crecy,  1346 ;  and  though  Frpissart 
does  not  mention  the  circumstance,  we  have  the  decisive  testimony 
of  Petrarch,  that  these  guns  were  common  before  the  year  1344. 
The  invention  of  portable  fire-arms  would  appear  to  have  originated 
in  Germany,  from  the  old  names  by  which  the  different  kinds  were 
distinguished.      These  names  were  either  German,  or  immediately 
derived  irom  that  language.      They  were,  however,  too  long  and 
heavy  at  first  to  be  conveniently  fired  from  the  hand  alone.    When 
used,  they  were  placed  on  a  prop,  with  a  fork  at  the  upper  part,  be 
tween  which  the  piece  was  fixed,  by  means  of  a  hoop  projecting 
from  the  stock.    They  were  first  used  at  the  siege  of  Parma,  in  1521. 

The  first  muskets  were  discharged  by  means  of  a  match  applied 
with  the  hand  ;  but  this  was  after  wards  adjusted  to  a  cock  for  greater 
security  and  precision  in  shooting.  There  were  other  improve- 
ments, but  flint-locks  do  not  seem  to  have  entirely  superseded  the 
match-lock  in  the  continental  armies,  until  towards  the  close  of  the 
seventeenth  century.  The  first  gun-lock  was  invented  in  1517.  The 
term  fire-lock,  was  given  to  the  invention,  which  is  still  in  use,  and  it 
was  applied  to  the  gun  itself,  in  order  to  distinguish  it  from  that 
which  was  fired  by  a  match-lock. 

10.  Paper  made  of  cotton  or  linen  rags. — Letters  were  written, 
or  ideas  transmitted,  on  a  variety  of  substances,  previously  to  the 
time  when  the  art  of  making  paper  from  cotton  or  linen  rags  was 
discovered.     Sometimes  a  hard  and  solid  substance  was  used,  as 
stone,  metal,  or  wood.     Of  these,  wood  was  the  most  generally  used, 
in  various  forms  and  modes,  which  cannot  be  here  described.     The 
leaves  of  trees  also  were  employed ;  hence  the  meaning  of  leaf,  as 
applied  to  a  book.     This  mode  of  writing  was  superseded  by  the 
use  of  the  bark  of  trees,  liber,  hence  the  Latin  name  for  a  book. 
Linen  cloth  also  was  employed  by  the  Egyptians  and  Romans. 
Leather,  or  skins  prepared  in  the  present  manner,  seems  to  have  been 
often  used  by  the  Jews,  on  which  to  write  portions  of  the  Bible. 
Skins  of  animals  rudely  prepared,  was  another  material,  which 
originated  with  the  lonians.    A  more  common  material  was  parch 
ment,  which    was  a  certain  preparation   of  the  skins  of  animals. 
Most  of  the  ancient  manuscripts  now  extant,  are  written  on  parch 
ment.     Papyrus  was  also  celebrated  as  a  substance  for  writing  up- 
on ;  hence  the  word  paper  is  derived.    This  was  a  species  of  rush 
which  the  ancients  procured  exclusively  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile.  The 
paper  manufactured  from  the  papyrus,  was  of  an  inferior  quality, 
until  the  time  of  the  conquest  of  Egypt  by  the  Romans. 

The  time  when  the  manufacture  of  this  paper  was  lost  or  super- 
seded, is  not  known.    It  is  generally  supposed  that  few,  if  any, 
34 


398  GENERAL    VIEWS 

manuscripts  on  papyrus  are  of  a  later  date  than  the  8th  or  9th  cen- 
tury. About  this  period  cotton  paper  was  first  made  :  according  to 
some  in  Bucharia,  according  to  others  it  had  been  known  long  before 
in  China  and  Persia.  There  is  no  doubt,  however,  that  the  Arabs, 
having  gained  a  knowledge  of  the  process,  established  a  manufactory 
in  Ceuta,  and  afterwards  in  Spain,  and  thus  introduced  it  into 
Europe  about  the  12th  century.  At  first  it  was  made  of  raw  cotton  ; 
then  of  old  worn  out  cotton  cloth.  The  use  of  cotton  paper  be- 
came general  only  in  the  13th  century;  and  about  the  middle  of  the 
14th  it  was  almost  entirely  superseded  by  paper  from  linen,  such 
as  is  at  present  made. 

11.  The  Art  of  Printing'. — No  evidence  exists  that  moveable 
wooden  types  were  ever  used,  except  in  the  capital  letters  of  some 
early  printed  books.  It  has  indeed  been  contended  that  Lewis  Cos- 
ter of  Haarlem,  invented  and  used  them  ;  that  he  therefore  was  the 
original  inventor  of  the  art  of  printing.  But  it  is  now  proved  that 
this  opinion  is  without  foundation ;  that  wooden  types  were  never 
used ;  and  that  the  art  of  printing  as  at  present  practised,  with 
moveable  metal  types,  was  discovered  by  John  Guthenberg  of 
Mayence,  about  the  year  1438. 

Three  years  before  this,  Guthenberg  entered  into  a  partnership 
with  three  citizens  of  Strasburg,  binding  himself  to  disclose  a  secret 
which  would  enrich  them  all.  One  of  the  partners  dying,  and 
some  of  the  most  important  implements  having  been  stolen  from 
the  work-shop,  a  lawsuit  took  place.  In  the  course  of  this  lawsuit, 
five  witnesses,  among  whom  was  Guthenberg's  confidential  servant, 
proved  that  Guthenberg  was  the  first  who  practised  the  art  of  print- 
ing with  moveable  types.  The  result  was  a  dissolution  of  partner- 
ship. The  whole  proceedings  on  this  trial  are  in  existence,  and 
have  been  published  in  the  original  German. 

Misfortune  and  pecuniary  loss  attended  his  efforts  for  a  time.  In 
1450  he  entered  into  partnership  at  Mayence,  with  John  Fust: 
this  also  was  a  failure.  The  art  was  so  little  perfected  that  in  their 
early  efforts,  neither  the  printing  was  fair,  nor  the  expense  suj 
portable.  It  is  not  certain  whether  during  their  partnership,  the] 
found  out  the  art  of  casting  characters  in  metal,  which  they  had 
previously  been  obliged  to  cut  with  a  knife  ;  or  whether  this  great 
improvement  was  made  by  Schoeffer,  who  assisted  them  at  this  time. 
The  general  opinion  is,  that  Schosffer  is  entitled  to  this  honour. 
Guthenberg  and  Fust  at  length  separated  :  and  in  consequence  of  a 
lawsuit,  the  former  was  obliged  to  give  up  his  apparatus  to  Fust. 

Guthenburg,  however,  was  not  discouraged,  but  established  a  new 
printing  office,  until  1465,  when  he  obtained  a  situation,  with  a  good 
salary,  under  the  Elector  Adolphus.  In  the  mean  time  Fust,  in 
conjunction  with  Schoeffer,  continued  printing.  Upon  the  taking 
of  Mayence  in  1457,  the  partners  suffered  much ,  and  their  work- 
men dispersing  themselves,  this  most  wonderful  art  was  thus  spread 
over  Europe. 

In  regard  to  stereotype  printing,  Holland  has  a  far  more  substan 
tial  claim  to  the  merit  of  inventing  that,  than  to  the  glory,  through 


DISCOVERIES  AND  INVENTIONS.  399 

Coster,  of  originating  the  art  of  typography.  Besides  a  quarto  Bible, 
published  in  1711,  there  exists  a  Dutch  Bible  stereotpyed  in  folio  at 
the  commencement  of  the  18th  century.  These  are  satisfactory 
proofs  that  stereotype  printing  was  employed  in  Holland  long  before 
it  was  even  known  in  France.  In  a  note  to  No.  1316  of  Barbier's 
catalogue,  it  is  also  recorded,  that  Johann  Mueller,  pastor  of  the 
German  church  at  Leyden,  had  devised  in  1701,  a  novel  method 
of  printing,  which  much  resembles  the  process  of  stereotyping  as 
now  practised.  This  method  consisted  in  composing  the  page  in 
the  usual  manner,  correcting  it  accurately,  securing  the  type  with 
iron  ties,  turning  it  over  on  its  face,  and  then  cementing  it  into  a  solid 
mass  by  means  of  a  metallic  composition,  o-r  preferably,  of  mastic. 

12.  Steam  Engine. — This  grand  machine,  which  has  done  so 
much  for  the  human  race,  and  is  destined  to  do  much  more,  was 
unknown  to  the  ancients.  Its  powerful  effects  are  the  result  of  the 
scientific  combinations  by  which  the  immense  expansive  force 
exerted  by  water,  when  converted  into  steam,  is  rendered  available 
to  the  most  important  purposes. 

The  original  projector  of  the  Steam  Engine  is  generally  believed 
to  have  been  the  marquis  of  Worcester  in  1655 ;  but  his  apparatus 
was  intended  to  raise  water  by  the  expansive  force  of  steam  only. 
His  project  was  neglected  in  his  own  age,  nor  does  the  subject  ap- 
pear to  have  excited  the  attention  of  scientific  persons,  till  the  year 
1698,  when  Captain  Savary  obtained  a  patent  for  a  new  invention 
for  raising  water,  and  occasioning  motion  to  all  sorts  of  mill-work, 
by  the  impellent  force  of  fire.  Other  improvements  were  attempted 
on  the  steam  engine  by  Amonton,  Papin,  Blakey,  Newcomen,  and 
others ;  but  nothing  essential  was  achieved  except  by  the  philoso- 
phical genius  of  Mr.  Watt.  Being  accidentally  employed  to  repair 
a  model  of  the  then  imperfect  steam  engine,  Mr.  Watt  observed  that 
a  great  quantity  of  heat  was  lost  by  the  unnecessary  and  improper 
mode  of  condensing  the  steam  :  he  completely  obviated  the  defect, 
and  by  the  introduction  of  a  condenser  apart  from  the  cylinder,  and 
an  alternate  action  of  the  steam  against  each  side  of  the  piston,  he 
effected  the  most  essential  improvement  in  the  above  particular. 
Under  his  hands,  however,  the  machine  received  other  improve- 
ments, particularly  in  the  mechanical  arrangement  throughout. 
Since  the  expiration  of  Watt's  patent,  a  variety  of  other  improve- 
ments have  been  made  by  several  mechanical  gentlemen,  but  details 
must  be  omitted. 

Steam  engines  are  now  common  all  over  the  world.  Their  ap- 
plication to  the  purposes  of  navigation  forms  an  era  in  their  history. 
The  Americans  first  made  this  application,  as  the  genius  of  Fulton, 
a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  was  successfully  employed  on  this  subject, 
as  early  as  the  commencement  of  the  present  century.  He  first 
made  the  experiment  of  propelling  boats  by  steam  at  Paris  in  1803 ; 
after  which  he  returned  to  America,  and  exhibited  a  boat  in  successful 
operation,  on  the  waters  of  New- York.  Vessels  propelled  by  his 
machinery  are  now  in  common  use,  throughout  the  United  States 
and  in  Europe.  They  are  known  also  in  India,  and  their  num- 


400  GENERAL    VIEWS. 

her  is  continually  on  the  increase.    In  1827,  American  steamboat 
tonnage  alone  amounted  to  40,197  tons.    It  is  now  much  greater. 

Incidents  and  Curious  Particulars. 

m 

1.  Miscellaneous  matter  which  cannot  be  conveniently  arranged 
under  any  other  head,  is  here  designed  to  be  presented.    A  few 
only  of  the  vast  mass  of  facts  appropriate  to  this  article,  will  be 
selected  from  the  annals  of  different  nations.    From  the  present 
sample  may  be  learned,  among  other  things,  the  state  of  the  useful 
arts,  the  modes  of  living,  and  the  progress  of  society  and  improve- 
ment, at  different  periods. 

2.  The  most  extensive  and  splendid  of  the  libraries  at  Rome  was 
the  Ulpian,  founded  by  Trajan.    It  is  believed  that  at  the  suggestion 
of  Pliny  the  younger,  this  emperor  commanded  all  the  books  that 
were  found  in  the  conquered  cities  to  be  placed  in  this  library. 
Most  of  the  principal  cities  throughout  the  empire,  at  this  time,  had 
public  libraries.     The  desolation  of  the  western  empire  destroyed  or 
dispersed  most  of  the  books  in  them,  so  that  in  this  part  of  the 
world,  after  this  period,   and  during  the  dark  ages,  monasteries 
almost  exclusively  possessed  libraries.    In  the  eastern  empire  it  was 
different :  both  Constantinople  and  Alexandria  preserved  theirs,  till 
the  Turks  obtained  possession  of  these  cities. 

3.  From  the  origin  of  monasteries  till  the  close  of  the  10th  cen- 
tury, it  is  said  there  were  no  schools  in  Europe,  except  those  belong- 
ing to  monasteries,  or  episcopal  churches.    At  the  beginning  of  the 
llth  century,  they  were  opened  in  most  of  the  cities  of  Italy  and 
France,  by  qualified  persons  among  both  the  laity  and  clergy. 
But  though  their  general  introduction  and  establishment,  must  be 
assigned  to  this  period,  yet  it  is  certain  that  Charlemagne  founded 
several  in  his  dominion. "  Afterwards,  or  in  the  middle  ages,  there 
were  distinct  schools  for  clerks,  for  laymen,  and  for  girls.    But  the 
education  of  the  highest  ranks  seldom  went  beyond  reading,  wri- 
ting, and  a  little  arithmetic. 

4.  We  learn  from  Seneca  three  curious  circumstances  relating  to 
the  journeys  of  the  Romans.     1.  They  were  preceded  by  a  troop 
of  Numidian  light  horse,  who  announced  by  a  cloud  of  dust,  the 
approach  of  a  great  man.    2.  Their  baggage-mules  transported  not 
only  their  precious  vases,  but  even  the  fragile  vessels  of  crystal  and 
murra,  which  last  has  been  almost  proved  by  the  learned,  to  mean 
the  porcelain  of  China  and  Japan.    3.  The  beautiful  faces  of  the 
young  slaves  were  covered  by  a  medicate  crust  or  ointment,  which 
secured  them  against  the  effect  of  the  sun  and  frost. 

5.  The  use  of  braces,  breeches  or  trowsers,  was  considered  in 
Italy  in  the  3d  century  as  a  Gallic  and  barbarian  fashion.    The 
Romans,  however,  had  made  great  advances  towards  it.    To  encir- 
cle the  legs  and  thighs  with  fascia  or  bands,  was  understood  in  the 
time  of  Pompey  and  Horace  to  be  a  proof  of  ill  health  and  effemi- 
nacy.   In  the  time  of  Trajan  the  custom  was  confined  to  the  rich 


INCIDENTS  AND  CURIOUS  PARTICULARS.  40  J 

and  luxurious.    It  was  gradually  adopted  by  the  meanest  of  the 
people. 

6.  After  the  age  of  Tiberius,  the  decay  of  agriculture  was  felt  in 
Italy,  and  it  was  a  just  subject  of  complaint  that  the  life  of  the 
Roman  people  depended  on  the  accidents  of  the  winds  and  waves. 

7.  In  regard  to  habitations,  our  English  ancestors  in  early  times 
had  few  luxuries  or  even  conveniences.    Down  to  the  reign  of 
Elizabeth,  the  greater  part  of  the  houses  in  considerable  towns  had 
no  chimneys :  the  fire  was  kindled  against  the  wall,  and  the  smoke 
found  its  way  out  as  well  as  it  could,  by  the  roof,  the  door,  or  the 
windows.    The  houses  were  mostly  built  of  watling,  plastered  over 
with  clay ;  the  floors  were  of  earth,  strewed,  in  families  of  distinc- 
tion, with  rushes;  and  the  beds  were  only  straw  pallets,  with  a  log 
of  wood  for  a  pillow.    In  this  respect,  even  the  king  fared  no  better 
than  his  subjects,  for  in  Henry  the  Eighth's  time,  we  find  directions, 
"  to  examine  every  night  the  straw  of  the  king's  bed,  that  no  dag- 
gers might  be  concealed  therein."    A  writer  in  1577,  speaking  of 
the  progress  of  luxury,  mentions  three  things  especially,  that  were 
"  marvellously  altered  for  the  worse  in  England  ;"  the  multitude  of 
chimneys  lately  erected,  the  increase  of  lodgings,  and  the  exchange 
of  treene  platters  into  pewter,  and  wooden  spoons  into  silver  and 
tin,  and  he  complains  bitterly  that  oak  instead  of  willow  was  em- 
ployed for  the  building  of  houses. 

In  the  middle  ages  the  fires  in  the  houses  were  made  in  a  cavity 
in  the  centre  of  the  floor,  over  which  there  generally  was  an  open- 
ing in  the  roof  for  the  escape  of  the  smoke ;  and  when  the  fire  was 
out,  or  the  family  retired  to  rest,  the  place  in  which  it  was  made 
was  closed  by  a  cover.  In  those  days  a  law  was  almost  universally 
established  on  the  continent,  that  fires  should  be  extinguished,  and 
the  family  be  all  at  home,  at  a  certain  hour  in  the  evening,  which 
was  notified  by  the  ringing  of  a  bell ;  that,  in  England,  was  called 
the  corfeu,  curfew. 

8.  In  1 100,  an  inundation  of  the  sea  happened  which  overflowed 
the- lands  of  Godwin,  earl  of  Kent,  called  Godwin's  Sands,  to  this 
day.    Of  these  shoals  the  following  account  was  given  not  many 
years  since.     "  Upon  our  journey  to  Ramsgate,"  says  Mr.  Smeaton, 
civil  engineer,  "  having  visited  the  Godwin  Sands,  in  order  to  ex- 
amine their  nature,  we  found  that  though,  like  quicksand,  they  were 
clean  and  unconnected,  yet  they  lay  so  close  that  it  was  difficult  to 
work  a  pointed  iron  bar  into  them  more  than  to  the  depth  of  six  or 
seven  feet. 

9.  The  spirit  of  the  middle  ages  is  shown  in  the  following  instan- 
ces of  wild  magnificence  or  barbarity.    On  a  certain  occasion, 
when  the  nobility  of  Languedoc  met  in  1174,  the  countess  of  Urgel 
sent  to  the  meeting  a  diadem,  worth  2000Z.,  to  be  placed  on  the  head 
of  a  wretched  buffoon.    The  count  of  Thoulouse  sent  a  diadem 
also  of  twice  that  value,  to  a  favourite  knight,  who  distributed  the 
same  amount  in  money  among  the  poorer  knights.     Other  acts  of 
mad  prodigality  were  performed,  particularly  the  sowing  of  a  piece 
of  plowed  ground  with  small  coin  to  the  amount  of  1500  English 

34* 


402  GENERAL  VIEWS. 

guineas,  by  count  Bertrand  Rimbault.    But  the  barbarous  wasteful 
ness  of  lord  Raymond  was  the  most  remarkable  feat  on  the  occasion. 
Having  ordered  thirty  of  his  most  beautiful  and  valuable  horses  to 
be  tied  to  stakes,  and  surrounded  with  dry  wood,  he  wantonly  set 
it  on  fire,  and  suffered  his  favourites  to  perish  in  the  flames. 

10.  Among  the  Romans  the  interest  of  money  was  not  fixed  by 
law.    It  is  on  this  account  that  we  find  in  the  Roman  satirists  so 
many   loud  complaints   of   extortion,  and  of   the  severity   with 
which  pecuniary  claims  were  enforced.    Horace  describes  a  rich 
old  miser,  who 

"  Dooms  the  wretches,  on  the  appointed  day, 
His  interest  or  principal  to  pay." 

Many  of  the  bankers  acquired  large  fortunes,  and  arrived  at  the 
highest  dignities  of  the  state.  Their  establishments  were  of  a  pri- 
vate nature,  and  such  banking  houses  are  known  to  have  existed  in 
the  chief  cities  of  Italy  in  the  13th  and  14th  centuries  ;  and  about 
the  some  period  the  first  public  banks  appear  to  have  been  establish- 
ed by  some  of  the  Italian  states,  for  the  purposes  of  contracting 
loans  and  managing  the  collection  of  the  revenue.  The  most  an- 
cient general  bank  for  the  deposit  of  cash  and  the  issue  of  its  own 
paper  in  return,  appears  to  have  been  formed  in  the  city  of  Barce- 
lona, in  1401. 

11.  The  specious  miracles  of  Arabian  magic  were  introduced  into 
Europe,  by  means  of  pilgrimages  and  the  holy  wars.    Fairies  and 
giants,  flying  dragons  and  enchanted  palaces,  were  blended  with  the 
more  simple  fictions  of  the  West ;  and  the  fate  of  Britain  depended 
on  the  art  or  predictions  of  Merlin. 

12.  The  magnificent  castle  of  Windsor,  was  built  by  Edward  III., 
in  the  fourteenth  century,  and  his  method  of  conducting  the  work, 
may  serve  as  a  specimen  of  the  condition  of  the  people  in  that  age. 
No  contracts  were  made  with  workmen  as  in  the  present  times,  but 
every  county  in  England  was  assessed  to  send  the  king  a  certain 
number  of  masons,  tilers,  and  carpenters,  who  were  to  perform  their 
quota  of  labour. 

13.  In  the  year  1414,  the  citizens  of  London  were  ordered  to  hang 
out  lanterns  to  light  the  streets,  and  one  of  its  mayors,  in  1417,  re- 
newing the  order,  "  ordained  lanthornes  with  lights  to  be  hanged 
out  on  the  winter  evenings  between  hallontide  and  candlemasse." 
In  this  particular,  London  must  have  set  the  example  to  the  other 
cities  of  Europe.    During  three  centuries  afterwards,  the  citizens 
were  occasionally  reminded  of  this  regulation,  under  pains  and 
penalties  for  its  non-observance ;  but  the  frequency  ef  the  repetition 
only  proves,  how  ill  it  was  obeyed.    In  1716,  it  was  directed  that 
each  house  should  have  a  lamp  hung  out  on  every  night  between 
the  2d  after  full-moon  until  the  7th  after  new  moon,  from  the  hour 
of  six  in  the  evening  until  eleven.    In  1736  and  1739,  the  present 
mode  of  lighting  was  partially  adopted,  but  it  was  not  till  1744,  that 
an  act  of  parliament  was  passed  for  completely  lighting  the  cities  of 
London  and  Westminster. 


INCIDENTS  AND  CUJUOUS  PARTICULARS.      403 

14.  During  the  periods  of  feudal  strife,  when  neighbouring  chief- 
tains often  made  sudden  inroads  on  each  other,  every  baronial  castle 
was  provided  with  its  warders,  i.  e.  men  that  were  posted  on  the 
tops  of  towers  to  watch  the  approach  of  an  enemy.  In  Wales,  these 
persons  were  furnished  with  horns  to  sound  an  alarm  ;  and  those 
in  the  castles  of  the  German  princes,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  blew 
a  horn  every  morning  and  evening,  on  the  relieving  and  setting  of 
the  sruard. 

15  Between  the  years,  1312  and  1315,  Germany  groaned  under 
all  the  miseries  of  plague  and  famine,  by  which  whole  towns  were 
depopulated,  and  provinces  brought  to  desolation.  The  rich  sought 
-an  asylum  in  other  countries,  while  the  poor,  impitied  and  unassist- 
ed, miserably  perished.  Hunger  so  preyed  upon  wolves  and  other 
ravenous  beasts,  that  overcoming  their  fear  of  man,  they  rushed  into 
the  villages,  and  gorged  themselves  with  human  blood.  Trees  and 
houses  were  swept  away  by  cataracts  bursting  from  the  mountains; 
and  the  earth  was  dreadfully  convulsed  by  earthquakes. 

16.  It  was  not  until  towards  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
that  potatoes  made  their  appearance  in  Europe.    They  were  first 
brought  by  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  from  America  to  Ireland.     From 
thence  they  passed  by  slow  degrees  over  to  Scotland,  and  the  nor- 
thern counties  of  England,  and  have  since  become  general  through- 
out Great  Britain.    The  lapse,  however,  of  two  centuries  has  not 
sufficed  to  introduce  so  important  a  vegetable  into  common  con- 
sumption, in  the  south  of  Europe. 

17.  In  the  year  1500,  there  happened  so  great  a  plague  in  Eng- 
land, that  it  obliged  the  king  and  court  to  remove  to  Calais,  and 
carried  off  upwards  of  30,000  people  in  London. 

18.  The  progress  of  improvement  has  been  slow  in  many  res- 
pects.   Many  centuries  of  the  Christian  era  had  passed  away,  before 
any  thing  better  than  splinters  of  wood,  was  used  by  our  English 
ancestors  for  lighting  their  houses  by   night.     It  was  not  until 
towards  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century,  that  tallow  candles  were 
employed  for  this  purpose.     It  was  not  until  this  period  that  cups 
and  saucers  were  used,  and  then  they  were  considered  as  luxuries. 
A  few  centuries  only  have  gone  by  since  knives  and  forks  were  used 
in  eating ;  since  hats  were  worn  in  lieu  of  cloth  hoods  and  knit 
caps;  since  the  ladies  were  accommodated  with  pins  instead  01 
skewers ;  and  since  knit  stockings  were  introduced  in  the  room  of 
cloth  hose. 

19.  In  1546,  a  law  was  made  in  England  for  fixing  the  interest  ol 
money  at  10  per  cenjt.    This  was  the  first  legal  interest  known  in 
that  country.    Strange  as  it  may  seem  to  us,  all  acts  of  that  nature 
were  formerly  considered  as  usurious. 

20.  Between  the  years  1660  and  1670,  two  awful  calamities  befel 
London— a  plague  which  carried  off  68,000  persons — and  a  fire, 
which,  breaking  out  near  London  bridge,  and  continuing  several 
days,   destroyed  eighty-nine  churches  and  thirteen  thousand  two 
hundred  dwelling  houses 


404 


GENERAL    VIEWS. 


21.  A  few  years  before  the  landing  of  the  puritans  at  Plymouth, 
a  remarkable  pestilence  destroyed  most  of  the  Indians  from  Nara- 
ganset  to  Penobscot,  which  seems  to  have  been  a  providential  oc- 
currence to  facilitate  the  settlement  of  New-England. 

22.  The  waste  lands  in  the  united  kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland,  amount  even  at  this  time  to  15,301,994  acres. 

23.  In  the  year  1828,  American  shipping  in  foreign  trade  amount- 
ed to  824,781  tons,  and  foreign  shipping  employed  in  American 
trade  was  149,435  tons — the  whole  being  974,216  tons.     The  en- 
rolled coasting  tonnage  of  the  country  is  nearly  or  quite  equal  to 
that  in  foreign  trade. 

24.  In  the  year  1829,  the  public  libraries  in  Europe  were  com- 
puted to  contain  19,847,100  volumes. 

25.  The  expenses  of  Great  Britain  in  war,  since  1688  amount,  as 
appears  from  a  statement  lately  made,  to  £2,023,500,000,  viz.— 

Years.  Expense. 

The  war  of  the  Revolution,  9             £36,000,000 

Spanish  Succession,  11                .62,500,000 

Spanish  war,  1739,  and  >  1  >               -,  f^. mn 

Austrian   Succession,       $  9$               >4,uou,u< 
The  "Seven  years  war"  with  ) 

the  French,  Spanish,  Anstri-  S  7               112,000,000 

ans  and  Russians,  of  1756,     } 

The  American  war,   of  1775,  8                136,000,000 

French  Revolution  war,  9                464,000,000 
The    war    against  Bonaparte,  ) 

the  three  last  years  of  which  S  12              1159,000,000 

with  the  United  States,         S 

There  were  about  sixty-five  years  of  war,  and  seventy-five  o1 
peace,  in  a  period  of  one  hundred  and  forty  years. 


Present  state  of  several  Nations  in  respect  to  Agriculture, 
Roads,  Conveyances,  Intercourse,  Education,  Trade. 
Manufactures, 


1.  The  history  of  culture,  in  respect  to  many  characteristics,  were 
they  to  be  traced  from  their  origin,  and  described  as  they  have  ex- 
isted in  past  ages,  would  be  interesting  and  instructive.  Some  sub- 
iects  of  this  kind  have  been  thus  traced  and  described.  It  may  an- 
swer the  purpose  of  so  succinct  an  outline,  to  present  others  to  the 
reader,  as  we  now  find  them,  with  little  reference  to  the  past.  The 
articles  above  enumerated,  may  therefore  come  under  review,  in  res- 
pect chiefly  to  the  present  times.  They  are  properly  characteris- 
tics ol  the  age,  or  the  history  of  it,  so  far  as  such  particulars  are 
concerned. 


PRESENT  STATE  OF  SEVERAL  NATIONS.      405 

2.  Agriculture.— Agriculture,  as  the  foundation  of  the  means  of 
living,  and  as  connected  with  the  state  of  society,  and  with  the  civil 
and  intellectual  character  of  a  people,  deserves  a  high  degree  of  at- 
tention.   Accordingly,  it  has  been  a  commanding  object  of  pursuit, 
with  all  civilized  communities,  from  the  beginning;.    But  it  is  only  to 
be  remarked  here,  that  in  modern  times  it  has  received  more  conside- 
ration than  formerly.     The  ancient  Romans,  perhaps,  were  as  much 
devoted  to  it  as  any  modem  nation  ;  and  their  agricultural  wealth, 
as  individuals,  when,  in  some  instances,  several  thousand  yokes  of 
oxen  were  the  property  of  a  single  farmer,  exceeds  probably  any 
thing  known  at  present.    But  with  the  exception  of  the  Romans,  if 
they  were  on  the  whole  an  exception,  modern  nations  manifestly  ex- 
cel antiquity.      Especially  do  they  excel  the  middle  ages,  for  then 
this  great  interest  suffered,  with  every  thing  else,  a  lamentable  decay. 
In  very  recent  times,  peculiar  attention  has  been  bestowed  on  the 
subject,  both  in  Europe  and  America,  by  means  of  numerous  agri- 
cultural societies.   Indeed,  science  has  been  of  late  most  successfully 
applied  to  the  purposes  of  advancing  the  agricultural  art.    The  bu- 
siness in  the  hands  of  scientific  practical  farmers,  has  assumed  a  sys- 
tematic arrangement,  unknown  in  former  days. 

3.  Roads, — In  Europe,  as  the  Roman  empire  declined,  the  roads 
gradually  fell  into  neglect ;  and  during  the  dark  ages,  their  ruinous 
condition,  rendered  communication  difficult,  beyond  what  we  can 
now  find  it  easy  to  conceive.    It  is  not  readily  ascertained  what  the 
state  of  the  roads  was,  but  they  must  have  improved  as  trade  in- 
creased.     We  know  that  the  amelioration  of  them  was  slow ;  that 
the  arts  of  constructing  and  directing  them,  were  for  a  long  time  un- 
derstood very  imperfectly  ;  and  that  the  first  kingdom  in  which  the 
condition  of  the  great  roads,  at  all  approached  the  present  standard 
of  excellence,  was  Sweden,  where  from  its  want  of  wealth,  and  its 
remote  situation,  no  such  occurrence  could  reasonably  have  been 
looked  for. 

In  England,  the  change  in  regard  to  the  arrival  and  departure  of 
the  mails,  which  took  place  in  1793,  greatly  forwarded  that  improve- 
ment of  the  principal  roads,  which  had  been  going  on  through  the 
eighteenth  century ;  and  from  1793  to  the  present  moment,  the  high- 
ways, cross-roads,  bridges,  and  ferries,  throughout  the  whole  extent 
of  that  country,  are  decidedly  superior  to  those  which  are  to  be  seen 
any  where  else. 

A  remarkable  improvement,  however,  has  recently  taken  place  in 
roads  and  bridges,  all  over  Europe.  Materials  for  road  making  have 
been  found  where  formerly  they  were  not  believed  to  exist,  and  the 
skill  with  which  they  are  employed  is  surprising.  Neither  clay, 
sand,  morasses,  torrents,  precipices,  nor  any  other  obstacles,  are  deem- 
ed insurmountable.  A  terrace  has  been  conducted  along  the  whole 
face  of  the  Appennines,  from  Nice,  to  the  gulf  of  Spezzia.  The  finest 
carriage  roads  cross  the  Alps,  over  mount  Cenis,  St.  Bernard,  the 
Simplon,  St.  Gothard,  the  Splugen,  from  the  lake  of  Como  to  the 
source  of  the  Inn  from  Trent  to  Brixen,  and  where  the  road  from 
Vienna  to  Venice  crosses  them  at  Ponteba.  An  entirely  new  road 


406  GENERAL  VIEWS 

has  been  formed  in  the  kingdom  of  Netherlands,  from  Namur  to  Lux 
embourg ;  another  runs  along  the  banks  of  the  Rhine  from  Mentz  to 
Nimeguen ;  another  from  Hamburg  to  Hanover,  and  from  Hanover 
to  Deventer.  Others  have  been  formed,  and  particularly  the  whole 
way  between  Berlin  and  Petersburgh,  probably  presents  by  this  time 
an  admirable  line  of  communication  between  these  two  capitals. 
Other  roads  are  said  to  be  under  consideration,  and  particularly  one 
from  Berlin  to  Hamburg,  through  sands  which  appear  almost  impas- 
sable. Indeed,  the  traveller  in  Europe,  since  the  cessation  of  wars, 
every  where  witnesses  the  utmost  zeal  in  building  bridges,  in  open- 
ing, widening,  levelling,  and  repairing  roads. 

Nor  has  less  been  done,  or  is  less  doing  in  the  United  States.  Pro- 
bably no  people  in  the  same  time,  ever  made  so  many  improvements 
in  roads  and  bridges.  Where  two  hundred  years  ago,  all  was  a  wide 
wilderness,  traversed  only  by  the  foot-paths  of  the  Indians,  there  are 
now  thousands  of  good  roads.  The  extent  only  of  post-roads  in  this 
country,  now  considerably  exceeds  100,000  miles.  In  some  parts  of 
Europe  and  of  the  United  States,  rail-roads  have  been  made,  or  are 
in  progress,  which  promise  the  greatest  advantages  to  commerce 
and  inland  transportation.  The  recent  construction  of  carriages 
moved  by  steam,  which  are  designed  to  pass  over  roads  of  this  des- 
cription, will  form  an  era  in  the  history  of  travelling.  Moving  with 
the  velocity  of  thirty  miles  or  more  by  the  hour,  these  vehicles  will 
seem  to  annihilate  space. 

4.  Water  Conveyance. — The  progress  lately  made  in  water  con- 
veyance, is  also  very  remarkable.  The  first  canals  known  in  Europe, 
were  those  which  were  formed  in  Italy  and  the  Low  Countries,  and 
served  in  several  cases  both  to  drain  the  ground,  and  for  the  convey- 
ance of  merchandize.  France  followed  their  example,  and  by  means 
of  the  canal  of  Languedoc,  joined  the  channel  and  the  Mediterra- 
nean. Several  others  have  since  been  completed,  and  others  are  begun; 
but  that  country  is  never  likely  to  place  much  dependence  on  its  ca- 
nal communications.  About  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  the 
commercial  prosperity  of  Great  Britain,  induced  it  to  turn  its  atten- 
tion to  canals,  and  from  its  abundance  of  water,  and  the  moderate 
elevation  of  its  surface,  it  has  now  pushed  canal  navigation,  beyond 
every  other  country.  The  total  length  of  canals  in  Great  Britain  at 
the  present  time,  is  2,600  miles.  Austria,  Prussia,  and  Sweden,  now 
possess  canals  ;  and  Russia,  both  within  her  old  limits  and  in  Po- 
land, is  zealously  encouraging  canals,  to  connect  her  rivers,  and  trans- 
port the  produce  of  her  soil.  Next  to  Great  Britain,  the  United 
States  have  displayed  the  most  enterprise  in  the  business  of  canals. 
In  the  several  states,  twenty-two  canals  are  finished,  in  progress,  or 
in  immediate  contemplation,  whose  aggregate  length  is  about  2,500 
miles.  The  greater  part  of  them  are  either  finished  or  in  progress. 
Two  of  them,  viz.  the  Hudson  and  Erie,  and  the  Chesapeake  and 
Ohio  canals,  are  each  360  miles,  the  Ohio  state  canal  is  306,  and  the 
Pennsylvania  canal  is  296  miles.  The  Hudson  and  Erie  canal,  which 
is  in  operation,  is  the  boast  of  the  new  world. 

The  application  of  steam  to  shipping,  which  deserves  to  be  ranked 


PRESENT  STATE  OF  SEVERAL  NATIONS.      407 

among  the  greatest  discoveries,  theoretical  or  practical,  that  were 
ever  made,  has  done  more  within  the  last  twenty  years,  to  facilitate 
the  communication  between  different  places,  by  water,  than  all  the 
contrivances  that  went  before  it.  Steam  vessels  are  now  found  per- 
manently or  occasionally  plying  from  the  bottom  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean, all  round  to  the  top  of  the  Baltic.  No  place  in  the  eastern  part 
of  the  world  has  derived  so  great  advantage  from  the  discovery  of 
steam  vessels,  as  England.  Its  situation,  coal,  and  commerce,  en- 
ables it  to  shoot  forth  these  vessels  in  every  direction,  and  by  means 
of  the  certainty  and  celerity  of  their  passage,  they  have  diminished 
its  distance,  and  multiplied  its  means  of  access  to  every  part  of  the 
European  continent.  In  the  United  States,  where  the  application  of 
steam  to  the  purposes  of  navigation  was  first  made,  these  vessels  are 
most  extensively  employed.  They  abound,  with  all  their  facility  of 
conveyance,  on  our  coasts,  and  in  our  rivers  ;  hundreds  of  them  are 
owned  on  the  Mississippi  alone.  The  combination  of  the  above  dis- 
coveries and  improved  arrangements,  has  produced  an  ease,  certain- 
ty, and  rapidity  of  intercourse,  exceeding  all  past  experience  or  ima- 
gination. 

5.  Travelling.    The  increase  of  the  number  of  travellers  which 
these  facilities  have  caused,  is  a  characteristic  of  the  times  worth  no- 
ticing.   Travelling  for  improvement  or  gratification,  has  increased 
fifty  or  an  hundred  fold,  and  it  is  continually  augmenting.    In  peace, 
Europe  is  now  one  great  family,  and  certainly  many  advantages  at- 
tend this  state  of  things.      Such  a  degree  of  travelling  and  inter- 
course tends  very  much  to  bind  nations  together,  and  to  promote 
liberal  views,  and  a  charitable  feeling,  one  towards  another.     Some 
good  things,  however,  are  sacrificed  to  it.     Simplicity  of  heart,  and 
the  earnestness  of  kindness  in  domestic  life,  are  diminishing.     The 
love  of  home,  the  warm  gush  of  affection,  is  checked.    The  bonds  of 
society  now  set  loosely  on  a  man.    Attachment  to  country  ceases  to 
operate  as  it  once  did. 

6.  Increase  of  Education.    Another  characteristic  of  the  present 
times,  is  the  extraordinary  increase  of  education.     A  much  larger 
portion  of  the  people  of  civilized  countries  read  than  formerly.     Pro- 
testants have  always  been  more  devoted  to  reading  than  the  Catho- 
lics.    Except  in  Spain  and  Portugal,  reading  has  increased  every 
where.      Both  the  means  and  the  habits  of  reading  are  increased. 
The  multiplication  of  newspapers  and  periodical  publications — the 
number  of  booksellers7  shops — the  profusion  of  literary  institutions 
and  circulating  libraries,  are  infallible  indications  of  the  extraordi- 
nary spread  of  education  and  reading.     There  is  evidently,  there 
fore,  the  more  need  of  moral  discipline.    The  Bible  should  by  all 
means  be  made  a  study,  and  its  heavenly  truths  should  be  more  than 
ever  enforced  upon  the  heart.    The  cheapness  of  books,  the  number 
of  teachers,  the  spare  time  created  by  the  extension  of  machinery, 
and  the  fashion  for  reading,  have  operated  very  considerably  on  the 
common  people  in  Europe.      In  the  United  States,  the  same  causes 
have  operated  on  the  same  portion  of  the  community,  though  here 


408  GENERAL  VIEWS. 

the  common  people  have  always  been  distinguished,  above  those  of 
other  nations,  for  a  love  of  reading  and  a  competent  education. 

Among  the  higher  orders  of  European  society,  there  are  so  many 
books,  and  so  much  to  learn,  that  few  are  profound.  The  stream  of 
knowledge  flows  wider,  but  has  not  become  deeper.  To  master  all 
the  branches  of  science  and  knowledge,  is  impossible.  Daily  and 
periodical  publications  abound,  but  perhaps  too  much  so  for  a  sound 
and  permanent  literature.  They  include  the  principal  stock  of  read- 
ing, except  novels,  books  of  travels,  and  memoirs.  The  mind  of  the 
public  cannot  be  more  effectually  abused  and  unsettled,  than  by  the 
systematic  conversion  of  history,  private  life,  religion  and  morality, 
into  themes  for  works  of  fiction ;  and  the  full  extent  of  the  mischief 
will  be  seen  only  when  it  is  too  late.  A  similar  change  to  that  which 
has  taken  place  among  readers,  has  affected  authors.  Most  of  this 
class  are  so  impatient  to  reap  the  rewards  of  their  labours,  or  so  ap- 
prehensive of  being  supplanted  by  competitors  for  the  public  favour, 
that  few  are  willing  to  bestow  the  time  and  trouble  which  are  ne- 
cessary for  the  composition  of  a  standard  work. 

7.  Improvement  in  external  condition. — In  the  present  state  ol 
"most  civilized  notions,  a  'surprising  improvement  has  taken  place 
in  the  outward  condition  of  all  ranks  of  society.  Many  shocking 
and  painful  disorders  have  almost  wholly  disappeared,  and  others, 
which  flesh  must  still  be  heir  to,  have  by  superior  treatment,  been 
rendered  less  violent  and  dangerous.  The  small  pox,  the  ravages  of 
which  were  once  so  terrible,  has  now  ceased  to  alarm  the  communi- 
ty. The  discovery  of  vaccination,  in  1798,  by  Dr.  Jenner,  was  the 
instrumental  cause  of  so  propitious  a  change.  This  is  one  of  the 
diseases  referred  to  ;  others  might  be  named.  The  plague,  except 
in  Turkey,  and  some  other  countries  bordering  on  the  Mediterra- 
nean, is  almost  unknown.  Famines,  arising  either  from  cold  or  heat, 
are  now  of  much  less  frequent  occurrence  than  they  formerly  wore, 
and  the  cruelties  and  calamities  of  war,  have  been  mitigated.  While 
these  scourges  of  mankind  have  been  removed  or  diminished,  the 
length  of  human  life  has  been  extended,  as  a  consequence.  A  greater 
proportion  live  to  old  age  than  was  the  fact  a  century  ago.  Other 
causes,  however,  may  have  operated  here,  as  greater  temperance, 
better  food  and  clothing,  less  exposure,  &c.  Connected  with  the 
above,  inventions  of  every  sort,  conducing  to  personal  enjoyment, 
have  been  multiplied  or  brought  to  perfection.  In  houses,  furniture, 
horses,  conveyances,  and  every  thing  which  can  minister  to  the  ease 
and  gratification  of  mind  or  body ;  in  the  number  and  refinement  of 
the  sources  of  amusement,  and  in  all  articles  of  domestic  luxury  and 
convenience,  the  progress  that  has  lately  been  made,  is  unprecedent- 
ed either  for  extent  or  rapidity.  There  is  not,  a  district  to  be  found 
in  any  European  state,  in  which  the  traveller  is  not  struck  with  the 
taste  and  magnificence  displayed  in  the  architecture  of  public  and 
private  buildings,  the  multiplication  and  commodiousness  of  bathing 
and  watering  places,  hotels,  coffee  houses,  and  reading  rooms,  the  ex- 
quisite arrangement  of  gardens,  grounds  and  villas,  and  the  neatness 
of  cottages,  shops  and  manufactories. 


PRESENT  STATE  OP  SEVERAL  NATIONS,      409 

This  alteration  is  very  conspicuous  in  England.  The  comforts  of 
lile  appear  in  great  profusion ;  no  native  or  foreigner  can  travel  fifty 
or  sixty  miles,  along  a  public  road,  without  being  lost  in  wonder  and 
astonishment.  Towns,  villages,  hamlets,  mansions,  farm  houses,  and 
cottages,  are  every  where  scattered  about  in  the  most  pleasing  and 
romantic  situations.  It  were  to  be  desired  that  the  reality  in  every 
respect,  corresponded  with  the  appearances,  but  it  is  not  to  be  con- 
cealed that  the  present  stagnation  in  business,  has  thrown  many  o 
the  English  operatives  into  distress.  In  the  United  States,  however 
these  improvements  not  only  abound,  but  the  favourable  appearan- 
ces are  generally  connected  with  a  more  delightful  reality. 

8.  Increase  of  population. — In  consequence  of  the  improvement 
in  the  physical  circumstances  of  the  people  in  Christian  countries, 
the  population  has  increased  in  an  unexampled  manner.    Some  pla- 
ces, owing  to  political  revolutions,  or  change  of  trade,  may  have  de- 
creased in  population,  as  Rome,  Venice,  Bologna,  Genoa,  Verona, 
Seville,  Barcelona,  Cadiz,  Lubec,  Bremen,  Ghent,  Bruges,  Cologne, 
Strasburg,  Nuremburg,  and  Augsburg.     These,  however,  are  excep- 
tions to  the  general  rule.      Petersburg,  Berlin,  Vienna,  Brussels, 
Paris,  Hamburgh,  Frankfort,  Milan,  Munich,  Stuttgard,  Stockholm, 
and  the  territories  to  which  they  belong,  are  swelling  in  extent  and 
population.    England  has  outstripped  the  continent'within  these  last 
thirty  or  forty  years.      London,  Glasgow,  Liverpool,   Manchester, 
Birmingham,  and  many  other  cities  and  towns  in  Great  Britain, have 
experienced  a  great  increase.     According  to  statistics,  which  have 
lately  appeared,*  it  is  found  that  the  inhabitants  of  Europe  have, 
within  the  period  that  has  elapsed  since  the  general  peace,  in  1815, 
been  augmented  by  the  number  of  28  or  29,000,000.     Every  coun- 
try has  had  a  share  in  this  increase.     Europe,  however,  can  hardly 
be  compared  with  the  United  States,  in  this  particular.     Within  the 
time  above  mentioned,  the  population  of  this  country  has  increased 
to  the  amount  of  at  least  one  third  of  the  whole  number.     History 
probably  does  not  furnisji  another  instance  of  the  rapid  rise  of  cities, 
equal  to  that  of  New- York,  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  New-Orleans, 
and  several  others. 

9.  The  approximation  of  the  lower  classes  to  the  higher. — This 
is  a  characteristic  of  the  age  more  particularly  observable  in  the  old 
world.      In  America,  owing  to  its  institutions,  and  the  abundance 
of  the  means  of  living,  the  difference  in  the  classes  of  the  people  has 
never  been  so  wide  as  it  is  in  Europe.    The  approximation  spoken 
of  is  very  perceptible  in  European  society.      It  is  obvious  in  dress, 
manners,  and  acquirements.      It  is  encouraged  by  the  improvement 
which  has  taken  place  in  manufactures,  and  by  the  substitution  of 
machinery  for  manual  labour.     Dress  is  scarcely  a  test  of  rank.     In 
language  and  address,  the  middling  classes  have  advanced.    There 
are  few  above  the  lowest  rank,  if  possessed  of  good  sense,  who  do 
not  speak  and  act,  in  these  days,  with  ease  and  propriety.    Much 
taste  and  elegance,  are  in  many  instances  displayed.    In  mental  ac- 

*  The  American  Almanac  for  1830,  a  most  valuable  production. 

35 


410  GENERAL    VIEWS. 

quirements,  particularly,  the  assimilation  is  visible.  Children  of  the 
nobility,  from  the  greater  pains  taken  with  them,  excel  at  first,  but 
are  outstripped  afterwards,  by  those  who  feel  the  necessity  of  excel- 
ling. The  procession  in  society,  has  extended  to  attainments  of  every 
kind,  especially  in  matters  of  legislation.  The  numerous  papers 
and  documents  which  are  published,  and  which  are  accessible  to 
most  readers,  have  contributed  to  this  result.  In  regard  to  Great 
Britain,  an  American  gentleman  long  resident  in  that  country,  at 
this  moment  writes,  "  A  spirit  is  silently  at  work,  which  is  gradu- 
ally undermining  the  power  of  the  Aristocracy,  and  will  one  day 
(and  that  not  far  distant)  show  itself  in  a  form  too  powerful  to  be 
resisted." 

10.  Trades  and  Manufactures. — The  spring  of  late  years  given 
to  trade  and  manufactures,  is  quite  characteristic  of  the  times.  Our 
remarks  have  reference  more  especially  to  the  continental  portion  oi 
Europe,  where,  since  the  general  peace,  the  products  of  manufactu- 
ring industry  have  been  wonderfully  multiplied. 

Sugar  refineries  have  within  a  recent  period  been  established  to  a 
great  extent,  at  Trieste,  Petersburg,  Hamburg,  and  Gothenburg.  At 
Motala,  near  Orebro,  in  Sweden,  there  is  perhaps  the  largest 'esta- 
blishment in  existence  for  all  sorts  of  implements  in  steel  and  iron. 
The  manufacture  of  muskets  and  fowling-pieces  has  lately  been 
greatly  improved  in  Germany,  and  particularly  at  Herschfeld,  in 
Hanover.  Admirable  travelling  carriages  of  all  sorts,  both  in  point 
of  elegance  and  durability,  are  built  at  Brussels,  Berlin,  and  Vien- 
na. The  glass  manufactories  in  France,  at  St.  Quentin,  St.  Gabin, 
Comenty,  and  Premontre,  in  the  department  of  Aisne,  are  all  in  the 
most  flourishing  condition,  and  glass  is  made  at  Munich,  of  a  most 
superior  quality,  so  that  the  Bavarians  have  deprived  even  the  Bri- 
tish of  the  manufacture  of  telescopes.  The  elegant  iron  and  steel 
ornaments,  made  at  Berlin,  have  now  become  a  valuable  and  extend- 
ing branch  of  commerce.  The  utmost  attention  is  paid  to  the  im- 
provement of  wool  throughout  France,  Austria,  Saxony,  Holstein, 
and  some  other  parts  of  Denmark.  The  woollen  manufactures  es- 
tablished in  Moravia,  Saxony,  and  Silesia,  and  in  the  Low  Coun- 
tries, are  increasing,  and  in  addition  to  those  which  have  been  long 
seated  at  Sedan,  Elboeuf,  and  Louviers,  in  France,  they  have  now 
been  introduced  at  Carcassone,  Castres,  and  Lodeve,  in  the  south, 
and  at  Bourges,  and  Chatevuroux,  in  the  centre.  A  determined  and 
successful  degree  of  anxiety  to  improve  the  breed  of  horses,  has 
manifested  itself  in  Prussia,  Russia,  and  France.  England  no  long- 
er supplies  nearly  the  whole  of  Europe  with  lead ;  a  great  quantity 
is  now  raised  near  Almeria,  in  Spain.  The  manufactories  of  iron, 
and  steel,  which  are  flourishing  in  France,  are  prospering  still  more 
at  Liege,  which  has  become  the  Birmingham  of  the  Low  Countries, 
as  Ghent  is  their  Manchester  and  Glasgow.  The  cotton  manufac 
tures  of  France  and  Belgium,  have  increased  tenfold  in  ten  years. 
They  are  now  firmly  fixed  at  Elberfeld,  near  Dusseldorf,  and  rapid- 
ly extending  themselves  in  the  Prussian  Rhenish  provinces.  The 
silk  trade  of  France,  which  used  to  be  confined  to  Lyons,  has  now 


PRESENT  STATE  OF  SEVERAL  NATIONS.      411 

spread  its  ramifications  to  Avignon,  Nismes,  and  Tours,  and  its  an- 
nual value  amounts  to  £6,000,000.  The  silk  trade  is  carried  on  in. 
Switzerland,  a  fact  which  is  little  known  abroad.  There  is  in  Zu- 
rich and  its  neighbourhood  alone  between  12  and  13,000  looms.  It 
is  also  established  at  Arau,  Basle,  and  several  other  places.  In  the 
Prussian  Rhenish  provinces,  it  is  spreading  from  Mentz  through  all 
the  towns  and  villages  along  the  Rhine,  and  is  carried  on  to  a  great 
extent  at  Dusseldorf  and  Elberfelt,  but  particularly  at  Creveld,  where 
it  is  conducted  with  great  capital  and  great  spirit.  All  sorts  of  house- 
hold furniture  are  now  made  extremely  beautiful  in  most  large  towns 
throughout  the  continent.  Exhibitions  of  works  of  genius  and  in-, 
dustry  are  every  where  encouraged,  especially  at  Petersburg,  Berlin, 
Brussels,  Paris,  Munich,  Stuttgard,  and  Vienna. 

The  manufacturing  industry  and  talent  of  Great  Britain,  and  the 
trade  therewith  connected,  have  been  long  celebrated,  and  have 
grown  with  her  growth,  till  she  has  filled  the  world  with  the  choicest 
works  of  mechanic  art.  But  particulars  will  not  be  needed  in  re- 
gard to  a  country  so  well  known.  In  the  United  States,  also,  trade 
and  manufactures  have  of  late  risen  in  a  remarkable  degree,  consi- 
dering the  comparative  newness  of  the  country.  Many  new  branches 
have  been  established,  and  many  old  ones  enlarged,  so  that  although 
we  are  essentially  an  agricultural  people,  and  must  remain  so  for  a 
long  time  to  come,  we  already  produce  a  great  variety  of  important 
articles  of  mechanical  skill.  The  ingenuity  and  enterprise  of  our 
citizens  are  here,  as  in  every  other  department  of  human  effort,  alike 
conspicuous  and  successful. 

11.  Reform  in  Government. — A  desire  among  many  nations 
to  free  themselves  from  their  oppressions,  or  to  new  model  their  go- 
vernments, is  a  prominent  characteristic  of  the  age.  It  has  been  ob- 
served in  the  course  of  this  work,  that  the  present  period,  though 
by  the  contemporary  world  which  lived  in  it  called  the  revolutionary, 
will  probably  be  denominated  the  constitutional  period  by  posterity. 
The  nations  for  some  time  have  been  struggling  to  obtain  free  and 
regular  constitutions.  The  spirit  began  with  the  United  States,  more 
than  fifty  years  ago.  France  afterwards  made  a  misguided,  abortive 
attempt,  and  some  other  despotisms  have  been  considerably  agita- 
ted. The  strict  despotic  principles  have  hitherto  prevailed,  except  in 
the  colonial  establishments  ;  yet  even  in  countries  governed  on  those 
principles,  such  has  been  the  influence  of  popular  feeling,  there  has 
been  a  degree  of  amelioration.  The  attempts  of  the  Spaniards,  Por- 
tuguese, and  Neapolitans,  to  change  their  forms  of  government,  have 
been  frustrated  chiefly  by  the  despotic  sword  from  abroad  ;  but  it  is 
evident,  that  knowledge  is  increasing,  and  that  the  minds  of  men  are 
turning  with  fond  desire  towards  their  long  lost  rights  and  liberties, 
and  that  a  spirit  is  at  work,  which  promises  eventually  the  destruc- 
tion of  all  despotic  thrones.  The  colonial  struggles,  however,  have 
been  successful,  and  the  various  republics  of  South  America,  and 
that  of  Mexico,  in  North  America,  attest  the  energy  of  that  feeling 
which  resolves  on  independence.  Greece,  too,  favoured  by  circum- 
stances, and  by  the  sympathies  of  nations,  but  more  by  her  own  he- 


412  GENERAL  VIEWS. 

roism  and  self-denial,  is  an  arm  broken  off  from  the  Turkish  power, 
.and  with  the  lingering  remains  of  genius  found  in  her,  and  quicken- 
ed into  life  by  the  principles  and  systems  of  American  education,  is 
destined,  we  may  hope,  to  be  twice  immortal. 

12.  Religious  Enterprises. — The  present  era  is  greatly  distin- 
guished by  a  spirit  of  enterprise  in  religion.  Many,  in  protestant 
countries,  are  especially  waked  up  in  regard  to  the  precious  interests 
of  the  Christian  church — its  prosperity  at  home,  and  its  extension 
abroad.  Great  reformations  have  taken  place,  and  signal  revivals  of 
piety  have  abounded,  especially  in  the  United  States ;  and  both  here, 
and  in  Great  Britain,  the  work  of  Christian  missions  has  been  vigo- 
rously prosecuted.  Vast  numbers  of  associations  are  formed  in  va- 
rious parts  of  Protestant  Christendom,  to  give  the  Bible  to  the  des- 
titute— to  educate  pious,  indigent  youth  for  the  ministry — to  imbue 
the  minds  of  children  with  scriptural  knowledge  by  means  of  sab- 
bath school  instruction — to  promote  religion  and  morality  among 
sailors — to  enlighten  the  inmates  of  dungeons — and  in  this  country, 
especially,  to  secure  the  observation  of  the  sabbath — to  do  away  the 
abominations  of  intemperance; and  to  benefit  the  descendants  of 
Africa,  by  colonizing  them  in  the  land  of  their  fathers.  The  esta- 
blishment and  support  of  missionary  seminaries,  and  theological  se- 
minaries, are  also  among  the  important  religious  enterprises  of  the 
day.  Indeed,  there  is  scarcely  a  conceivable  form  of  benevolent  and 
pious  movement  which  does  not  receive  a  portion  of  regard  from 
the  Christian  public. 


The  Christian  Church. 

We  shall  attempt  a  very  brief  history  of  the  Church  of  Jesus 
Christ,  or  of  Christianity  as  a  divine  establishment  common  to  most 
of  the  nations,  whose  aifairs  have  been  narrated  in  a  different  portion 
of  this  work.  This  is  the  only  religious  system  that  claims  much  of 
our  attention,  in  modern  annals.  A  sufficient  notice  has  been  taken 
of  the  religion  promulgated  by  Mahomet,  in  the  history  of  the  Sara- 
•cens.  As  to  the  religion  of  paganism,  we  have  had  so  little  occasion 
to  bring  into  view  the  nations,  who,  in  modern  times,  possess  the 
pagan  creed,  that  we  need  not  trace  its  distinctive  features.  A  few, 
however,  of  the  religious  notions  of  the  barbarous  heathen  tribes, 
whence  sprang  the  modern  European  states,  have  appeared  in  a  des- 
cription of  the  manners,  institutions,  &c.  of  those  tribes.  The  reli- 
gion of  the  Greeks,  Romans,  and  other  early  nations,  all  of  whom, 
except  the  Jews,  were  pagans,  is  a  topic  of  Ancient  History. 

1.  It  will  suffice  for  the  object  here  contemplated,  to  sketch 
the  affairs  of  the  Christian  Church  under  three  distinct  heads. 
1.  In  its  primitive  and  pure  state,  extending  from  the  birth 
of  Jesus  Christ,  to  the  year  325  A.  G.,  when  Christianity 
became  the  religion  of  the  Roman  empire.  2,  In  its  co* 


CHRISTIAN  CHURCH.  413 

rupied  state,  extending  from  325  A.  C.  to  the  commencement 
of  the  Reformation,  1517  A.  0.  3.  Tn  its  reformed  state, 
extending  from  1517  A.  C.  to  the  present  time. 

2.  In  the  first  era,  as  it  might  be  expected,  we  behold  the 
Christian  church  in  its  best  condition.  Compared  with  ttie 
subsequent  era,  it  was  distinguished  for  the  simplicity  of  its 
order,  purity  of  practice,  and  attachment  to  the  doctrines  tf 
the  Gospel.  Among  the  many  events  of  the  present  period, 
we  can  notice  only  the  following  leading  ones,  viz.,  the  ap- 
pearance of  Jesus  Christ  on  earth  ;  the  general  success  of  the 
Gospel  under  the  preaching  of  the  apostles  and  others  ;  and 
the  ten  great  persecutions  of  the  Church,  so  enumerated  and 
called,  beginning  with  Nero,  and  ending  with  Diocletian. 

§  The  appearance  of  Jesus  Christ  on  earth  was  the  most  re- 
markable event  that  ever  occurred.  Its  date,  as  commonly  given,  is 
four  years  later  than  the  real  time.  The  prophets  had  pointed  out 
the  period,  and  the  world  was  in  an  unusual  degree  prepared  for  the 
coming  of  the  Son  of  God.  But  though  the  nations  were  expecting 
the  appearance  of  some  extraordinary  personage,  and  the  Jews  par- 
ticularly were  waiting  for  their  Messiah  ;  yet  Jesus  was  almost  uni- 
versally rejected,  both  by  the  Jew  and  Gentile.  In  the  circumstan- 
ces of  his  birth  and  life,  and  in  the  doctrines  which  he  taught,  the 
expectations  of  his  countrymen  were  disappointed,  and  upon  a  fri- 
volous pretence,  they  put  him  to  the  cruel  death  of  the  cross.  By 
this  procedure,  so  unjust  on  the  part  of  the  Jewrs,  the  divine  plan, 
which  sought  the  redemption  of  the  nations,  was  accomplished,  for 
on  the  third  day,  Jesus  rose  from  the  dead,  and  forty  days  after, 
having  given  his  disciples  suitable  instructions  respecting  their  duty 
as  preachers  of  his  religion,  he  ascended  to  heaven,  a  cloud  receiving 
him  out  of  their  sight. 

The  general  success  of  the  Gospel  under  the  preaching  of  the 
apostles  and  others,  was  also  a  remarkable  circumstance,  and  strong- 
ly confirmed  the  truth  of  Christianity.  Many  reasons  might  be 
given  for  this  opinion,  but  our  limits  forbid.  In  regard  to  the  fact  oi 
the  early  and  general  extension  of  the  Gospel,  we  are  left  to  no 
doubt,  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  and  from  historic  records.  The 
apostles  and  evangelists  were  early  spread  abroad  among  the  na- 
tions ;  and  even  before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  the  Gospel  had 
been  preached  to  multitudes  in  several  parts  of  the  known  world. 
Within  thirty  years  of  the  death  of  Christ,  says  Paley,  the  institution 
had  spread  itself  through  Judea,  Galilee,  and  Samaria,  almost  all 
the  numerous  districts  of  Lesser  Asia,  through  Greece  and  the  islands 
of  the  JKgeau  Sea,  the  sea  coast  of  Africa,  and  had  extended  itself 
to  Rome,  and  into  Italy.  At  Antioch  in  Syria,  at  Joppa,  Ephesus, 
Corinth,  and  many  other  places,  the  converts  were  spoken  of  as  nu- 
merous. The  first  epistle  of  Peter,  accosts  the  Christians  dispersed 
throughout  Pontus,  Galatia,  Cappadocia,  Asia,  and  Bythinia.  In  a 
35* 


414  -GENERAL    VIEWS. 

short  time,  nations  and  cities  more  remote,  heard  of  the  Gospel. 
The  Gauls  received  the  knowledge  of  Christianity  from  the  imme- 
diate successors  of  the  apostles  ;  and  during  the  second  century,  the 
Germans,  the  Spaniards,  and  probably  the  Britons,  were  converted 
to  the  true  religion. 

The  ten  great  persecutions  of  the  Church  have  given  a  charac- 
ter to  the  whole  era.  They  were  not,  however,  in  every  instance, 
general  through  the  Roman  empire.  Persecutions  indeed  existed 
from  the  beginning,  and  there  were  not  many  periods  of  entire  tran- 
quillity to  the  Church,  during  three  hundred  years.  But  -those  of  a 
more  marked  character,  are  included  within  the  above  expressed 
number.  Their  order  is  as  follows : 

1.  The  persecution  under  Nero  occurred  thirty-one  years'  after 
our  Lord's  ascension.     When  the  emperor  set  fire  to  the  city  of 
Rome,  he  threw  the  odium  of  that  execrable  action  on  the  Christians, 
and  made  it  the  pretext  of  persecuting  them.     Accordingly,  they 
were  hunted  like  wild  beasts,  and  torn  to  pieces  by  devouring  dogs, 
and  in  innumerable  other  ways,  were  vexed,  tortured,  and  put  to 
death. 

2.  The  persecution  which  Domitian  instigated,  took  place  in  the 
year  95.     It  is  computed  that  40,000  persons  suffered  martyrdom  at 
that  time. 

3.  The  persecution  which  existed  in  the  reign  of  Trajan,  began 
in  the  year  100,  and  was  carried  on  with  great  violence  for  several 
years. 

4.  The  persecution  which  was  permitted  by  Antoninus,  commen- 
ced in  the  year  177.     Many  indignities,  deprivations  and  sufferings 
were  inflicted  on  the  Christians  in  this  persecution. 

5.  The  persecution  under  Severus,  began  in  the  year  197.     Great 
•cruelties  were  committed  at  this  time  against  the  patient  followers 
of  Christ. 

6.  The  persecution  which  Maximinus  ordered,  began  in  235.    It 
was  the  more  severe  to  the  sufferers  from  the  indulgence  they  had 
enjoyed  under  the  reign  of  his  predecessor,  Alexander  Severus. 

7.  The  persecution  under  Decius,  began  in  250.     It  was  the  most 
dreadful  hitherto  known.      The  Christians  were  in  all  places  driven 
from  their  habitations,  stripped  of    their   estates,  tormented  with 
racks,  &c. 

8.  The  date  of  the  persecution  under  Valerian,  is  257.     Both  men 
and  women  suffered  death,  some  by  scourging,  some  by  the  sword, 
and  some  by  fire. 

9.  The  persecution  by  Aurelian,  was  in  274.    But  this  was  incon- 
siderable -compared  with  the  others  before  mentioned.  , 

10.  The  persecution  in  which  Diocletian  was  concerned,  com- 
menced in  295.     This  was  a  terrible  persecution.     It  is  related  that 
17,000  were  slain  in  one  month's  time.     The  enemies  of  Christianity 
had  the  presumption  to  think  "  that  the  name  and  superstition  of  the 
Christians"  had  been  effaced  from  the  empire.    The  period,  however, 
was  just  at  hand,  (a  s'alutary  lesson  to  persecutors,)  when  this  holy 


CHRISTIAN    CHURCH.  415 

faith  was  to  rise  on  the  ruins  of  all  the  former  religions  of  the  Ro- 
man people. 

During  these  persecutions,  Christians  multiplied,  and  Christianity 
became  a  principle  of  life  and  power  to  the  hearts  of  its  votaries. 
So  long  as  their  profession  of  religion  was  attended  with  danger — so 
long  as  they  had  the  prospect  of  the  dungeon,  the  rack,  or  the  fag- 
gotr  their  lives  were  pure  and  heavenly.  The  gospel  was  their  only 
source  of  consolation,  and  they  found  it  in  every  respect  sufficient 
for  all  their  wants.  Affected  with  mutual  sufferings,  they  sympa- 
thised most  tenderly  with  each  other,  and  their  Lord's  new  command 
of  brotherly  love,  was  never  fulfilled  in  a  more  exemplary  manner. 

3,  The  Church,  at  the  commencement  of  the  second  era, 
\\ras  externally  prosperous  and  flourishing.  The  storm  of 
pagan  persecution  had  ceased,  and  Christianity  was  support- 
ed by  the  Roman  government.  Under  Constantine  the  Great, 
that  government  (which  had  long  included  the  limits  of  the1 
civilized  world)  changed  from  a  persecuting  to  a  protecting 
power.  But  its  love  was  more  fatal  to  the  real  interests  of 
the  Church  than  its  hate.  Evils  soon  began  to  arise  within, 
produced  or  aided  by  the  aggrandizement  it  received  without, 
which  eventually  reduced  the  Church  to  the  lowest  state  of 
spiritual  weakness  and  degradation.  Worldly  prosperity  pro- 
duced pride,  ambition,  emulation,  luxury,  and  many  other 
vices  equally  opposed  to  the  spirit  of  the  gospel  The  mix- 
ture yf  pagan  philosophy  and  superstition  exceedingly  de- 
based the  purity  of  religion,  and  the  general  ignorance  which 
prevailed  during  the  dark  ages,  rendered  ineffectual  its  hea- 
venly truths. 

Among  the  more  important  particulars  constituting  this 
state  of  things,  or  affording  proof  of  the  disorders  of  the 
church  and  the  consequent  degeneracy  of  the  people  through 
this  long  period,  may  be  named  the  Arian  and  Pelagian 
heresies,  the  institution  of  monkery,  image  worship,  the 
establishment  of  the  papal  supremacy,  the  passion  for  relics 
and  pilgrimages,  the  separation  between  the  eastern  and 
western  churches,  the  crusades,  sale  of  absolution  and  indul- 
gences, the  persecution  of  the  Albigenses  and  Waldenses,  the 
inquisition,  the  great  western  schism,  the  bulls  and  interdicts 
of  the  popes,  and  the  contention  of  scholastic  divines. 

§  These  and  several  otners  are  interesting  objects  of  attention  in 
this  portion  of  the  church's  history  ;  but  except  so  far  as  a  few  of 
them  have  been  already  treated  of  separately,  recourse  for  informa- 
tion must  be  had  to  more  extended  accounts 


416  GENERAL    VIEWS. 

4.  Towards  the  commencement  of  the  third  era,  the  re 
ligious  state  of  the  world  was  deplorable.  All  Christendom 
was  held  in  bondage  to  the  papal  power.  Corruption,  both 
in  doctrine  and  practice,  prevailed  to  an  extent  before  un- 
known. The  Reformation  of  religion,  which  is  the  distinc- 
tion of  the  present  era,  was  therefore  greatly  needed  ;  and  we 
have  the  satisfaction  of  exhibiting  the  Christian  church  under 

o 

the  influence  of  so  propitious  a  change.  The  greater  part  oi 
this  body  adhered  to  the  papacy,  and  perhaps  still  adheres  to 
it ;  but  though  the  whole  of  Christendom  did  not  participate 
in  the  reformation,  the  whole  may  have  derived  benefit  from 
it  indirectly.  The  reformed,  which  is  also  called  the  protes- 
tant*  faith,  spread  rapidly  at  the  beginning,  and  even  now, 
from  the  increase  of  tbe  population  in  nations  embracing  this 
faith,  as  well  as  from  efforts  made  to  diffuse  it  abroad,  it  is 
favourably  extending  its  influence. 

The  date  of  the  great  event  of  which  we  speak,  is  1517, 
and  the  instrumental  agent  whom  Providence  employed  in 
bringing  it  to  pass,  was  Martin  Luther.  The  immediate  oc- 
casion of  the  reformation  was  the  sale  of  indulgences,  which 
had  been  authorized  bv  Leo  X.,  in  order  to  furnish  the  means 

m/  / 

of  gratifying  his  taste  or  extravagances.  This  traffic  having 
been  intrusted  to  the 'care  of  one  John  Tetzel,  an  insolent 
and  dishonest  wretch,  attracted  the  notice  of  Martin  Luther. 
His  indignation  was  first  excited  by  the  base  manner  in 
which  it  was  carried  on  ;  but  from  noticing  the  mode,  be  was 
led  to  inquire  into  the  thing  itself,  and  his  eyes  were  soon 
opened  to  the  enormity  of  the  principle  which  it  involved, 
and  the  nefarious  character  of  the  whole  system.  From  this 
period  his  opinions  were  openly  and  boldly  expressed,  on  tbe 
various  errors  which  he  found  prevailing  in  the  Church,  and 
many  were  convinced  on  the  subject  by  his  preaching  and 
writings.  Hence  the  memorable  rupture  and  revolution  which 
took  place — the  blessed  effects  of  which  have  been  more  and 
more  felt  from  that  age  to  the  present. 

§  During  his  life  time  the  benevolent  labours  of  Luther  were  bless- 
ed in  no  small  degree,  and  around  him  gathered  a  host  of  able  and 

*So  called  from  the  protesf  which  the  elector  of  Saxony  and  other  prince?, 
entered  against  a  decree  of  the  diet  at  Spires,  in  1529,  by  which  every  depar- 
ture from  the  Catholic  faith  and  discipline  was  forbidden,  till  a  general  council 
should  be  assembled. 


CHRISTIAN   CHURCH.  417 

godly  men,  who  proved  to  be,  in  many  instances,  the.  most  efficient 
coadjutors.  Among  these  were  Carolstadt,  Melancthon,  Zuinglius, 
Bucer,  Oecolampadius,  Martyr,  Calvin,  and  Beza.  Several  of  the 
princes  of  Germany  were  his  patrons,  and  afforded  him  the  most 
essential  aid.  among  whom  especially  were  Frederick  the  Wise,  and 
John  his  brother,  electors  of  Saxony. 

The  new  opinions  were  not  long  confined  to  Germany.  Through 
the  oppressive  measures  of  the  papacy,  as  much  as  by  any  other 
cause,  they  were  diffused  abroad  among  the  neighbouring  nations 
Sweden,  Denmark,  and  Switzerland,  participated  in  the  reforma- 
tion, and  it  found  many  friends  in  France,  the  Netherlands,  Spain, 
Hungary,  and  Bohemia.  In  England,  also,  it  was  firmly  establish- 
ed, though  by  an  instrumentality  at  first  very  different  from  friend- 
ship to  the  'cause.  The  passions  and  obstinacy  of  Henry  VIII.,  as 
has  elsewhere  appeared,  were,  by  the  providence  of  God,  concerned 
in  effecting  the  religious  revolution  in  that  country.  In  Scotland 
the  denunciations  of  Knox  demolished  the  papal  hierarchy. 

The  opposition  of  the  Catholic  power  to  the  reformation,  pro- 
duced in  Germ-any  much  bloodshed,  desolation,  and  discord.  These 
scenes  continued  till  the  year  1555,  when  a  treaty  was  formed  at 
Augsburg,  called  the  Peace  of  Religion,  which  established  the  Re- 
formation, inasmuch  as  it  secured  to  all  the  inhabitants  of  Germany 
the  free  exercise  of  their  religion.  The  protestant  princes  of  that 
country  never  at  any  time  ceased  their  exertions,  till  this  desirable 
result  was  brought  to  pass. 

5.  A  few  years  after  the  establishment  of  the  reformation, 
the  countries  of  Europe  which  favoured  it  and  became  pro- 
testant, were  Denmark,  Norway,  Sweden,  Prussia,  England, 
Scotland,  Ireland,  and  Holland.  One  half  of  Germany,  and 
a  small  majority  in  Switzerland,  embraced  the  reformation. 
The  countries  which  adhered  to  Rome  were  Italy,  Spain, 
Portugal,  the  Belgic  Provinces  under  the  Spanish  yoke. 
France  became  decidedly  papal,  though  at  first  the  hope  was 
entertained  that  she  would  favour  the  protestant  cause.  A 
goodly  number,  however,  of  the  French  population  were 
protestants. 

That  portion  of  the  professed  Christian  body  which  con- 
stituted the  Eastern  or  Greek  church,  was  not  affected  by 
the  revolution  in  the  West.  Though  religion  in  this  church 
was  then  at  a  very  low  ebb,  and  the  church  had  experienced 
many  external  calamities,  corruption  and  error  had  not  made 
so  fatal  a  progress  in  the  East,  as  among  the  Latins.  Rus- 
sia and  a  part  of  European  Turkey  were  the  seat  of  the 
Greek  religion.  Many  of  its  professors,  however,  were  found 
in  various  countries  of  Asia  and  Africa.  In  1589,  the  Rus- 


418  GENERAL    VIEWS. 

sian  chufch  separated  from  the  government,  though  not  from 
the  communion,  of  the  Greek  church — a  circumstance  which 
has  reduced  the  latter  to  an  inconsiderable  body. 

§  As  the  Russian  and  Greek  branches  of  the  Christian  church  need 
not  be  referred  to  again,  it  may  be  added,  that  they  have  undergone 
but  few  changes  in  more  modern  times — perhaps  some  improvement 
is  visible.  Still  they  seem  to  be  little  acquainted  with  evangelical 
piety,  are  in  general  destitute  of  the  Bible,  and  consequently  involv- 
ed in  ignorance.  Their  numbers  are  variously  estimated.  Hassel 
makes  them  seventy-four  millions,  which  is  the  highest  calculation. 
Members  of  the  Greek  church  are  at  present  found  scattered  over  a 
considerable  part  of  Greece,  the  Ionian  isles,  "Wallachia,  Moldavia, 
Egypt,  Abyssinia,  Nubia,  Lybia,  Arabia,  Mesopotamia,  Syria,  Cilicia, 
and  Palestine. 

It  must  suffice  for  a  rapid  survey  of  the  Roman  and  Protestant 
churches,  from  the  time  that  their  separation  was  consummated  to 
the  present  era,  to  notice  the  following  particulars. 

First,  the  Roman  church. — Desperate  efforts  were  made  by  the 
popes  to  regain  their  lost  power,  but  on  the  whole  with  little  effect. 
The  means  which  they  used,  as  enumerated  in  a  recent  interesting 
publication,*  were  principally  these  four.  1.  The  employment  of 
the  order  of  Jesuits,  formed  in  the  year  1540,  by  Ignatius  Loyola, 
whose  object  was  to  go  forth,  as  advocates  of  the  papal  power. 
2.  An  attempt  to  christianize  the  heathen,  in  several  parts  of  Asia 
and  South  America.  3.  The  better  regulation  of  the  internal  con- 
cerns of  their  church.  4.  The  persecution  of  the  protestants.  In 
regard  to  the  last,  it  may  be  observed,  that  scarcely  a  country,  in 
which  protestants  were  to  be  found,  but  was  the  scene  of  awful  suf- 
ferings. Our  blood  boils  with  indignation  at  the  thought,  that  cru- 
elties which  would  have  disgraced  Domitian,  were  inflicted  by  the 
minions  of  the  papacy,  under  the  sanction  of  the  mild  religion  o 
the  Saviour,  upon  his  own  followers.  In  these  persecutions,  firty 
millions  of  protestants  are  computed  to  have  perished,  principally 
in  Italy,  the  Netherlands,  Spain,  France,  parts  of  Germany,  and 
England. 

But  all  the  efforts  of  the  Roman  church  were  in  vain,  except  as  by 
propagating  her  religion  in  heathen  countries,  she  was  for  a  time 
nominally  mistress  of  greater  numbers  of  mankind  than  before. 
Several  causes  have  contributed  to  weaken,  essentially,  her 
power,  wealth  and  splendour.  These,  as  enumerated  in  the  work 
above  referred  to,  are,  1.  The  loss  of  foreign  conquests.  2.  Un- 
successful contests  with  several  European  governments.  3.  The 
suppression  of  the  order  of  the  Jesuits.  4.  The  revolution  in 
France.  5.  The  abolition  of  the  inquisition. 

The  statistics  of  the  Roman  church,  as  it  exists  at  the  present 
day,  are  as  follows  : 

The  temporal  dominions  of  the  pope,  are  a  small  territory  in 

• 
*  Outlines  of  Ecclesiastical  History,  by  Rev.  Charles  A.  Goodrich. 


CHRISTIAN  CHURCH.  419 

Italy,  south  of  the  Po,  containing  15,000  square  miles,  and  2,500,000 

inhabitants. 

Its  ecclesiastical  subjects  are  supposed  to  amount  to  80  or 
100,000,000,  in  all  parts  of  the  world.  Malte  Brun  put  them  down 
at  116,000,000. 

The  countries  where  they  most  abound,  are  the  pope's  dominions 
in  Italy,  Spain,  Portugal,  and  South  America.  These  are  considered 
entirely  papal.  France,  Austria,  Poland,  Belgium,  Ireland,  and  Ca- 
nada, are  chiefly  papal.  Switzerland  has  700,000 ;  England  half  a 
million,  and  the  United  States  about  that  number.  Others  are  found 
in  Russia,  Sweden,  Denmark,  and  the  West  Indies.  The  pope  is  at 
present  making  great  efforts  to  extend  his  influence  in  the  United 
States ;  but  it  is  believed  either  that  the  system  cannot  widely  pre- 
vail here,  or  if  from  any  temporary  causes,  it  is  destined  to  meet 
with  some  successes,  that  it  will  be  in  a  degree  modified  by  the  ge- 
nius of  our  institutions,  and  not  be  the  dark,  intolerant,  cruel,  and 
licentious  system  that  it  has  been  in  other  countries. 

Second,  the  Protestants. — A  diversity  soon  took  place  among  those  who  se- 
parated from  the  fellowship  of  Rome.  A  general  division  of  the  protestants  is 
into  the  Lutheran  church,  and  the  Reformed  churches. 

1.  Lutheran  Church. — The  Lutherans,  as  the  name  imports,  were  the  im- 
mediate followers  of  Luther,  who  consider  their  church  as  having  been  es- 
tablished at  the  time  of  the  pacification  at  Passau,  1552.      Their  standard  of 
faith  is  the  Augsburg  confession.     They  suffered  far  less  from  the  persecu- 
tions of  the  times  than  the  other  portions  of  the  reformed  church,  though  they 
were  unhappily  engaged  in  a  controversy  among  themselves,  relating  to  various 
points  of  faith  and  practice. 

These  controversies  were  followed  by  a  low  state  of  religion  ;  and  this  by  ef- 
forts which  many  of  the  better  sort  made  to  bring  about  a  happier  state  of 
things.  Some  good  was  done  by  the  Pietists,  (so  this  class  of  people  were 
called,)  but  far  less  than  might  have  been,  had  not  their  views  and  principles 
been  misconceived  or  opposed.  The  Pietists  flourished  about  the  middle  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  but  they  degenerated  after  a  time,  and  were  suc- 
ceeded by  a  set  of  wild  religionists,  who  did  much  mischief  to  the  cause  of  god- 
liness. To  counteract  this  evil,  the  system  of  the  Neologists  was  introduced, 
which  consisted  in  the  application  of  human  philosophy  to  the  interpretation 
of  the  Bible.  The  remedy  was  as  bad  as  the  disease,  and  the  Gospel,  stripped 
of  its  peculiarities,  has  become  a  dead  letter  very  extensively  in  Germany.  It 
is  believed,  however,  that  a  better  spirit  is  now  commencing  in  some  parts  of 
the  Lutheran  church,  while  it  is  a  happiness  to  know  that,  in  other  parts  of  it, 
both  in  Germany  and  the  neighbouring  churches,  there  are  those  who  have  all 
along  maintained  their  integrity. 

In  regard  to  the  statistics  of  the  Lutheran  church,  it  may  be  observed,  that 
portions  of  it  are  found  chiefly  in  Denmark,  Norway,  and  Sweden,  in  a  great 
part  of  Germany,  particularly  in  the  north,  and  in  Saxony  and  Prussia,  where 
Liitberariisin  is  the  established  religion.  Churches  of  this  denomination  also  ex- 
ist in  Holland,  Prance,  Russia,  North  America,  and  in  the  Danish  West"In- 
dies.  The  number  of  Lutherans  is  probably  between  fifteen  and  twenty  millions. 

2.  Reformed   Churches. — These  are  numerous,  and  little  more  than  their 
names  can  be  here  mentioned.      The  term  "  Reformed"  was  a  title  originally 
assumed  by  those  Helvetic  or  Swiss  churches,  which  adhered  to  certain  tenets 
of  Zuinrrlius,  in  relation  to  the  Sacrament.     But  in  latter  times  it  has  a  wider 
signification,  and  under  it  may  be  included  all  those  sects  in  Protestant  Chris- 
tendom, that  dissent  from  the  tenets  of  the  Lutheran  church.     These  are 


420  GENERAL  VIEWS. 

principally  the  Calvinists,  the  Church  of  England,  the  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Scotland,  the  Moravians,  the  Congregationalists  of  New-England,  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  the  United  States,  the  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United 
States,  the  Baptists,  Methodists,  and  Quakers. 

1.  Calvinists. — The  Christians  so  called,  taken  loosely  for  those  who  ex- 
plain the  Bible  as  Calvin  explained  it,  constituted  at  first  the  whole  body  of  the 
Protestants  as  distinguished  from  the  Lutherans.     Protestant  Christendom 
even  now  owns  this  distinction  on  the  continent  of  Europe.  They  were  called 
Huguenots  in  France,  and  suffered  terrible  persecutions.  They  are  not  known 
as  one  particular  denomination,  but  constitute  a  portion  of  several  bodies  of 
Christians.      They  exist  in  France,  Holland,   Prussia,  Great  Britain,  and 
other  countries  in  Europe,  and  extensively  in  the  United  States.     The  sect  of 
Arminians  is,  as  to  sentiment,  directly  opposed  to  the  Calvinists,  though  per- 
sons of  both  persuasions  are  often  found  together  in  the  same  churches.    The 
Arminian  doctrines  began  to  be  propagated  at  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth 
century. 

2.  Church  of  England. — By  this  name  is  known  the  reformed  church  as 
established  in  England  and  Ireland.     Its  history  is  deeply  interesting,  as  it 
passed  a  bloody  ordeal,  but  there  is  no  space  for  particulars.     The  rise  of  pu- 
ritanism  is  connected  with  the  history  of  the  chui-ch  of  England,  than  which 
few  events  in  the  records  of  religion  are  more  important ;  but  this  also  must  be 
passed  over.      Dissenters  from  the  church  of  England  are  tolerated  in  the 
United  Kingdom.    The  establishment  embraces  5,000,000  of  the  inhabitants  : 
its  livings  are   10,500.     The  dissenters,  or  independents,  in  England  and 
"Wales,  have  more  than  1000  congregations, 

3.  Presbyterian  Church  of  Scotland. — The  date  of  the  establishment  of  the 
Reformation  in  Scotland,  is  about  the  year  1560.     At  this  time  the  Presby- 
terian church  in  that  country  began  to  assume  a  regular  form.     This  church 
passed  through  various  vicissitudes,  and  has  in  general  been  distinguished  foi 
the  piety  of  its  members.    It  includes  nearly  the  whole  population  of  Scotland. 

4.  Moravians. — The  Moravians,  or  United  Brethren,  date  their  modern 
history  in  1722.      They  are  an  exemplary  people,  and  devoted  to  missionary 
enterprises.     They  have  settlements  in  Germany,  Denmark,  Holland,  Eng- 
land, Scotland,  Ireland,  Russia,  and  the  United  States.  Their  converts  among 
the  heathen,  amount  to  30,000. 

5.  Congregationalists  of  New-England. — Under  this  name  are  known  the 
descendants  of  a  class  of  the  English  puritans,  who  fled*  from  persecution  to 
the  wilds  of  America.      They  began  the  settlement  of  New-England,  on  the 
22d  December,  1620.  The  sufferings,  piety,  and  success  of  the  fathers  of  New- 
England  Congregationalism,  are  rich  topics  in  religious  history.     The  Con- 
gregationalists have  about  1000  churches  in  New-England,  and  about  200  i~ 
other  parts  of  the  United  States. 

6.  Presbyterian  Church  in  the   United  States. — This  body  of  Christians 
was  originally  composed  of  a  few  Presbyterians  from  Scotland  and  Ireland, 
united  to  a  like  number  of  Congregationalists,  chiefly  from  New-England. 
They  have  greatly  prospered  and  increased,  and  are  found  throughout  the 
middle,  southern  and  western,  states.    The  number  of  their  churches  is  nearly 
1900. 

Our  limits  preclude  an  account  of  other  reformed  churches,  several  cf  which 
ore  respectable  for  their  character  and  numbers. 


A 

SYSTEM 

OF 

MODERN   GEOGRAPHY, 

EXHIBITING  THE  PRESENT  STATE  OF  THE  VARIOUS  NATIONS 

ON  THE  GLOBE. 


THE  EARTH  IN  GENERAL. — The  earth  is  a  large  globe,  the  diameter  of 
which  is  nearly  eight  thousand  miles,  its  equatorial  circumference  is  about 
21,970  miles,  and  its  surface  contains  nearly  two  hundred  millions  of  square 
miles. 

More  than  two  thirds  of  the  globe  are  covered  vith  water. 

The  land  is  occupied  by  at  least  a  thousand  millions  of  human  beings,  and 
is  divided  into  four  great  nominal  parts,  sometimes  called  quarters :  Europe, 
Asia,  Africa,  and  America. 

There  are  only  two  Continents ;  one  contains  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa ; — 
the  other  consists  of  North  and  South  America. 

There  are  five  oceans:  the  Pacific  Ocean,  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  the  In- 
dian Ocean,  the  Northern  Ocean,  and  the  Southern  Ocean. 

The  earth  is  ninety-six  millions  of  miles  from  the  Sun.  It  moves  round 
the  Sun  in  a  year,  which  causes  the  changes  of  the  seasons ;  and  turns  on 
its  own  axis  every  twenty-four  hours,  which  occasions  night  and  day. 

EUROPE. 

EUROPE  is  the  smallest  of  the  grand  divisions  or  quarters  of  the  world,  but 
Is  inhabited  by  an  active  and  intelligent  race  of  people. 

Europe  is  bounded  north  by  the  Frozen  Ocean,  east  by  Asia,  south  by  the 
Mediterranean  Sea,  and  west  by  the  Atlantic  ocean. 

Europe  comprehends  Lapland,  Norway,  Sweden,  Russia,  Denmark,  Prus- 
sia, Batavia,  the  German  States,  Austria,  Turkey,  France,  Switzerland,  Italy, 
Portugal,  Spain,  and  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland. 

Its  three  grand  inland  seas  are  the  Mediterranean,  the  Baltic,  and  the 
White  Sea. 

Its  principal  rivers  are  the  Wolga,  the  Danube,  the  Nieper,  the  Rhine,  and 
the  Elbe. 

Its  most  elevated  mountains  are,  the  Alps,  which  separate  Italy  from  Ger- 
many, Switzerland,  and  France. 

The  Pyrenees,  between  France  and  Spain : 

The  Dofrafield  mountains,  between  Norway  and  Sweden : 

The  Carpathian  mountains,  which  bound  Hungary  to  the  north  and  east. 

LAPLAND  is  divided  into  Danish  or  North  Lapland;  Swedish  or  South 
Lapland  ;  and  Russian  or  East  Lapland. 

It  is  covered  with  immense  forests,  chiefly  of  fir,  and  with  pastures  full  of 
rain-deer. 

The  Laplanders  are  hospitable,  generous,  and  courageous. 

O£t 

ou 


422  A  SYSTEM  OF 

They  make  long  excursions  upon  the  snow,  and  will,  without  much  fatigue- 
travel  fitty  miles  a  day ;  and  in  their  sledges,  drawn  by  rein-deer,  they  pass 
over  hill  and  dale,  with  far  greater  speed. 

In  some  parts  of  Lapland,  the  sun  is  absent  for  about  seven  weeks ;  but 
from  ten  in  the  forenoon  tiJl  between  one  and  two  in  the  afternoon,  the 
twilight  is  sufficient  for  persons  to  read  without  a  candle.  The  stars  are 
visible  at  noon,  and  the  moon  shines  without  intermission.  In  the  summer, 
on  the  contrary,  the  sun  never  sets  for  seven  weeks  together. 

NORWAY  is  bounded  north  and  jvest  by  the  Northern  Ocean,  east  by 
Swedish  Lapland  and  Sweden,  and  south  by  the  Categat. 

Norway  formerly  belonged  to  Denmark,  but  has  recently  become  a  de- 
pendency of  Sweden. 

The  chief  town  of  Norway  is  Bergen. 

Norway  is  the  most  mountainous  country  in  the  world,  and  the  rivers  and 
cataracts  which  intersect  the  mountains,  render  travelling  exceedingly  dan- 
gerous. 

On  the  coast  of  Norway  is  the  famous  vortex  of  the  sea  called  the 
Maelstroom ;  it  is  heard  at  a  great  distance,  and  forms  a  whirlpool  of  vast 
depth  and  extent,  arid  so  violent,  that  if  a  ship  come  near  it,  it  is  drawn  in 
and  shattered  to  pieces.. 

The  chief  wealth  of  Norway  lies  in  its  fir  timber,  with  which  foreign 
nations  are  supplied. 

DENMARK  Proper  is  an  exceedingly  small  kingdom,  containing  only  the 
peninsula  of  Jutland,  and  the  islands  of  Zealand,  Funen,  &c.  at  the  en 
trance  of  the  Baltic. 

Its  chief  town  is  Copenhagen. 

Iceland,  which,  is  subject  to  Denmark,  abounds  in  sulphur,  subterraneous 
fires,  and  volcanoes.  Mount  Hecla  is  a  volcano  one  mile  high,  and  is  always 
covered  with  snow  ;  while  the  boiling  springs  and  craters  on  the  summit  con- 
tinually propel  fire  and  smoke. 

SWEDEN  is  divided  into  Sweden  Proper,  Gothland,  Finland,  Swedish  Lap- 
land, and  the  Swedish  islands. 

The  chief  towns  are  Stockholm,  the  capital,  which  stands  on  seven  rocky 
islands ;  Upsal,  famous  for  its  University ;  Gottcnberg,  in  Gothland ;  and 
Torneo,  in  Lapland. 

The  chief  wealth  of  Sweden  arises  from  its  mines  of  silver,  copper,  lead, 
and  iron. 

The  mines  are  very  spacious,  afford  commodious  habitations  for  numerous 
families,  and  seem  to  form  a  subterraneous  world. 

Sweden  is  a  mountainous  country,  and  is  celebrated  for  the  number  and 
extent  of  its  lakes. 

In  the  Baltic  Sea  there  arc  no  tides,  and  a  current  is  always  running  into 
the  German  Ocean. 

Rrssu  is  bounded  north  by  the  Frozen  Ocean,  east  by  Asia,  south  by- 
Turkey  and  the  Black  Sea,  west  by  Sweden,  the  Baltic,  Prussia  anc" 
Austria. 

The  Russian  Empire,  the  largest  in  extent  in  the  world,  comprehend 
most  of  the  northern  parts  of  Europe  and  Asia,  but  only  a  small  part  of  it 
inhabitants  are  in  a  state  of  civilization. 

in  some  parts  of  this  country  the  climate  is  so  severe,  that  icicles  ar« 
frequently  seen  hanging  to  the  eye-lashes,  and  the  drivers  of  carriages  are 
often  found  frozen  to  death  on  their  seats. 


MODERN  GEOGRAPHY.  423 

The  principal  towns  are  Petersburg!!,  the  capital ;  Moscow ;  Archangel, 
on  the  borders  of  the  White  Sea ;  Cherson,  on  the  Black  Sea ;  Astracan, 
near  the  Caspian  ;  and  Tobolsk,  the  capital  of  Siberia. 

Russia  is  mostly  a  level  country :  from  Petersburg!!  to  Pekin  in  China 
there  is  scarcely  a  hill :  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  road  from  Petersburgh 
to  the  north  of  France. 

The  inland  navigation  of  Russia  is  very  extensive ;  goods  may  be  con- 
veyed by  water  from  Petersburgh  to  China,  with  an  interruption  of  only 
60  miles. 

Russia  is  celebrated  for  its  timber  and  flax  trade,  its  iron  and  copper  mines 
in  the  Uralian  mountains,  arid  its  fisheries. 

PRUSSIA  is  bounded  north  by  the  Baltic,  east  by  Russia,  south  by  Austria, 
and  west  by  Germany. 

The  Prussian  dominions  were  formerly  very  small,  but  the  acquisition 
of  Silesia,  and  a  third  part  of  Poland,  has  rendered  it  a  considerable  empire. 

Before  the  partition  of  Poland,  the  Prussian  subjects  amounted  to  about 
five  millions  and  a  half;  with  that  addition  they  count. nearly  eight  millions. 

HOLLAND  OR  BATAVIA,  now  Kingdom  of  the  Netherlands,  is  bounded 
north  and  west  by  the  North  Sea,  east  by  Germany,  south  by  France. 

The  kingdom  of  Holland  consists  of  seven  provinces,  viz.  Groningen, 
Griesland,  Over-yssel,  Holland,  Utrecht,  Guelderland,  and  Zealand. 

The  chief  towns  are  Amsterdam,  Leydcn,  Rotterdam,  Haarlem. 

Amsterdam,  the  capital,  is  curiously  built  upon  wooden  piles. 

The  principal  rivers  are  the  Rhine,  the  Maese  and  the  Scheldt. 

The  canals  are  very  numerous,  and  serve  for  the  same  purposes  as  roads 
in  other  countries. 

GERMANY  is  bounded  north  by  the  German  Sea,  Denmark,  and  the  Baltic, 
east  by  Prussia  and  Austria,  south  by  Switzerland,  and  west  by  France  and 
the  Netherlands. 

Germany  was  formerly  divided  into  nine  great  divisions,  called  circles ; 
latterly  a  new  political  association  has  been  formed  of  many  considerable 
states,  under  the  title  of  the  Germanic  confederation  ;  the  principal  of  these 
states  are  the  kingdoms  of  Saxony,  Bavaria,  Wertemberg,  Baden,  and 
Hanover.  The  principal  rivers  are  the  Danube,  Rhine,  xElbe,  and  Maine. 
The  chief  town  is  Vienna,  the  residence  of  the  Emperor. 

THE  AUSTRIAN  DOMINIONS  are  bounded  north  by  Prussia,  south  by 
Turkey  and  the  gulf  of  -Venice,  west  by  Switzerland  and  Germany. 

The  Austrian  dominions  comprehend  Austria,  Bohemia,  Hungary,  part 
of  Poland,  and  the  Venetian  states. 

The  chief  towns  are,  Venice,  Prague,  Presburg,  Buda,  Cracow,  and 
Trieste. 

The  principal  mountains  are  the  Tyrolese,  the  Alps,  and  the  Carpathian 
mountains. 

TURKEY  IN  EUROPE  includes  ancient  Greece  and  other  countries,  formerly 
the  finest  in  the  world,  but  owing  to  the  despotism  and  wretched  policy  of  the 
Turks,  is  now  the  most  desolate  and  miserable. 

It  is  bounded  north  by  the  Austrian  dominions  and  Russia,  east  by  the 
Black  Sea,  the  Sea  of  Marmora,  and  the  Archipelago,  south  and  west  by 
the  Mediterranean. 

The  metropolis  of  Turkey  is  Constantinople,  finely  situated  between  the 
Sea  of  Marmora  and  the  Black  Sea,  and  one  of  the  most  considerable  cities 
in  Europe. 


424  A  SYSTEM  OF 

The  principal  rivers  are  the  Danube,  the  Saave,  and  the  Neister. 

The  chief  mountains  are  Pindus  and  Olympus,  which  separate  Thessalv 
from  Epirus ;  Parnassus  in  Livadio ;  Athos,  and  Haemus.  Athos  is 
celebrated  for  its  loftiness,  and  is  inhabited  by  thousands  of  monks  and 
hermits. 

FRANCE  is  bounded  north  by  the  British  Channel,  and, the  German  Ocean, 
east  by  Germany,  Switzerland,  and  Italy,  south  by  the  Mediterranean  and 
Spain,  and  west  by  the  Bay  of  Biscay. 

Paris,  the  capital  of  France,  is,  next  to  London,  the  largest  and  most  con- 
siderable city  in  Europe.  It  contains  at  this  time  immense  collections  of 
works  of  art,  ancient  and  modern.  The  other  principal  towns  of  France 
are  Lyons,  Marseilles,  Bordeaux,  and  Lisle. 

The  principal  mountains  in  France  are,  the  Alps,  which  divide  it  from 
Italy ;  and  the  Pyrennees,  which  divide  it  from  Spain. 

The  principal  rivers  are  the  Rhone,  the  Garonne,  the  Loire,  the  Seine, 
and  the  Somrue.  The  Rhine  forms  the  boundary  between  France  and 
Germany. 

The  canals  in  France  are  numerous ;  the  chief  work  of  this  kind  is  the 
canal  of  Languedoc,  about  180  miles  in  length,  connecting  the  Atlantic  with 
the  Mediterranean. 

SWITZERLAND  is  bounded  north  by  Germany  and  France,  east  by  Austria, 
south  by  Italy,  and  west  by  France. 

Switzerland,  remarkable  for  its  mountains,  is  divided  into  thirteen  cantons 
Zurich,  Berne,  Underwalden,  Zug,  Schweitz,  Basil,  Glasis,  Soleure,  Url 
Appenzel,  Lucerne,  Friburg,  and  SchafFhausen. 

The  principal  towns  are  Basil,  Berne,  Zurich,  and  Geneva. 

The  sources  of  the  Rhine  and  the  Rhone,  two  of  the  grandest  rivers  in 
Europe,  are  to  be  found  in  the  mountains  of  Switzerland. 

The  lakes  of  Constance  and  Geneva  have  been  long  celebrated  for  their 
Beauty. 

The  Alps,  which  divide  Switzerland  from  Italy ;  the  mountain  of  St. 
Gothard,  in  the  canton  of  Uri ;  and  Mount  Blanc,  on  the  borders  of  Savoy, 
are  the  highest  in  Europe. 

ITALY  is  bounded  north  by  the  Alps,  east  by  the  Gulf  of  Venice,  and 
south  and  west  by  the  Mediterranean. 

Italy,  the  garden  of  Europe,  the  parent  of  the  arts,  and  of  civilization,  and 
once  the  mistress  of  the  world,  is  still  a  fine,  populous,  and  interesting  coun- 
try, but  inhabited  by  a  race  of  people,  who  have  become  degenerated  by 
superstition  and  political  slavery. 

The  Appenines  form  a  grand  chain  of  mountains,  which  runs  through 
almost  the  whole  extent  of  Italy. 

Mount  Vesuvius,  near  Naples,  is  a  celebrated  volcanic  mountain.  But 
Vesuvius,  compared  with  Mount  Etna  in  Sicily,  is  but  a  small  hill ;  the 
circuit  of  Vesuvius  is  only  thirty  miles,  that  of  Etna  is  one  hundred  and 
eighty.  The  lava  of  Vesuvius  is  sometimes  thrown  seven  miles,  that  of 
Etna  is  frequently  thrown  thirty  miles. 

Rome  is  the  principal  seat  of  the  Pope's  dominion. 

SPAIN  is  bounded  north  by  the  Pyrennees  and  the  Bay  of  Biscay,  east  by 
the  Mediterranean,  south  by  the  Atlantic,  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar,  and  the 
Mediterranean,  and  west  by  Portugal  and  the  Atlantic. 

Its  chief  towns  are  Madrid,  the  capital ;  Barcelona,  Seville,  Corunna,  and 
Cadiz. 

The  principal  rivers  aie,  the  Ebro,  the  Tagus,  and  the  Douro. 


MODERN  GEOGRAPHY.  425 

On  a  promontory  in  the  south  of  Spain  stands  Gibraltar,  which  has  been 
in  possession  of  the  English  for  a  century,  and  is  so  defended  by  nature  and 
art  as  to  be  considered  impregnable. 

PORTUGAL,  like  Spain,  has  been  enervated  by  its  foreign  possessions,  and  is 
now  one  of  the  most  abject  powers  in  Europe.  The  people  are  debased  by 
indolence  and  superstition. 

It  lies  between  Spain  and  the  Atlantic,  and  is  the  most  westerly  kingdom 
in  Europe. 

The  chief  towns  are  Lisbon,  the  capital ;  and  Oporto,  famous  for  its  exports 
of  wine. 

THE  UNITED  KINGDOM  OF  GREAT  BRITAIN  AND  IRELAND. — ENGLAND  is 
bounded  north  by  Scotland,  east  by  the  German  Sea,  south  by  the  British 
Channel,  and  west  by  St.  George's  Channel. 

The  Island  of  Great  Britain  is  divided  into  England,  Wales,  and  Scotland. 
It  is  six  hundred  miles  long  and  three  hundred  broad ;  and  contains  about 
twelve  millions  of  inhabitants. 

Her  wealth,  the  value  of  her  manufactures,  and  the  extent  of  her  commerce, 
are  unequalled.  The  intelligence  and  industry  of  her  inhabitants,  the  excel- 
lent form  of  her  political  constitution,  the  just  administration  of  her  laws,  and 
the  independence  arising  from  her  insular  situation  combine  to  render  her  an 
object  of  admiration  to  all  other  nations. 

London  contains  upwards  of  a  million  of  inhabitants,  is  thirty  miles  in  dr 
cumfcrence,  and  is  the  largest  and  most  opulent  city  in  Europe. 

The  principal  towns,  famous  for  their  respective  manufactures,  are  Bir- 
mingham and  Sheffield,  for  cutlery  and  hardware  ;  Manchester  for  cotton 
goods ;  and  Leeds  and  Wakefield  for  woollen  cloth.  The  great  commercial 
sea-ports,  besides  London,  are  Liverpool,  Bristol,  Hull,  Newcastle,  White- 
haven,  Yarmouth,  and  Poole.  The  dock-yards  for  the  marine  are  Ports- 
mouth, Plymouth,  and  Chatham.  The  universities  are  those  of  Oxford  and 
Cambridge. 

The  principal  rivers  in  England  are,  the  Severn,  the  Thames,  the  H umber, 
the  Mersey,  the  Trent,  and  the  Medway. 

The  principal  lakes  are  these  in  Cumberland,  and  Winander  Herein  West- 
moreland. 

The  Isle  of  Wight,  on  the  south,  is  famous  for  its  cultivation ;  Jersey  and 
Guernsey  are  near  the  coast  of  France.  The  Isle  of  Man  is  in  the  Irish 
Sea. 

SCOTLAND,  the  northern  division  of  Great  Britain,  is  inhabited  by  a  valiant, 
hardy,  industrious,  well  informed,  and  temperate  race  of  people. 

The  most  considerable  towns  in  Scotland,  are  Edinburgh,  Glasgow,  and 
Aberdeen,  famous  for  their  universities ;  and  Glasgow  no  less  for  its  extensive 
commerce. 

IRELAND,  lies  west  of  England ;  the  chief  towns  are  Dublin,  the  capital , 
Cork,  Londonderry,  and  Belfast. 

ASIA. 

ASIA  is  bounded  north  by  the  Frozen  Ocean,  east  by  the  Pacific  Ocean  and 
Bhering's  Straits,  softth  by  the  Indian  Ocean,  and  west  by  Europe  and  the 
Red  Sea. 

The  southern  Asiatics  are  in  general  effeminate,  luxurious,  indolent, 
and  servile  ;  but  they  evince  considerable  genius  in  various  arts  anj  sci- 
ences. 

36* 


4ZU  A  SYSTEM  OP 

The  great  inland  seas,  peculiar  to  Asia,  are,  the  Red  Sea  or  Arabian  Gulf, 
the  Persian  Gulf,  and  the  Caspian  Sea. 

The  chief  rivers  of  Asia  are,  the  Kian  Ku,  the  Koan  Ho,  the  Lena,  Ye- 
nisei, and  the  Ob,  the  Amur,  the  Burrampooter,  the  Ganges,  the  Euphrates, 
and  the  Indus. 

The  Himmaleh  mountains,  said  to  be  the  highest  on  the  globe,  form  the 
boundary  between  Hindoostan  and  Thibet ;  the  height  of  one  of  their  peaks 
has  been  estimated  at  27,550  feet  above  the  level  of  the  ocean. 

ASIATIC  TURKEY. — Turkey  in  Asia  is  bounded  north  by  the  Black  Sea, 
east  by  Persia,  south  by  Arabia  and  the  Mediterranean,  and  west  by  the 
Archipelago  and  the  Sea  of  Marmora. 

The  climate  of  Turkey  in  Asia  is  delightful  and  salubrious;  but  that  dread- 
ful scourge  to  mankind,  the  plague,  is  rendered  doubly  destructive  from  the 
native  indolence  of  the  Turks,  and  from  their  superstitious  belief  in  predesti- 
nation. 

It  is  divided  into  several  provinces,  as  Natolia,  Kaarman,  Armenia,  Min- 
grelia,  &c. 

Armenia  is  also  styled  Turkomama,  to  the  south  of  which  are  Kurdistan 
and  Irak  Arabi,  in  which  is  the  celebrated  Bagdad. 

The  ancient  Mesopotamia,  between  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates,  corresponds 
with  Diarbeck  or  Algezira.  Syria,  or  the  ancient  Canaan,  is  situated  on  the 
eastern  extremities  of  the  Mediterranean. 

These  provinces  are  subdivided  into  different  governments  under  Pa- 
chas. 

The  prevailing  language  is  the  Turkish,  next  to  which  is  the  Greek  , 
but  the  Arabic,  Syrian,  Persian,  and  Armenian,  are  used  in  different 
parts. 

The  principal  cities  are  Smyrna,  Aleppo,  and  Bagdad 

Balbec  and  Palmyra  are  famous  for  their  extensive  ruins. 

The  principal  river  in  Asiatic  Turkey  is  the  Euphrates.  Next  to  this  is 
the  Tigris. 

The  mountains  in  Asiatic  Turkey  have  long  been  celebrated ;  these  are 
Taurus,  Ararat,  and  Libanus. 

The  chief  islands  are,  Mytelene,  Scio,  Samos,  Cos,  Rhodes,  and  Cy 
prus. 

RUSSIA  IN  ASIA  is  bounded  north  by  the  Northern  Ocean,  east  by  the  Pa- 
cific, south  by  Tartary,  the  Caspian  Sea,  and  Persia,  and  west  by  Russia  in 
Europe. 

This  vast  extent  of  northern  Asia  was  first  known  by  the  name  of  Si- 
beria. 

It  is  divided  into  two  great  governments,  that  of  Tobolsk  in  the  west,  and 
Ikurtsk  in  the  east. 

The  principal  city  in  Asiatic  Russia  is  Astracan. 

The  Kurilian  islands  belong  to  Asiatic  Russia  ;  they  extend  from  Kam- 
Bchatka  to  the  land  of  Jesso. 

THE  CHINESE  EMPIRE. — CHINA  is  celebrated  for  its  immense  and  industri- 
ous population,  for  the  variety  of  its  manufactures  and  peculiar  productions, 
for  the  excellence  of  its  inland  navigation,  and  for  the  jealous  policy  of  its  go- 
vernment towards  other  nations. 

This  empire,  the  most  ancient  and  populous  in  the  world,  consists  of  three 
principal  divisions,  viz.  China  Proper;  the  territory  of  the  Manshurs  and  Mo- 
guls, on  the  north  and  west  and  the  region  of  Thibet. 


MODERN  GEOGRAPHY.  427 

CHINA  PROPER  extends  from  the  great  wall  in  the  north  to  the  China  Sea 
in  the  south ;  and  from  the  shores  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  to  Thibet. 

The  chief  cities  are  Pekin,  Nankin,  and  Canton. 

The  imperial  canal  intersects  China  from  north  to  south,  and  employed 
30,000  men  forty-three  years  for  its  construction. 

The  largest  of  the  Chinese  islands,  which  are  very  numerous,  and  scattered 
along  the  southern  and  eastern  coast,  are,  Formosa  and  Hainan. 

The  isles  of  Leoo-Keoo,  between  Formosa  and  Japan,  constitute  a  small 
civilized  kingdom  subject  to  China. 

CHINESE  TARTARY  is  included  between  the  great  wall  of  China  and  Sibe- 
ria, and  between  the  cloudy  mountains  and  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

Chinese  Tartary  is  inhabited  chiefly  by  the  Eastern  and  Western  Moguls; 
the  former  conquered  China  in  1644,  under  whose  government  the  empire 
still  continues. 

The  Island  of  Segalien,  on  Tchoka,  belongs  to  Chinese  Tartary. 

THIBET  is  included  between  China  and  Hindoostan.  The  chief  town  is 
Lasca. 

The  islands  contiguous  to  the  Chinese  Empire,  besides  those  already  no- 
ticed, are, 

1.  Those  of  Japan,  forming  an  extensive,  rich,  populous,  and  remarkable 
empire.     The  largest  island  is  Niphon,  and  the  chief  town  Jeddo ;  Miaco,  the 
spiritual  capital,  and  Nagaski.     These  islands  trade  only  with  the  Dutch  and 
Chinese. 

2.  The  Jesso  Islands,  to  which  the  Danes  trade  for  furs. 

3.  Macao  lies  in  the  Bay  of  Canton,  and  belongs  to  the  Portuguese. 
There  are  many  small  isles  dependent  upon  Japan,  among  which  is  Fatfi- 

sio,  the  place  of  exile  for  the  disgraced  grandees. 

THE  BIRMAN  EMPIRE. — (Ma/arca,  Siam,  Laos,  Cambodia,  Siampa,  and 
Cochin- China.') — The  Birmans  are  separated  from  the  Hindoos  by  a  very 
narrow  range  of  mountains,  but  the  dispositions  of  the  two  people  are  extreme- 
ly different.  The  Birmans  are  a  lively  inquisitive  race,  irascible  and  impa- 
tient. 

The  Birman  empire  is  divided  from  Asam  on  the  north;  on  the  west  a 
range  of  mountains  separate  it  from  the  British  dominions  in  Bengal. 

The  capital  city  is  Ava.  Pegu,  south  of  Ava,  is  supposed  to  be  the  Golden 
Chersonese  of  the  ancients. 

This  empire  extends  its  dominions  over  Laos  and  Cambodia,  and  is  divided 
by  deserts  and  mountains  from  Cochin-China  and  Tonquin. 

Ava,  the  present  capital,  and  Pegu,  the  former,  are  both  going  to  decay. 

The  Birmans,  like  the  Chinese,  have  no  coin ;  but  silver  in  bullion,  and 
lead,  are  current. 

The  forests  in  this  empire  are  large  and  numerous ;  the  teak-tree  is  lord  of 
them,  and  superior  to  the  European  oak. 

Malaya,  or  Malacca,  is  a  large  peninsula,  containing  several  kingdoms  and 
provinces. 

The  inhabitants  are  called  Malays  or  Malayans. 

This  country  is  celebrated  for  its  numerous  wild  elephants. 

Opposite  to  the  coast  of  Malacca  are  the  islands  of  Andaman  and  Ni- 
•»bar. 

On  the  barren  isle  to  the  east  of  the  Amandans  is  a  volcano  which  emits 
showers  of  red  hot  stones. 

The  kingdom  of  Siam  is  situated  in  a  large  vale  between  two  ridges  of 
mountains. 


428  A  SYSTEM  OP 

The  River  Meinam,  which  signifies  the  mother  of 'waters ,  is  celebrated  among 
oriental  rivers. 

The  elephants  of  Siam  are  distinguished  for  sagacity  and  beauty. 

Cambodia  is  celebrated  for  the  camboge-gum. 

The  chief  river  in  Tonquin-China  is  Hole-Kian,  which%passes  by  Kesho. 
the  capital. 

HINDOOSTAN. — The  population  of  Hindoostan,  subject  to  Great  Britain, 
amounts  to  fourteen    millions ;     and  the    revenue  derived   from  them  is 
computed  at  four  millions  sterling.     So  great  a  power  and  revenue,  main 
tained  iri  so  distant  a  country,  is  unexampled  in  ancient  or  modern  times. 

BRITISH  INDIA  consists  of  certain  immense  territories  on  the  banks  of  the 
Ganges,  of  which  Calcutta  is  the  capital ;  of  other  territories  on  the  coast  of 
Coromandel,  of  which  Madras  is  the  capital ;  of  the  newly  acquired  island 
of  Ceylon  ;  and  of  the  island  of  Bombay. 

PERSIA  is  bounded  north  by  the  Caspian  Sea  and  Tartary,  east  by  Hin- 
doostan, south  by  the  Arabian  Sea  and  Persian  Gulf,  and  west  by  Arabia 
and  Turkey. 

Persia  is  divided  into  the  eastern  and  western  ;  and  the  provinces  near  the 
Caspian  Sea,  which  have  asserted  a  sort  of  independence. 

The  principal  towns  and  cities  are  Ispahan  the  capital,  Teffiiz,  and 
Gomron. 

In  Persia  rivers  and  trees  are  very  uncommon  :  hence  the  respect  paid  by 
the  Persian  monarchs  to  planes  and  other  trees  that  diffuse  their  shade. 

The  singular  features  of  Persia  are  mountains  and  deserts.  On  the 
western  coast  of  the  Caspian  Sea,  near  Baku,  are  foundations  of  naptha,  or 
pure  rock  oil.  The  earth  when  dug  two  or  three  inches  deep  will  easily 
take  fire. 

INDEPENDENT  TARTARY  is  bounded  north  by  Asiatic  Russia,  east  by 
eastern  Tartary,  south  by  Persia  and  Hindoostan,  west  by  the  Caspian 
Sea. 

This  extensive  region  is  celebrated  as  the  seat  of  the  most  ancient  Persian 
kingdom.  It  was  afterwards  distinguished  by  the  wide  empire  of  Jenghiz 
and  Timur.  It  gave  birth  to  many  ancient  men  of  letters,  among  whom 
were  Zoroaster  and  Abulguazi.  Such  is  the  hospitality  of  the  Tartars,  that 
all  the  families  in  the  country  seem  to  belong  as  but  to  one  house. 

1.  The  chief  divisions  of  Independent  Tartary  are  the  barren  plains  in  the 
north. 

2.  To  the  south  of  the  Argun  mountains  is  Great  Bulcharia. 

3.  On  the  south  of  the  Ak-Tau  mountains  are  the  provinces  of  Sogd, 
(the  capital  of  which  is  Samarcand,)  Balk,  and  Gaur. 

The  chief  rivers  are  the  Jihon  and  the  Sirr  or  Sihon,  and  the  most  con- 
siderable lake,  or  inland  sea,  is  that  of  Aral. 

ARABIA  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  Turkey,  east  by  the  Gulf  of  Persia 
and  Ormus,  south  by  the  Indian  Ocean,  and  west  by  the  Red  Sea. 

The  Arabians  in  general  are  such  robbers,  that  travellers  and  pilgrims 
are  struck  with  terror  on  their  approaches  towards  this  country.  The 
climate  is  very  various  :  in  some  parts  it  is  excessively  hot  and  dry,  and 
subject  to  poisonous  winds.  In  other  parts  the  soil  is  fertile,  and  the  air  is 
highly  salubrious.  In  the  desert,  travellers  are  guided  by  the  stars  and  com- 
pass, as  mariners  are  at  sea. 

Arabia  is  divided  into  three  parts ;  Arabia  Stony,  Arabia  the  Desert,  and 
Arabia  Happy. 


MODERN  GEOGRAPHY.  429 

Stony  Arabia  is  a  small  province  north  of  the  Red  Sea,  between  Egypt 
and  Palestine.  The  chief  town  is  Suez. 

Between  the  narrow  branches  of  the  northern  extremity  of  the  Red  Sea, 
are,  Mount  Sinai,  and  Mount  Horeb :  on  which  are  several  cells  or  chapela 
possessed  by  monks. 

Arabia  the  Desert  is  the  middle  part  of  the  country,  the  inhabited  parts  of 
which  lie  on  the  borders  of  the  Red  Sea. 

The  chief  towns  are  Mecca  and  Medina:  the  former  the  birth  place  of 
Mahomet,  and  the  latter  that  at  which  he  was  buried.  The  famous  temple 
at  Mecca  is  called  the  Kaba  or  Caaba. 

Arabia  Happy  comprises  the  south-west  part  of  the  country. 

THE  EASTERN  ARCHIPELAGO  is  divided  into  : 

1.  The  islands  of  Sunda,  or  the  Sumatran  chain,  which  comprise  Suma- 
tra, Java,  Balli,  Lomboek,  Florez,  and  Timor,  with  several  other  of  less  im- 
portance. 

2.  Borneo,  and  some  smaller  islands  surrounding  Borneo,  is,  excepting  New- 
Holland,  the  largest  island  in  the  world. 

3.  The  Minihas  or  Phillipine  islands,  including  Luzon,  Mindonao,  Palawa, 
Mindora,   Pany,   Negros,    Zebu,  Leyta  and  Samar,   and  several  hundred 
smaller  islands. 

4.  The  Celebezian  isles,  viz.  Celebes,  Boutan,  and  the  surrounding  small 
islands.     Boutan  is  governed  by  a  Mahometan  Sultan. 

5.  The  spice  islands,  including  the  Moluccas :  these  are  Gilola,  Ceram, 
Bouro,  Oby,  Amboyna,  Banda,  Tidore,  Ternate,  &c.     These  famous  islands 
produce  nutmegs,  cloves,  and  other  valuable  spices. 

AUSTRALASIA  contains  the  following  islands  : 

1.  New-Holland  or  Notasia,  and  all  the  islands  between  twenty  degrees 
west,  and  between  twenty  or  thirty  degrees  east  of  it.    New-Holland  is 
about  three  fourths  as  large  as  Europe. 

2.  Papua  or  New-Guinea,  and  the  Papuan  isles. 

3.  New  Britain,  New-Ireland,  and  the  Solomon  isles. 

4.  New-Caledonia  and  the  New-Hebrides. 

5.  New-Zealand. 

6.  Van  Dieman's  Land,  which  is  separated  from  New-Holland  by  Basse's 
strait  or  channel,  which  is  about  thirty  leagues  wide. 

POLYNESIA  consists, 

1.  Of  the  Pelew  Islands. 

2.  Of  the  Ladrone  or  Marian  Islands,  the  principal  of  which  are  Guan 
and  Tinian. 

3.  The  Carolines,  the  largest  of  which  are  Hogolen  and  Yap. 

4.  The  Sandwich  Islands,  discovered  by  Captain  Cook,  at  one  of  which  he 
lost  his  life. 

5.  The  Marquesas,  which  are  very  numerous,  but  the  largest  island  in 
Polynesia  is  Owyhee,  about  100  hundred  miles  in  length. 

6.  The  Society  Islands  are  about  sixty  or  seventy  in  number ;  the  Ota- 
heite  is  the  largest. 

7.  The  Friendly  Islands,  and  the  Feejee  Islands. 

8.  The  Navigator's  Islands,  the  principal  of  which  is  Maouna. 


430 


A  SYSTEM  OF 


AMERICA. 

AMERICA  was  unknown  to  the  inhabitants  of  the   other  continent,  t 
a  little  more  than  three   hundred  years  ago,   when  it  was  discovered 
Christopher  Columbus;    and  hence  it  is  called  the  New   World,  in  con 
tradistinction  to  the  eastern  continent,  first  known,  and  hence  called  the 
Old  World. 

It  extends  from  Cape  Horn,  lat.  56°  south,  to  the  Frozen  Ocean  north, 
being  upwards  of  7,000  miles  in  length.  Its  breadth  varies  from  37  to  5,000 
miles.  It  lies  between  the  Atlantic  on  the  east,  and  the  Pacific  on  the  west ; 
and  is  supposed  to  contain  about  35  millions  of  inhabitants. 

It  is  divided  into  North  and  South  America,  which  are  connected  by  th< 
Isthmus  of  Darien. 


• 


NORTH  AMERICA  includes  the  United  States,  Spanish  America,  British 
America,  and  the  independent  Indian  nations. 

The  inland  seas  of  North  America  are  the  Gulfs  of  Mexico,  California, 
and  St.  Lawrence,  with  Hudson's  Bay,  and  Davis's  Straits. 

The  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  is  closed  by  the  island  of  Newfoundland,  and 
the  great  sand  bank,  about  four  hundred  miles  in  length,  celebrated  for  the 
cod -fishery. 

The  Lakes  Superior,  Michigan,  Huron,  Erie,  Ontario,  Winnipeg,  and 
Slave  Lake,  are  the  grandest  in  the  world,  and  might  with  propriety  be  de- 
nominated seas^ 

The  rivers  are  also  grand  features  of  North  America.  Of  these  the  prin- 
cipal are  the  Missouri  and  Mississippi,  the  Ohio  and  St.  Lawrence. 

The  most  celebrated  mountains  are  the  Apalachian,  passing  through  the 
territory  of  the  United  States. 

THE  UNITED  STATES  are  bounded  north  by  the  River  St.  Lawrence  and 
the  Lakes,  from  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  to  the  Rocky  Mountains  its  northern 
boundary  is  in  lat.  49°— from  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the  Pacific,  its 
northern  boundary  is  in  lat.  50°  ; — On  the  east  they  are  bounded  by  the 
Atlantic — on  the  south  by  the  Gulf  of  Mexico — on  the  southwest  by  the 
River  Sabine  and  Mexico — on  the  west  by  the  Pacific  ;  extending  from  east 
to  west,  nearly  60°  of  longitude,  about  2,700  miles. 

The  United  States  are  celebrated  for  the  excellence  of  their  constitution, 
which  secures  political  liberty,  and  individual  security. 

There  are  %A  independent  States,  which  are  divided  into  the  New-England 
or  Eastern,  the  Middle,  Southern  and  Western  States  : — the  inhabitants  at 
this  day  (1830)  amount  to  about  12,000,000. 

New-England  comprises  Main^.  Vermont,  New-Hampshire,  Massachu- 
setts, Rhode  Island,  and  Connectrat. 

The  Middle  Division  comprises  New- York,  New,- Jersey,  Pennsylvania, 
and  Delaware. 

The  Southern  Division  comprises  Maryland,  Virginia,  North  Carolina, 
South  Carolina,  Georgia,  and  Alabama.  In  this  division  is  also  included  the 
Territory  of  Florida. 

The  Western  Division  comprises  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Kentucky,  Ten- 
nessee, Mississippi,  Louisiana  and  Missouri.  In  this  division  are  included 
the  Territories  of  Michigan,  Arkansaw,  and  Missouri ;  and  also  the  North 
West  Territory. 


MODERN  GEOGRAPHY  431 

MEXICO,  AND  GUATAMALA — IN  NORTH  AMERICA. — The  most  unfertile  oi 
tnese  dominions  is  said  to  produce  two  crops  of  corn  in  a  year ;  the  valleys  are 
extremely  rich,  and  produce  spontaneously  the  fruits  and  vegetables  common 
to  the  most  fruitful  parts  of  the  United  States. 

The  largest  city  in  this  country  is  Mexico,  and  the  principal  river  and  lake 
in  these  regions  is  the  Rio  Bravo  del  Norte,  in  Mexico ;  and  the  lake  known 
as  the  Nicaragua,  in  Guatamala. 

BRITISH  POSSESSIONS  IN  NORTH  AMERICA. — This  part  of  North  America 
is  mountainous  and  barren,  abounding,  however,  with  lakes,  rivers,  and  bays, 
that  aiFord  plenty  of  fish.  The  fur  trade  and  fisheries  render  this  colony  ex- 
ceedingly valuable. 

The  British  dominions  are  extensive,  and  include  Upper  and  Lower  Ca- 
nada, Nova  Scotia,  New-Brunswick,  the  island  of  Cape  Breton,  Newfound- 
land, the  Bermudas,  or  Summer  Islands. 

NATIVE  TRIBES  AND  INDEPENDENT  COUNTRIES. — These  are,  Greenland, 
Labrador,  the  regions  around  Hudson's  Bay,  those  nations  lately  discovered 
by  Sir  A.  Mackenzie,  and  those  on  the  western  coast. 

THE  WEST  INDIES. — The  most  important  of  these  islands  are  Cuba, 
and  Porto-Rico,  Spanish  ;  St.  Domingo,  Free  Blacks  ;  and  Jamaica,  Eng- 
lish. 

North  of  St.  Domingo  and  Cuba,  are  the  Bahamas,  the  principal  of  which 
Is  Providence  island. 

The  Caribbee  islands  extend  from  Tobago,  in  the  south,  to  the  Virgin 
islands  in  the  north. 

Those  belonging  to  Britain  are,  Barbadoes,  Antigua,  St.  Christopher's,  St. 
Vincent,  Dominica,  Granada,  Trinidad,  Montserrat,  Nevis,  and  the  Virgin 
isles. 

The  French  Carribbee  islands  are,  Martinique,  Guadaloupe,  St.  Lucie,  and 
Tobago. 

The  Danes  possess  St.  Croix  and  St.  Thomas. 

St.  Bartholomew  belongs  to  the  Swedes,  and  Eustatia  to  the  Dutch. 

SCHTTH  AMERICA  comprehends,  New  Granada  and  Venezuela,  now  known 
us  Colombia ;  Guiana ;  Peru  ;  Bolivia,  or  Upper  Peru ;  Amazonia ;  Brazil ; 
La  Plata,  or  Buenos  Ay  res ;  Chili,  and  Patagonia. 

South  America  has  no  inland  sea ;  but  the  River  Amazon,  and  that  of  La 
Plata,  are  celebrated  as  the  largest  in  the  world. 

The  mountains  of  South  America  ("excepting  Himmaleh,  in  Asia,)  are 
the  loftiest  on  the  whole  face  of  the  globe,  and  are  intermixed  with  volca 
noes  of  the  most  sublime  and  terrific  description.     The  Andes  follow  the 
windings  of  the  coast,  and  extend  4,600  miles.     The  highest  are  near  the 
equator. 

In  Chili  it  never  rains,  the  sky  is  seldom  cloudy,  but  the  dews  of  the  night 
supply  the  want  of  rain. 

The  Portuguese  territory  of  Brazil  is,  perhaps,  equal  in  extent  to  what 
formerly  was  the  Spanish,  compensating  by  its  breadth  for  its  deficiency  in 
length. 

The  southern  extremity  of  South  America  is  Patagonia,  a  desolate  country, 
inhabited  by  savage  Indians,  some  of  whom  are  of  colossal  stature. 

The  islands  contiguous  to  South  America  are,  Trinidad,  the  Falkland 
Islands,  and  Terra  del  Fuego. 

The  Galliapago  Islands  are  near  the  equator,  and  the  Pearl  Islands  lie  in 
the  bay  of  Panama. 


A  SYSTEM, 


AFRICA. 

In  Africa  there  are  no  inland  seas,  and  but  one  lake  of  any  great  extent, 
viz.  that  of  Maravi. 

The  principal  rivers  are  the  Nile,  the  Niger,  and  the  Senegal. 

The  Atlas  mountains  have  long  been  celebrated,  and  the  mountains  of  the 
Moon  are  a  lofty  range. 

The  most  striking  feature  of  Africa  consists  in  its  immense  deserts,  which, 
perhaps,  comprise  one  half  of  the  continent ;  of  these,  Zaara  is  the  chief. 

Africa  may  be  considered  in  the  following  order :  first,  Abyssinia,  then  Egypt, 
the  Mahometan  States  in  the  north,  the  western  coast,  and  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope  :  from  thence  proceeding  along  the  eastern  shores. 

The  chief  cities  are,  Grand  Cairo,  the  capital,  Alexandria,  Rosetta,  and  Da- 
mietta.  Rain  is  a  very  uncommon  phenomenon  in  Egypt. 

The  northern  Mahometan  states  are,  Tripoli,  Tunis,  Algiers,  and  Morocco 
They  are  chiefly  remarkable  for  their  piracies. 

Benin,  Loango,  and  Congo,  present  the  most  interesting  objects  in  this  wide 
extent  of  country. 

Zaara,  or  the  Great  Desert,  extends  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Nile. 

Caffraria,  or  the  land  of  Hottentots,  extends  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  the 
most  southerly  part  of  Africa.  The  Cape  of  Good  Hope  is  a  free  port  for  all 
nations. 

The  coasts  of  Mozambico  and  Zanguebar  are  succeeded  by  the  desert  re- 
gions of  Ajan  and  Adel,  which  complete  the  circuit  of  Africa. 

The  island  of  Madagascar  is  one  of  the  largest  in  the  world. 

On  the  west  of  Africa  is  St.  Helena,  an  English  colony,  and  a  desirable 
port. 

The  Cape  de  Verd  Islands  are  ten  in  number,  the  two  largest  are  St.  Jago 
and  St.  Anthony. 

More  northerly  are  the  Canary  or  Fortunate  Islands.  Among  these  is  the 
famous  peak  of  Tenerifle. 

The  island  of  Madeira,  the  last  that  is  reckoned  contiguous  to  Africa,  is  fa- 
mous for  its  wine. 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF    THE    WORLD    DISPLAYED. 


vol.  i.         Founding  of  Ancient  Rome.         p.  57. 


vol.  i. 


Cineinnatus  at  his  Plough.          p.  85 


vol.  i. 


£^as^*^ 

Roman  Agriculture.  p.  234. 


ISTRATIONS    OF    THE    WORLD    DISPLAYED. 


vol.  i.  Olympic  Games — Boxing.          p.  51. 


vol.  i.  Regulus  Defeats  the  Carthagenians.  p.  104. 


vol.  i. 


Olympic  Games — Bjxing.         p.  51. 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF    THE    WORLD    DISPLAYED. 


vol.  I  Olympic  Games — Discus.          p.  51. 


voL  i.       Pompilius  Crowned  King  of  Rome,      p-  59' 


Leading  to  Sacrifice. 


p.  187- 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF    THE    WORLD    DISPLAYED. 


vol.  i. 


Roman  War  Galley. 


p.  205. 


vol.  i. 


Roman  Aqueduct. 


vol.  i. 


Roman  Coasting  Vessel.        p.  215, 


SLLITSTRATIONS    OF    THE    WORLD    DISPLAYED. 


vol.  L 


Chariot  Race. 


p.  207. 


vol.  i.  Sabine  women  carried  away  by  the  Romans,  p.  58. 


vol  i. 


Battering1  Ram. 


p.  204. 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF   THE    WORLD    DISPLAYED. 


Roman  Emperor. 


Roman  Senator. 


Roman  General. 


Roman  Soldier. 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF    THE    WORLD    DISPLAYED. 


vol.  i. 


Death  of  Alexander. 


p.  96. 


vol.  i.  Spartans  returning  from  the  Messenian  War.  66. 


vol.  i.  Royalty  Abolished  at  Rome.         p.  62. 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF    THE    WORLD    DISPLAYED. 


vol.  i     Defeat  of  the  Persians  by  Alexander,     p.  96. 


vol.  i.          Grecian  Temple  and  Ruins.         p.  191. 


vol.  i.          Front  of  a  Grecian  Temple.          p.  191 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF    THE    WORLD    DISPLAYED. 


vol.  i. 


Grecian  War  Galley. 


p.  181. 


vol.  i.       Trojans  Deceived  by  the  Greeks.       p.  42. 


vol.!  Ancient  Grecian  Building 


p.  191 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF    THE    WORLD    DISPLAYED. 


vol.  i. 


Cecrops  colonizing-  Greece.          p.  31. 


vol.  i.          Grecian  Court — Areopagus.          p.  179 


vol.  i. 


Grecian  Sacrifices. 


p.  181. 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF    THE    WORLD    DISPLAYED. 


vol.  i. 


Ancient  Athens. 


p.  174. 


vol.  i. 


Grecian  Gymnasium. 


p.  175 


vol.  i. 


Achcean  League. 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF    THE    WORLD    DISPLAYED. 

'  "** 


vol.  ii.  Conversion  of  Constantine. 


p.52. 


vol.  ii.    Peter  Preaching  to  the  Crusaders,  p.  127. 


vol.  ii.   Taking  of  Constantinople  by  Mahomet,  p.  185. 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF    THE    WORLD    DISPLAYED. 


Tower  of  London. 


vol.  ii.      Edward  IV.  and  Queen  Margaret,      p.  190.  ' 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF    THE    WORLD    DISPLAYED. 


vol.  ii.  King-  Alfred  in  Disguise.  p.  113. 


;,l.  ii,       Qit'ccn  Elizajc-ih  and  her  Army.      p.  203. 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF    THE    WORLD    DISPLAYED. 


vol.  ii. 


Pcnn's  Treaty. 


p.  255 


voi   ii.      Convention  at  Philadelphia,  1787.  Fer.  X. 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF    THE    WORLD    DISPLATEP. 


'vol.  IT.         Massacre  at  Fort  Griswold,          Per.  X. 


vol.  ii. 


Death  of  Montgomery. 


Per.X. 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OP    THE    WORLD    DISPLAYED. 


Cape  Town — Cape  of  Good  Hope. 


Siberian  mode  of  Travelling. 


Lapland  Traveller. 
2* 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF    THE   WORLD    DISPLAYED, 


Ladies  and  Gentlemen  of  South  America. 


South  American  Indians 


Hottentots. 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF    THE    WORLD    DISPLAYED. 


North  American  Indians. 


Scots. 


Danes. 


South  American  Gentleman. 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF    THE    WORLD    DISPLAYED. 


Cossacks. 


Austrians. 


Swedes. 


Swiss. 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF    THE    WORLD    DISPLAYED. 


Asiatics. 


Italians. 


Egyptian  Peasants. 


Circassians. 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF    THE    \VORLD    DISPLAYED. 


Ancient 


Dutch. 


French. 


Japanese. 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF    THE    WORLD    DISPLAYED. 


Greeks. 


Turks. 


Tartars. 


Arabians. 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF    THE    WORLD    DISPLAYED. 


Gypsies. 


Nootkaians. 


Society  Islanders. 


Sandwich  Islanders. 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF   THE   WORLD    DISPLAYED. 


vol.  i.     Jupiter,  p.  182. 


vol.  i.     Apollo,     p.  182- 


p.  182. 


vol.  i.    Mercury,  p.  182. 

3 


vol.  i.     Bacchus,  p.  183. 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF   THE    WORLD    DISPLAYED. 


vol.  i.     Vulcan,     p.  183.  vol.  i.  Minerva,  p.  183. 


vol.  i. 


Juno. 


p.  183. 


vol.i.     Venus,    p.  183. 


vol.  i.  Diana,  p.   1  84. 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF   THE    WORLD    DISPLAYED 


vol.  i.  Ceres,  p.  184. 


vol.  i.  Vesta,  p.  184. 


vol.  i. 


Neptune 


p.  184. 


vol.  i.       Oceanus.     p.  184.     vol.  i.    Triton,  p.  184, 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF    THE    WORLD    DISPLAYED. 


vol.  i.     Pluto,     p.  185. 


vol.  i.     Furies,    p.  185. 


vol.  i. 


Charon. 


p.  185. 


vol.  i.  Fates,  p.  185.    vol.  i.  Cupid,  p.  185.    v.  i.  Graces  186 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF    THE    WORLD    DISPLAYED. 


Caliope.* 


Euterpe.* 


Clio. 


* 


Melpomene.* 


Terpsichore.*  Urania.* 

*  See  Vol.  i.  p.  186. 


Erato.* 


Polyhymnia** 


Th  alia.* 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF    THE    WORLD    DISPLAYED. 


vol.  i,          C(Esar  Passing  the  Rubicon.       p.  135. 


vol.  ii. 


Crowning  of  Charlemagne. 


p.  99 


vol.  i.    Combat  between  Horatii  and  Curiatii.  p.  59. 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LABI  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 

THIS   BOOK   ON   TF  t    D*"  THE  FOURTH 


LD2l-100m-7,'33 


YP  at  542 


m 


IBs 


f; 


